Install fonts easily on Windows XP

There is one task that I occasionally do with my Windows computer which I think is horribly complicated: installing a font. The official way to do it is so long and tedious that I refuse to spell it out here but if you're interested click this link. All that it needed to install a font is to just copy it to the right directory. I could of course copy the fonts manually but that is only a little more efficient than the official way and then I need to remember which directory the fonts should go into.

So, instead of just complaining about the problem here is a tweak for Windows XP which makes it painless to install fonts. When implemented, this tweak enables you to install a font simply by right-clicking on it and select 'install'. Couldn't be easer. Here's how it's done:

1. Open Explorer. Open the 'Tools' menu and choose 'Folder Options'.
   
2. Click the tab 'File Types'.
   
3. Locate the file type 'OpenType Fonts' in the list and select it. It has extension 'OTF'.
   
4. Click 'Advanced'.
   
5. Click 'New'.
   
6. In the first field write 'Install'.
   
7. In the second field write 'C:\WINDOWS\system32\xcopy.exe "%1" C:\WINDOWS\Fonts'
   
8. Click 'OK' and then 'OK' again.
   
9. Now, locate the file type 'TrueType Fonts' and select it. It has extension 'TTF'.
   
10. Repeat steps 4 through 8.
    
11. Click 'OK'.
    

And you're done!

Now you can easily install your fonts from explorer by simply right-clicking on them and select 'Install'. If you want to try it out here are some web sites with free fonts that I can recommend:

• FreeFonts is a huge resource of free fonts.
  
• TypeNow.net has some nice movie and music fonts.
  
• Divide by zero fonts has some really weird but cool fonts.