I bet you didn't know that if you have too many fonts on your system, it can start behaving very strangely....
I've been using FontFrenzy, a free programme, which I think is totally brilliant.
What it does is to move all those boring and unnecessary fonts that are originally installed with your computer. These go into another folder - I FontFrenzied mine and ended up with 61 (some of which are really boring to look at, but necessary in the running of the machine) which was a whole lot better than the 752 which I ended up with when I had finished reloading the computer with the CD label maker, Photoshop, my web design programme and my desktop publishing programme. FontFrenzy takes a snapshot of all the fonts in your sytem, moves them and then you can ReFrenzy at any time you want to reinstall them. You can also adjust the size so that you can actually SEE what your fonts look like.
Some systems don't like FontFrenzy. Mine doesn't like the latest edition (link above) since I put in the new hard drive.I do advise you to try this one (above) first as it doesn't have a nag screen. I run Windows XP Pro and it kept trying to download all the folders onto my Desktop. Windows Service Pack 3 can also affect it. If your system doesn't like it, simply re-run the programme to disinstall it.
However, being me, I was determined to get the programme again (I can't live without it) and found an older version: FontFrenzy1 This worked perfectly for me. The only drawback is that this version has a nag screen.
I also like to use another free programme, AMP Font Viewer, to organise my fonts. The icon sits on the Desktop. Double click this to bring up the programme - and why I love it is this: it shows you all the fonts you have loaded, and behind this is a tab to show you all the fonts you don't have loaded! So all you have to do is browse, to point the programme in the right direction (eg: the FontFrenzy Fonts folder) which displays all your fonts (again, you can readjust the size so you can actually see what they look like) and you can install temporarily, just for that one use, or permanently. So I can zip through all my fonts, upload all the fancy ones my heart desires, and then dump them again by DeFrenzy-ing with FontFrenzy. I love to download any new freebies that take my fancy, and this means I don't overload the machine and slow it down.
I have now spent a little time creating a new folder in My Documents, and labelled it FONTSfolder. I then created more folders under this heading, so my sub folders are called things like Dingbats, OldFashionedScripts, ModernScripts, Typwriter, Grunge etc. I then copied fonts from the Font Frenzy Fonts folder into the various categories (although you can also do this via FrenzyMan, right in the programme). The reason I used AMP Fonts Viewer to do this is that I now also download all my freebie fonts right onto my Desktop, unzip them using another brilliant freebie: JustZIPit and drag-and-drop them straight into category in My Documents. So I can dip into them as I wish (and it saves DeFrenzy-ing them all and reinstalliny my favourite fonts).
If you have masses you have collected, this is a quick way to organise them all. It's a good idea to do a backup CD so that you have all your weird & wonderful, can't-remember-where-I-got-them-from fonts all in one place. I have various free CDs with fonts on that came with scrapbooking and computer magazines: again, it's worth going through these and saving your favourites, then you can dump all those discs and do even more decluttering.
IMPORTANT: BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING HOW TO CREATE A SYSTEM RESTORE POINT
Before you make any major changes to your computer, especially if you aren't very confident, it's always a good idea to make a System Restore Point. If you have a computer manual, read up how to do it... or trust me and follow my instructions below (which should be pretty much the same for any PC).
WHY BOTHER WITH ALL THIS STUFF?
The reason you should do it is that if you have made a mess of installing FontFrenzy or any other programme, or moved your fonts and made a mess of it, etc - you can reverse it using System Restore, so it's like nothing ever happened! However, you can't use System Restore until you have created a System Restore point as your computer won't have anything to restore to!
To create a System Restore Point, click on your Start button (bottom left-hand corner of your computer screen) then click Accessories, System Tools then System Restore. You'll see two buttons, the top one is System Restore, and the lower one - which is the one we want right now - is called Create a Restore Point. Click on this and type something in the box (eg: FontFrenzy & AMP Font View installed). Click on Create, then click on Close. That's it!
To use System Restore, go to Start, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore, then System Restore which restores your computer to an earlier time. You'll see a little calendar - some of the dates are bold. These are system restore points. Click on one of these (it might be an automatic Restore Point, which your system does from time to time, or it might be one you labelled yourself, eg: New Printer). Click on the one you want, click OK and let the computer do the rest. It will take some time, all the desktop will disappear, the screen will go black, etc, then it will reboot with a little box telling you if the Restore was successful or not. Click OK if it was, and everything will be back to normal!
I bet you feel loads better now!
