Install New Fonts and Desktop Icons

The first thing you need to do is create a folder to download the fonts and icons to. I created a FONTS folder and an ICON folder in the MY DOCUMENTS folder but you can create them anywhere. If you already have a folder for downloads you might wish to use it for both fonts and icons. To create a folder go to File/New/Folder.

I'm using Windows XP but earlier versions of Windows will probably work similar. Use www.google.com to inquire about any differences you may encounter.

FONTS

There are many web sites with free fonts but one I like is at http://www.webpagepublicity.com/free-fonts.html. It has 6500 True Type Fonts (TTF) for Windows. I like the way they are displayed so you can quickly choose the ones you want. The fonts I look for primarily are for web page text. Google "free fonts" for more pages with downloads.

After downloading fonts you must Copy/Paste them to the Windows Font folder at C:\Windows\Fonts to be available for any program you use. You may open the Windows Font folder by going to Start/Settings/Control Panel/Fonts or by going to Start/Run and type %windir%\fonts.

A warning: If you begin getting close to 1000 fonts you might end up having too many since Windows doesn't permit an unlimited number. Graphic programs sometimes dump hundreds of fonts in your Windows Fonts folder and many are duplicates of what you have but under another name. Your system may become sluggish and you can't figure out why. Windows doesn't tell you when you've reached the limit and often the fonts appear to be installed but are not on the font menu. Worse yet, as you delete them your font menu may not get smaller. This is because extra fonts simply move in to replace the ones deleted on the menu.

It's easy to delete fonts by deleting the files in the C:\Windows\Fonts folder. But be careful because some fonts should never be deleted. Take a look at the list at http://www.scrapjazz.com/topics/Computer_Center/Fonts/43.php. A safe alternative is to simply transfer them to another folder. To restore a permanently deleted font you will need to use your Windows setup disk.

DESKTOP ICONS

The easiest way to change a desktop icon is to right-click on it and select Properties, followed by Change Icon. You may be shown a few icons to choose from but I don't think they're much better than those replaced. Better to download new icons you like.

To find free desktop icons use www.google.com and enter search words such as "free icons" and you'll find many web pages offering them. One site I like is Leo's Icon Archive at http://www.iconarchive.com/. On this page, select the type of Icons you want, such as art, cartoons, games, etc., and then right-click on the 'ico' link below the icon that you want to download. On the popup menu select "Save Target As" and then browse to the Icons folder where you wish to save it.

To change a desktop icon to one that you've saved right-click on it, select Properties followed by Change Icon and then Browse. Go to the folder where you downloaded icons and select a replacement. Hit OK, OK, and voila, you have a new desktop icon.

All past computer articles by Dave Wallace are posted at http://always-online.com/nbcug/dwindex.htm