Member Avatar for AnnD

I'm a font fanatic who was silly enough to load too many fonts into my Windows\Fonts folder. When I realized my mistake, I decided to move all of the new fonts into a separate folder, burn everything onto a CD, and leave the original ones intact. I even used a list from another computer to ensure that I didn't remove any fonts that needed to be in the Windows/Fonts folder. As a "Plan B" strategy, I did a System Restore to a couple days earlier, then rebooted.

On reboot, ScanDisk ran automatically, although I don't know why. I received a message that the WIN\System\vgaoem.fon file was missing. I assume that this is a font file that allows my monitor to display properly. So, I tried to start in safe mode. I see the HP (This is an older HP Pavilion.) startup screen, and the WinXP screen, but after that, it's the ominous BSOD. Instead of the flashing bar cursor in the upper left corner, though, I do have the white arrow cursor.

I've tried repeatedly to boot from my WinXP disc, but to no avail. At one point I was able to get into BIOS, and tried "BOOTCFG/default" thinking that this would reset the boot directory to default settings, but it didn't help either.

I reformatted the hard drive just a couple of months ago, and everything is working properly as far as hardware goes. Just finished reloading all of my software, and updated some files recently that weren't backed up yet, so I'm unwilling to reformat again unless absolutely necessary. I REALLY don't want to lose any files.

Any suggestions?:rolleyes:

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A few practical notes and recovery paths that fill gaps in the replies from and .

vgaoem.fon is the OEM VGA/font resource Windows keeps in the Fonts folder; when that specific system font is missing, low-level UI components and early boot threads can fail and produce the “black screen with cursor” symptom you describe. later reported the problem was resolved, which confirms that restoring the font or otherwise repairing the missing system file is a viable fix.

Non-destructive recovery (no reinstall)

  • If possible, remove the drive and attach it to a working Windows XP system (internal or via a USB/SATA adapter). Copy the original vgaoem.fon from a matching XP machine into the broken drive’s Windows\Fonts folder, then reconnect and boot. Matching service pack and locale reduce the chance of incompatibilities.
  • If you cannot attach the drive, boot the machine from a rescue/live environment (Windows PE or a Linux live USB) and copy the font from a USB stick into the Windows\Fonts folder. This lets personal data be preserved while repairing the one file.

If you can’t find a donor font

  • The Windows installation media contains originals; a repair environment (or a PE/rescue boot) can restore missing system files without a full format. If repair attempts fail, first use a rescue environment to copy important documents off the drive before any reinstall.

Extra tips and prevention

  • As suggested, a bootable rescue environment is very useful for extracting registry hives or pulling files out of System Volume Information before drastic steps.
  • For future font work, avoid deleting from the system Fonts folder directly. Use a font manager or the Fonts control panel, and keep a system image or backup before large changes. When troubleshooting, try Last Known Good Configuration or a low-resolution/diagnostic boot option before reinstalling.

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Member Avatar for Chaky

Is this still on?

I'm sure you meant "%SystemRoot%\fonts" where the %SystemRoot% variable stands for path to Windows installation directory.

There is a way to bypass some of the setup checks that windows setup does and sometimes fails to resume with repair or fresh install.

Setup program tends to check if there is windows already installed on your HD. There are some trivial problems (such as corrupted or missing file) that can make windows unrepairable. I had similar experience with corrupted registry, where I couldn't move past square 1 (BSOD when the setups checks for the installed windows).

Here is what you need to do:

Enter BIOS and disable your HD. When HD is disabled, setup program doesn't try to check the current windows installation, but it still has access to HD.
Reboot from setup CD, and use repair console to access CD and HD.

You'll be prompted to log on to your C:\WINDOWS installation (ironic) and for the admin password.

After that you just type "expand d:\i386\_ c:\windows\fonts\vgaoem.fon". I'm guessing that your CD drive is "d:" and your windows path is "c:\windows".


P.S.
Something tells me you already fixed it.

Member Avatar for AnnD

Is this still on?

I'm sure you meant "%SystemRoot%\fonts" where the %SystemRoot% variable stands for path to Windows installation directory.

There is a way to bypass some of the setup checks that windows setup does and sometimes fails to resume with repair or fresh install.

Setup program tends to check if there is windows already installed on your HD. There are some trivial problems (such as corrupted or missing file) that can make windows unrepairable. I had similar experience with corrupted registry, where I couldn't move past square 1 (BSOD when the setups checks for the installed windows).

Here is what you need to do:

Enter BIOS and disable your HD. When HD is disabled, setup program doesn't try to check the current windows installation, but it still has access to HD.
Reboot from setup CD, and use repair console to access CD and HD.

You'll be prompted to log on to your C:\WINDOWS installation (ironic) and for the admin password.

After that you just type "expand d:\i386\_ c:\windows\fonts\vgaoem.fon". I'm guessing that your CD drive is "d:" and your windows path is "c:\windows".


P.S.
Something tells me you already fixed it.

Chaky--

Your P.S. was correct--I have already fixed the problem, but thanks so much for the reply!

Member Avatar for Troxx

If you have another computer handy with a cd burner, go to http://www.UBCD4win.com You can make what is called Ultimate Boot CD. I use it all the time on computers with BSOD's. What you could try from there is to going into the System Volume Information folder and pull a backup of your registry.

You could also try chkdsk c: /f /r that will check the system for any file problems and try to correct them.

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