Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 x64

I have many fonts installed. Occasionally, I see a Web page, E-mail
message, or newsgroup posting that uses a font I do not have. Often the
result is not easy to read.

As I recall, there is a way to specify font substitutions WITHOUT
resorting to editing the registry. However, I cannot find how to do that.

--
David E. Ross
"A Message to Those Who Are Not Vaccinated"
See my <http://www.rossde.com/index.html#vaccine>.

David E. Ross wrote:

> Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 x64
>
> I have many fonts installed. Occasionally, I see a Web page, E-mail
> message, or newsgroup posting that uses a font I do not have. Often the
> result is not easy to read.
>
> As I recall, there is a way to specify font substitutions WITHOUT
> resorting to editing the registry. However, I cannot find how to do that.

Your application must support font fallback. That allows using a font
you do have.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/intl/using-font-fallback

Font linking and font substitution can be performed via registry
entries, but typically the application performs that logic.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/globalization/input/font-technology

Or are you asking about language support? Font fallback, linking, and
substitution are to find an alternative font. That won't help if the
font used in a message is to represent a different language. For
example, as noted in the 2nd article, "it is impossible to use Miriam (a
Hebrew font) to represent the hiragana script."

If you are seeing placeholders for characters in a message, perhaps you
chose to block remote web fonts as a privacy measure (font factories can
track to where and when you visit when their web fonts are used in a web
page).

https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Per-site-switches#no-remote-fonts

"David E. Ross" <nobody@notme.invalid> wrote

| I have many fonts installed. Occasionally, I see a Web page, E-mail
| message, or newsgroup posting that uses a font I do not have. Often the
| result is not easy to read.
|

Is it possible that you do have the font and it's just not
a nice font? As far as I know, a browser will use your
default font if it doesn't have the one specced. I block
font downloads, which have become common, but as
far as I know that just means I see Verdana, my default
font. I've never seen weird, unreadable fonts.

With email and newsgroups, if you read in plain text
then, again, you'll only see your default font. I don't
recall ever seeing a different font in newsgroups.

David E. Ross wrote:

> Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 x64
>
> I have many fonts installed. Occasionally, I see a Web page, E-mail
> message, or newsgroup posting that uses a font I do not have. Often the
> result is not easy to read.
>
> As I recall, there is a way to specify font substitutions WITHOUT
> resorting to editing the registry. However, I cannot find how to do that.

That way would be in your undisclosed browser, if it allows this.
For one case: <http://keyvan.net/2010/10/helvetica-on-firefox/>

On Mon, 28 Feb 2022 09:20:12 -0800, David E. Ross wrote:
> Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 x64
>
> I have many fonts installed. Occasionally, I see a Web page, E-mail
> message, or newsgroup posting that uses a font I do not have. Often the
> result is not easy to read.
>
> As I recall, there is a way to specify font substitutions WITHOUT
> resorting to editing the registry. However, I cannot find how to do that.

Font substitution setting is originally stored in the WIN.INI file (since at
least Windows 3). But since Windows NT, parts of WIN.INI (and other system's
INI files) entries are mapped to Windows registry according to the registry
setting at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\IniFileMapping

And the mapping only work if the INI file is changed using Windows INI File
API functions with administrator rights (i.e. elevated). It won't work if
the INI file is manually modified using a text editor or any other mean -
which operates directly on the file.

PowerShell, AutoHotkey, AutoIt, or Python can be used to use Windows INI
File API.

AutoHotkey and AutoIt fortunately, have built in support for it, so using it
is relatively simple.

Here's an AutoHotkey example which will add/replace font mapping from
`MyFont` to `Arial` e.g.:

iniwrite Arial, c:\windows\win.ini, FontSubstitutes, MyFont

And here's for an AutoIt script:

iniwrite("c:\windows\win.ini", "FontSubstitutes", "MyFont", "Arial")

PowerShell and Python do not have built in support for it. So, a Windows API
function declaration for `WriteProfileString` or `WritePrivateProfileString`
function must be added manually. Warning: most of the examples found in the
net for working with INI files, operates directly on the file instead of
using Windows INI File API. This method won't work.

Windows Script Host (WSH) with its VBScript/JScript can not be used, since
it has no access to Windows API. At least not without a help of a third
party ActiveX.