TMG Fonts

(Note: This applies to all versions of TMG.)


Many users of TMG report problems with reports printing with odd symbols or characters or other unknown words or phrases in their reports.  Often this is the caused by TMG not being able to find a certain font on the users computer.  TMG requires four fonts to be installed on the computer depending on the version installed as follows:
TMG v4.x (& earlier) TMG v5x/v6x/v7x
HelvSS43 AlineTMG
HelvSS75 FoxFont
Wholly Genes LD HelvSB75
MS/LineDraw HelvSS75
The first indication of a missing font will be in a report which might have some odd data printed at the beginning of a section of your report.  Usually this will be some characters followed by a font name and one or more other characters.  You should then check your Windows Fonts directory/folder for the presence of the above fonts (depending on the version of TMG that you are using.  If one or more of these are not shown there, then you will need to install them.  The initial installation procedure for TMG v4.x (& earlier) usually installs the first three while the initial installation for TMG v5x/v6x/v7x install all four unless they are already installed.  In some cases, if they are not installed or have somehow been removed from the system you will need to re-install them.  Be sure to see the note for all versions near the bottom of this page.  Below are procedures to follow by version: 

TMG v4.x (& earlier):

The first three fonts for TMG v4.x above may be found on your Installation CD.  To install them, go to your Control Panel window (accessible from the MyComputer icon), and select the Fonts icon.  Select the File=>Install New Fonts option and point to the drive holding your TMG Installation CD.  The fonts should appear in the List of fonts field.  Highlight the font(s) that you wish to install and click on the OK button.

If the MS/LineDraw font is not installed, you will need to download it from the Files page of the Wholly Genes website.  After downloading it, you will need to install it much like the first three above.  The LineDraw font is one that MicroSoft used to include, but no longer does. Occasionally, the problem is related to the fact that you don't have the latest Courier New font, so you need to go to MicroSoft's website and download the latest Courier New font and install it.

If you have the above fonts installed, then the problem may be that you have too many fonts installed on your computer.  TMG's reports are generated by a third-party program that does not recognize more than 255 installed fonts.  This is a holdover from the old Windows 3.x operating system.  The next version of TMG (v5.0) is not expected to have this problem.  In the meantime, you will need to "uninstall" some unused fonts so that only 255 or less are installed. 

It is easy to "uninstall" fonts by just moving them to another directory/folder.  Just create a new directory/folder (called something like Fonts-Un or Fonts-X) and use the drag and drop feature (place the mouse cursor on a font to be moved, hold the left button down, move the cursor to where the font should be moved, and release the mouse button) of Windows to move fonts to the new directory/folder. 

While the process above is not all that hard, it can be a bit awkward to someone who has not done anything like drag and drop before.  Thus you may wish to use a font management program to move fonts around your system.  This kind of program makes this process easier than the drag and drop method.  Some computers already have font managers installed.  You may be able to install one from the installation disks of your printer (some HP printers include Font Smart on their installation disks).  If you don't have a font manager already installed or available to install, you can find many on the Internet.  Most are shareware although you can find a few freeware versions for non-commercial use.  Just use your favorite Internet Search Engine and enter "Font Manager" as the keywords.

As noted above, you should uninstall fonts that you don't use.  However, that supposes that you know exactly which fonts are needed by every program which most people don't.  Thus I recommend that you uninstall enough fonts so that you only have about 235 fonts installed.  This will allow room for growth either from installing new programs or from having to move back (re-install) a few fonts that you uninstalled.

Some fonts (other than those noted above) that you will want to retain are Arial, Courier, Times New Roman, Marlatt, and your favorite fonts.  Any variations of these fonts should also be retained. 

Finally, if you are using MS/Word as your word processor, you may want to check that you have the right update. If you select Help=>About in Word and the version does not end in SR-1 or SR-2, then you may want to go to the Microsoft website and download the update.

Also check that the Courier New font is the correct version.  Select Control Panel=>Fonts, select the Courier New and open it.  The version should be 2.50 or later.  If it is not, then download the latest version from the Microsoft website <http://www.microsoft.com/typography/fonts/default.asp>.

 

TMG v5.x, v6.x and v7:

All four of the above fonts are installed by the TMG v5.x, v6.x or v7.x installation.  If you find that one or more of the  fonts are missing, you can re-install them by re-installing TMG v5/v6/v7. You do not have to uninstall TMG v6.0 just re-install the program over the current installation.  Be sure to have your License Key information as you may need to enter that again.  After installation, check that you have the latest updates before trying to open your projects.  You do not have to install each update, just the latest.

If the above fonts are installed (as well as your selected fonts), then there is a different problem.  The limitation on the number of fonts as noted in the v4.x procedures above will probably not apply to TMG v5x/6x/v7x dependant to some extent on the version of Windows that is installed.  So do not waste your time on that. At this point, it is suggested that you select Help=>Technical Support=>Trouble Report.  This will create a basic Trouble Report that you can print or fax or copy into an e-mail to Technical Support.  If you call Technical Support at the number given in Help=>About, be sure to print out the trouble report and have it handy for reference when you talk with them.  Of course, you can also do an on-line chat with a technician by going to the Wholly Genes web site <www.whollygenes.com>.

For all versions:

TMG expects to find some standard Windows fonts installed (e.g., Arial and Wingdings).  Also it expects that any font(s) the user wishes to use will be installed.  So if you have removed some fonts then you need to either re-install the ones causing the problem or select different fonts within TMG and/or your word processor.
Also it appears that many users wind up missing one or more of the fonts after they have installed (say v6.x or v7.x) and then uninstalled an earlier version (say v4.x, v6.x, or v6.x).  As noted above, try re-installing the later version over top of the same installation.  Again you will probably need your license key, so have that handy.  If there have been later updates (minor updates) since your initial installation of the current program version you will need to open the SAMPLE project and update the program to the latest update before opening your project.

 


Comments to:  Lee Hoffman/KY

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