iWork '08/Microsoft Office 2004 conflict: "Corrupted fonts" message

iWork '08 installs several fonts, which are causing some problems with Microsoft Office 2004, particularly a "Corrupted fonts" message that appears at startup. The issue may be the actual fonts in some cases, or corruption of font caches in other cases. We previously noted a series of fixes for this issue that may also be effective in this instance:

Fixes

Remove Fontcachetool Microsoft's Office programs use an application called "Fontcachetool" to check system/user fonts at launch. Unfortunately, it seems that this tool often flags working fonts as corrupt. Temporarily removing the tool bypasses this checking mechanism, allowing Office apps to properly launch in some cases.

Navigate to the following directory:

• /Applications/Microsoft Office 2004/Office/Support Files

and move the application "Fontcachetool" to another location outside that folder (your Desktop, for instance). Log out then back in, and check for persistence of the corrupt font error message.

Removing this application can also provide a noticeable speed boost in Office application launch time.

Boot in safe mode On numerous occasions, we've noted that simply booting in safe mode can resolve a number of troubleshooting issues, as in addition to turning of system extensions, the process clears certain caches and performs other maintenance operations.

It appears that safe booting can, in some cases, resolve the issue where Office 2004 incorrectly claims corrupt fonts are present.

In order to boot into Safe Mode, just hold the Shift key immediately after restarting or pressing the power button.

Delete duplicate fonts Open the application Font Book (located in /Applications) and use the "Remove Duplicates" option under the Edit menu. Then, reveal duplicate fonts in the Finder and either delete them or move them to a different location. [Thanks to MacFixIt reader Joe Cordes for noting this workaround as potentially successful]

Delete font caches Use a utility like Font Finagler to remove font caches, or manually delete the following files:

• /Library/Caches/com.apple.ATS    
• /System/Library/Caches/FontTablesAnnex      
• /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.ATS.System.fcache
• /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.ATSServer.FODB_System
• ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.ATS.plist    
• ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Office Font Cache

Re-install Office As a last resort, try re-installing Microsoft Office 2004 from its original media.

You'll want to save you Entourage identity, located in:

• ~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2004 Identities

first if you have an active Entourage e-mail account.

Next run the Remove Office tool, located in Applications/Office 2004/Additional Tools. After Office is removed, run the Office 2004 installer from the original disc.

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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