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When creating this setup, and when deploying this setup to 200+ machines, I faced some issues that come from the fact that Windows is not very smart when handling fonts. This file lists the issues I'm aware of.
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##Font files can be damaged
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##Font files can be damaged
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For whatever reason, sometimes the *.ttf files are broken and depending how exactly they are broken can lead to all sorts of effects, from "Font can't be used" to "Some glyphs are broken".
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*HackWindowsInstaller* uses SHA-1 hashes to compare the files that should be installed with the files actually installed. This has the side effect that always the files included with the setup are installed, even if one font file was already manually updated to a newer version.
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##The FONTS applet might save fonts as (Fontname)_X.ttf
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##The FONTS applet might save fonts as (Fontname)_X.ttf
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When copying TTF files by simply dropping them onto the *Fonts* applet from Control Panel and the file that is copied is currently locked in *C:\WINDOWS\FONTS*, the applet will just append `_0` to the filename without extension and register this new file to the registry. For example, dropping `Hack-Regular.ttf` to FONTS when this file is locked will save the file as `Hack-Regular_0.ttf` to *C:\WINDOWS\FONTS*.
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Depending on the application and the caching method it can happen that the application continues to use the old font file.
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*HackWindowsInstaller* will delete any *(Fontname)_X.ttf* for each font file it installs. However, if a font file was renamed, *HackWindowsInstaller* won’t delete the old _0.ttf file because this deletion is executed upon installation and depends on the current font names.
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##Some fonts can be locked when in use
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##Some fonts can be locked when in use
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As soon as a font is used, the TTF file for it is locked and can’t be updated to a newer version.
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*HackWindowsInstaller* will try to replace any locked file five times and if this doesn’t work, it will use `PendingFileOperations` to replace the file in question upon next boot.
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##The FontCache service can lock fonts during installation
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##The FontCache service can lock fonts during installation
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For performance reasons, Windows includes a cache for all installed fonts. Because it is sometime to “eager” to read the information from a file, the installation can fail because the file is locked during the installation.
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*HackWindowsInstaller* will stop `FontCache` (and `FontCache3.0.0.0` for .NET if it exists) during installation.
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##The font data in the registry and the font files can be different
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## The font data in the registry and the font files can be different
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Depending what else has gone wrong, the font registration data (Name and File) inside the registry can be different from the actual fonts installed in C:\WINDOWS\FONTS. When this happens, the fonts can go “crazy” - see issue [#152 for Hack](https://github.com/chrissimpkins/Hack/issues/152).
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*HackWindowsInstaller* will ensure that the files and the registration data are exactly as desired and reinstall the font if this is not the case.
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##A new font is not visible directly after installation
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##A new font is not visible directly after installation
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When a new font is installed, Windows expects the broadcast message WM_FONTCHANGE before the font can be used.
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*HackWindowsInstaller* will sent this message if any new font is installed. However, some applications do not react on this message so a restart will be requested when the installation is finished.
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##A font cannot be updated without restart
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##A font cannot be updated without restart
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The [MSDN docs](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd183326%28v=vs.85%29.aspx) say that a call to RemoveFontResource() requires a restart before this font is really removed. However, it does not say anything if updating a font also requires this. Based on the current findings, I think it is required.
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*HackWindowsInstaller* will always request a restart when the installation is finished.
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##Not fixed: The cache files of the FontCache service can be corrupted
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##Not fixed: The cache files of the FontCache service can be corrupted
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This issue is not yet fixed by *HackWindowsInstaller* mostly because I never experienced this defect.
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@@ -58,7 +59,7 @@ After that, restart the computer.
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@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ This installer addresses most of the [commonly obeserved issues](https://github.
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- Double click `HackWindowsInstaller.exe`
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- If you see a *Windows protected your PC* message, click on `More info` and select `Run anyway`. This *Windows SmartScreen warning* can be safely ignored, the installer is virus and addware free (see VirusTotal report for each release)
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