Disabling Adobe Type Manager from Windows

Article ID: 69692 - View products that this article applies to.
This article was previously published under Q69692

SUMMARY
While troubleshooting problems with Microsoft Windows, you may need to disable Adobe Type Manager (ATM) from 
Windows, as explained in this article.

Also, while in Microsoft Word 2000 and scrolling through the font preview you may get an illegal operation error:
Winword.exe caused a GPF in ATM32.dll
. When you attempt to restart Windows, your computer may stop responding (hang).

The procedures in this article resolve these behaviors.
Collapse imageMORE INFORMATION
When ATM is installed, it modifies the SYSTEM.INI file by changing the SYSTEM.DRV line and adding a new line.

For example:

   [Boot]
   SYSTEM.DRV=ATMSYS.DRV
   ATM.SYSTEM.DRV=SYSTEM.DRV
				

To ensure that ATM is not running, the SYSTEM.INI file should read as follows:

   [Boot]
   SYSTEM.DRV=SYSTEM.DRV
				

NOTE: You can also deactivate ATM by commenting out the two lines below the [Boot] section shown under "Example." 
To comment out these lines, open the file in a text editor (such as Notepad) and type a semicolon (;) at the 
beginning of each line. To reactivate ATM, remove the semicolons.

ATM may also modify the WIN.INI file to add fonts to the Hewlett-Packard (HP) printer sections for each HP 
printer installed under Windows. Commenting out the lines that start with "softfonts=" disables the ATM soft font 
information for that printer.

Some versions of ATM (2.5x) add the following lines to [drivers] section in the SYSTEM.INI file:

   adobekey=adobekey.drv
   adobemse=adobemse.drv
				

NOTE: You must exit and restart Windows before any changes to the SYSTEM.INI and WIN.INI FILES can take effect.

A vendor independent of Microsoft manufactures Adobe Type Manager; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, 
regarding this product's performance or reliability.

To deactivate ATM in Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition (SE), and Windows Millennium Edition (Me), perform the 
following steps:

   1. Click Start, and then click Run.
   2. In the Open box, type msconfig, and then click OK.
   3. In the System Configuration Utility dialog box, click the System.ini tab.
   4. Under [boot], locate the text: system.drv=atmsys.drv or system.drv=system.drv.

      If the text reads system.drv=system.drv, then this entry is correct and does not need editing. If the text 
reads something other than system.drv=system.drv, click the text and then click Edit.

      In the box that appears, type system.drv=system.drv, and then press ENTER.

      When the confirmation message appears, click Yes.
   5. Restart your computer.NOTE: If this does not resolve this issue, continue to follow these steps.

   6. Click Start, point to Find, and then click Files or Folders.
   7. In the Named box, type win.ini, and then click Search Now.
   8. When the search process is complete, double-click win.ini.
   9. Locate the following text:

      adobekey=adobekey.drv
      adobemse=adobemse.drv
      					

  10. Place a semi-colon (;) at the beginning of these two lines to comment them out. This makes the lines of 
code insignificant to the computer. EXAMPLE:

      ;adobekey=adobekey.drv
      ;adobemse=adobemse.drv
      					

      NOTE: Also comment out any lines beginning with the text softfonts=.

  11. Save your changes.
  12. Close the Win.ini file, and then restart your computer.