Font issue on Windows - Invisible characters

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microUgly
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Font issue on Windows - Invisible characters

Postby microUgly » Sun Dec 16, 2012 7:48 pm

Since an update for Windows released on Dec 11, some fonts may not display in Inkscape. This is a fault with Windows, not Inkscape, and may affect other software.

The update that introduces the issue is KB2753842 and Microsoft has confirmed the issue.

To work around the issue, you can uninstall the update. These are instructions for how to do this with Windows 7:
  1. Click the Windows (Start) button and open `Control Panel`
  2. Click on `Programs` then `Programs and Features`
  3. On the left, click on `View installed updates`
  4. In the list of updates, beneath the section `Microsoft Windows` find `Security Update for Windows (KB2753842)`
  5. Select the update and click `Uninstall`

If you have additional information about this issue, feel free to post it here.

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brynn
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Re: Font issue on Windows - Invisible characters

Postby brynn » Sun Dec 16, 2012 8:42 pm

Thanks micro :D

Ehat
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Re: Font issue on Windows - Invisible characters

Postby Ehat » Mon Dec 17, 2012 4:23 am

Are there any plans to fix this problem on windows or inkscape side? We are not comfortable uninstalling a security update. Is there a way to open are documents in another software to recover all our work that we have lost? These files are critical to our business.

Thank you for your answer.

Ellen

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brynn
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Re: Font issue on Windows - Invisible characters

Postby brynn » Mon Dec 17, 2012 10:50 pm

Hi Ellen,
If I've followed the trail accurately, this is the security bulletin which describes the security risk which this update addressed: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/secu ... n/MS12-078 Note where it says:
An attacker would have to convince users to visit the website, typically by getting them to click a link in an email message that takes them to the attacker's website.

As long as you follow safe internet practices, and otherwise have adequate firewall, anti-virus, and other anti-malware programs activated and protecting your computer(s), I would say that you'll be safe until MS puts out a patch (or whatever they call it), if you were to uninstall the update. I don't know how much time passed between the time this possible route of attack was identified, and the update came out. But if you were to uninstall the update, you would be at no more risk than you were in that time. If you don't ever open suspicious email, or follow suspicious links, you should be fine. (Not that I'm a security expert.)

Or if you share a computer, you could uninstall the update, and just disable your internet connection until the work is finished, and you've reinstalled the update.

But, as PT said, your work is not lost. You should be able to open in any other program (which is not affected by this issue) and see all the missing text. Although this sounds like it affects a fairly broad range of products, so it might be hard to find one that's unaffected.

I suspect that MS is furiously working to correct the problem, but I have no idea how long that could take.

dnyanesh
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Re: Font issue on Windows - Invisible characters

Postby dnyanesh » Tue Dec 18, 2012 7:49 pm

Sigh!

I thought there was some issue with my Windows 8 installation. I removed all the recent updates and the problem went away but I didn't know which exact update was the culprit. Thanks for mentioning it. I just hope that MS releases the fix soon.

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druban
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Re: Font issue on Windows - Invisible characters

Postby druban » Fri Dec 21, 2012 8:11 am

dnyanesh wrote:I just hope that MS releases the fix soon.Sigh!

Sigh no more! Microsoft says:
The original version of security update 2753842 had an issue related to OpenType Font (OTF) rendering in applications such as PowerPoint on affected versions of Windows. This issue was resolved in the version of this security update that was rereleased on December 20, 2012.
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Jelle
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Re: Font issue on Windows - Invisible characters

Postby Jelle » Fri Dec 21, 2012 4:02 pm

Here's a nice article on the register about it. Just uninstall the update if it bothers you or face the doom of the remote chance of having a virus infected font in your machine. It borked MSoffice apps as well btw.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/17 ... lls_fonts/

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druban
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Re: Font issue on Windows - Invisible characters

Postby druban » Fri Dec 21, 2012 4:43 pm

Jelle wrote:Here's a nice article on the register about it. Just uninstall the update if it bothers you or face the doom of the remote chance of having a virus infected font in your machine. It borked MSoffice apps as well btw. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/17 ... lls_fonts/

Actually the gist of my previous post was that Microsoft has actually fixed the problem whose existence they acknowledged earlier. Sorry to not have made that absolutely clear.
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dnyanesh
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Re: Font issue on Windows - Invisible characters

Postby dnyanesh » Mon Dec 24, 2012 3:10 am

So, does the latest update solve the issue?

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brynn
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Re: Font issue on Windows - Invisible characters

Postby brynn » Mon Dec 24, 2012 9:17 pm

I haven't tried it myself. But then I never tested the problem in the first place. But we haven't had any complaints since the new update came out. I'd say that's a fairly good indication that it's fixed :D


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