Hi

After installing Winstep Xtreme in Windows 7 SP1 this program creates in the program location 13 types of fonts.
It's that correct?

In Windows 8 or 8.1 the folder 'AutoInstall' is empty.

In Windows 7 these fonts are not uninstalled when I uninstall Winstep Xtreme and are used by the operating system. I must restart my computer and remove fonts manually.

It's a mistake or not?

Very strange. Normal behavior is what you are seeing in your 8.x system.

Here is the *normal* sequence of events:

Winstep originally used the AutoInstall folder as a way to conveniently and automatically import and install several themes at once. This goes back all the way when themes were always inside .zip files (i.e.; before the .xtreme theme format).

The user downloads a bunch of theme files into the AutoInstall folder. He then goes to the Themes tab in Preferences and clicks the Import button. The application sees that there are themes files in the AutoInstall folder and automatically unzips them into the proper location (C:\Users\Public\Documents\Winstep\Themes\) and deletes the zip files. It also automatically installs any font files in the themes.

Now, this AutoInstall mechanism is also used by the application, right after installation and when run for the first time, to install the default themes and fonts.

Since installing a font requires admin privileges (which the application does not - and should not! - have) the actual job of installing the font is done by the Winstep service (WsxService.exe).

Its the service that does everything requiring admin privileges (installing fonts, changing the system time after syncing with the Internet Time Servers, getting process information from elevated processes for displaying in the desktop modules, etc...). When the main application needs to do something that requires admin privileges, it delegates to the service.

So, how are theme fonts installed? The application tells the service where the font file is, the service in turn *copies the font file to the Windows Fonts folder* and adds an entry to it in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE branch of the Windows Registry. That font can then become globally available (i.e.; to the whole system).

Installed fonts are shared resources, so they are NEVER removed from the system when you uninstall the Winstep application.

Once the service has finished copying and registering the font files, the application *deletes* the original files from the AutoInstall folder. It finishes registering the font with AddFontResource (this used to be done by the service too, but Microsoft changed something in Windows 10 that causes the service to freeze if it attempts to do this) and also broadcasts a WM_FONTCHANGE message to all top level windows in the system, to let them know that new fonts are available (the service itself cannot do the broadcasting because it is isolated and cannot interact directly with other windows in the system).

So, the fact that you are seeing those font files in the AutoInstall folder and, worse, that they are actually in use by the system, means something went wrong with the above process.

Exactly what, I am not sure. If the Winstep Service cannot copy the files to the Windows Font folder (for instance, if it gets an Access Denied message, which it shouldn't because it is running with admin privileges) then it simply aborts the whole process and doesn't register the new font with the system.

However, if the new fonts do get registered for some unknown reason BUT FROM THEIR ORIGINAL LOCATION in the AutoInstall folder, when the application tries to delete them from the AutoInstall folder it can't because those files are now in use by the system.

So, at this point I have no idea why that is happening to you. I don't see it happening here, but perhaps other users running Windows 7 can look inside their AutoInstall folder to see if the font files are also present there and chime in.

I understand everything. I have administrative rights. Now I tried to install your program with UAC and without UAC controls. I also created a new administrator account and the problem in Windows 7 (x64) persists. I have installed on my system everything right. I also have all updates for Windows 7.

Hmm

1. Make sure the WsxService.exe is running (you have to click on 'Show processes from all users' in the Processes tab of the Windows Task Manager, or, alternatively, check in the Services applet in the Windows Control Panel).

2. Open the Windows Registry, go to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts

Look for the

hooge 05_53 (TrueType)
hooge 05_54 (TrueType)
hooge 05_55 (TrueType)

entries. What are they referencing?

3. Go to

C:\Windows\Fonts\

Do you see

HOOG0553.TTF
HOOG0554.TTF
HOOG0555.TTF

in there?

Ah, and by the way, there is *no difference* in how the Winstep application installs fonts from Windows Vista onwards.

The process is *exactly* the same - so if it works properly in Windows 8.x it should also work properly on Windows 7.

Yes, WsxService.exe is running in processes. Everything is running properly, but the fonts are installed still in a folder AutoInstall. See screenshot.

Well, I don't know. From what (the little) I can see in there, the new fonts were NOT properly installed into your system. I don't see them in the Registry or the Windows Fonts folder.

hooge 05_55 Cyr2 (True Type) (hoog0555_cyr2.ttf) is not the same as hooge 05_55 (TrueType) (HOOG0555.TTF)

I'll try to reinstall the operating system Win 7. I'll see if this error occurs again or not.

Thank you, then I will write a response.

I have the fonts both in winstep autoinstall folder and in the windows fonts folder
http://prntscr.com/dwijk1

winstep service is running

they seem to be registered in registry
http://prntscr.com/dwim34

but when i try to delete them from autoinstall folder it says they are used by the system

but then i have uninstalled and reinstalled winstep several times during hunting for the other issue i'm not sure how that could have affected the fonts (several times i uninstalled everything, cleaning out all winstep folders, but last few installations i skipped that part)

Here we go again ehehe.

Ok, are you sure it says they are in use by *the system*? Or does it simply say they are in use?

This is really strange.

In your case, for instance: if those fonts in the AutoInstall folder were registered to the system, in the Windows Registry it would say

hooge 05_55 (TrueType) ......... C:\Users\Public\Documents\Winstep\AutoInstall\HOOG0555.TTF

The fact that there is no path means the font registered to the system is in a known folder path, i.e.; the Windows Fonts folder.

But that being the case, why are the TTF files in the AutoInstall folder locked? Who is locking them and why if there is (should be) no reference to them? And why does it happen on Windows 7 but not Windows 8.x?

A utility like LockHunter would come in handy for at least figuring out what process is locking the TTF files.

Also, what happens if you exit Winstep Xtreme and then try to delete those TTF files in the AutoInstall folder?

Ok, I knew Microsoft had made some changes related to how Windows handles fonts in Windows 10 (those changes caused the Winstep service to hang when trying to install a font by itself, which is why part of that work is now done by the application itself and not the service) but apparently these changes were not restricted to Windows 10. Just came across this:

###

This behaviour was introduced with a security update released in August 2014 (refer to security bulletin MS14-045 for details) and applies to any font file that is not installed in the default fonts directory.

Although the KB article for MS14-045 lists this as a "known issue" it is now documented as the expected behaviour. See Font Installation and Deletion in MSDN:

+++

A font installed from a location other than the %windir%\fonts folder cannot be modified when loaded in any active session, including session 0. [...]

Permanent fonts remain installed after reboot and are loaded by all created sessions.

+++

This means that if it is not acceptable to have to reboot the machine when upgrading the font, the font file must be installed in the default fonts directory. (I believe this has always been the recommended practice in any case.)

###


In other words, it seems Microsoft now locks any font files not inside the Windows Fonts folder, preventing them from being deleted. Nice. Not.

http://prntscr.com/dwkk2l

but i can dlete it with unlocker
edit not quite, unlocker says its deleted, but file still shows up in the folder, even though im not able to open it anymore

closing winstep doesnt make any difference
(don't know if this means anything to you anymore since you wrote that about MS)

The million dollar question then is: exactly *when* do these TTF files get locked by the system?

I wonder if Windows locks them simply because you've opened the folder they're stored at in an Explorer window. That would be pretty stupid, but I can't see any other reason so far.

Probably too much to ask, but if you boot your system with WorkShelf set NOT to start up automatically, would these TTF files still be locked?

il test it after my skype call finishes

Thanks!