Speed Up Windows by Removing Fonts

It is a common for many people to download and/or install every font they find so that the font is ready to use when needed. But there is a drawback to having a too many fonts installed at one time. In can slow down your computer.

Technical Information

Windows keeps all of the fonts in the Registry (which is where Windows stores information it needs to operate). Because all font files are registered under a single key in the registry, and a registry key cannot exceed 64KB, the more fonts you have, the more adversely it affects the speed of your Windows startup. The general consensus is that having more than 200-300 fonts installed will slow down your PC.

System Fonts

Fonts that Windows uses are referred to as system fonts. Before you start deleting fonts you must find out which fonts are system fonts. You should never delete system fonts.
To find out which fonts are your system fonts, you need to know which version of Windows you are running. To do this:

• Right Click on My Computer
  

• Click on Properties.
  

• Click on the General tab.
  

• Record what is noted under "System."
  

Note: You may have other software such as Works, Word, Internet Explorer, or a particular game that has fonts it considers necessary in order to run correctly, you don't want to delete those fonts either!

Go to this web page: http://www.microsoft.com/typography/fonts/default.asp and locate your version of Windows or the product name in the pull down menu. Then click Go.

This will bring up a list of system fonts for the product you chose.

Alternatively you can choose the font name, click Go and it will list the products it is installed with. If you do not have any of those products you may delete it.

Display Fonts

To display the fonts on your computer:

• Click Start
  

• Point to Settings
  

• Click Control Panel
  

• Double-click Fonts.
  

OR on Windows XP

• Click Start
  

• Click Control Panel

• Double-click Fonts.

This opens the Fonts folder, a system folder that displays all your fonts and displays what they look like.

Switch the view to Details, (Menu: View Details) this will list the fonts alphabetically, if not click the column heading that reads Font Name to sort by the font's name.

Deleting Fonts

To delete a font from your computer:

• Click the icon for the font you want to delete.
  

• On the File menu, click Delete.
  

To select more than one font to delete, hold down the CTRL key, and then click each of the fonts you want to delete before clicking delete.