Helvetica problems, Finder has to be relaunched, Text Edit not working (?)

Question

I'm having serious problems lately
and all these problems happen suddenly at the same time.
Helvetica Neue is causing serious problems,
mainly with Quark 6 or 7 but with other
programs also. Like in Quark 6, the font looks
jagged on screen but prints ok
(I remember in Classic there were font suitcases
which caused this problem when the screen font was missing,
isn't this problem impossible in Mac OS X ??!!?).
Certain applications cannot launch anymore (TextEdit,
CD Finder). Now I know that certain programs will not
work if certain fonts do not function properly or are not installed.
I tried deleting my fonts are reinstalling new ones, but the problem persists.
And, I don't want to play around with system fonts too much,
knowing that deleting certain font can seriously impair the operating system.
Now, Dealing with Helvetica Neue is very, very difficult.
I think Apple made a major error in creating its own Helvetica
with the same font number.
*What can I do (simply!) to clean ALL my hard drive of Helvetica fonts,*
*and keep only 1 copy for everything ?*
Also, everytime, I have to relaunch the Finder after starting, otherwise
I will not see folders and files on the desktop. And iTunes says it can't
find the iTunes Music folder (it's there, where it always was) if I use the dock
(draging a mp3 to the iTunes icon on the dock). But if I click on the hard drive,
get the file and double click on it, iTunes starts fine.
Aren't all these problems related to fonts ? Bad fonts used by the Finder, Dock ?
Thanks

Answer 1

(I remember in Classic there were font suitcases which caused this problem when the screen font was missing, isn't this problem impossible in Mac OS X ??!!?).
If you're referring to Type 1 PostScript fonts, then they don't work if the screen font for a typeface is missing. The printer outline portions of a T1PS font cannot work alone in any way.
I tried deleting my fonts are reinstalling new ones, but the problem persists.
It's possible other fonts on the system are damaged, or you've removed others the OS or other applications need. At the bottom of the article Sean linked to, you'll find the instructions on how to restore just the fonts from your OS X installation disks.
To get things back to square one:
1) Create a new folder on your desktop. Move all fonts in the /Library/Fonts/ folder and the Fonts folder within your user account into the new folder. Leave the /System/Library/Fonts/ folder alone.
2) Restore the fonts from the OS X install disk.
3) Follow the steps in Undoing Font Book. Note that you will lose any font collections you have created. Doing this will also clear the font cache files for your user account. Since Font Book's database is reset, all fonts in any Fonts folder will be active, regardless of their state beforehand.
4) Download and Font Finagler to clear the rest of the font cache files from your system that a Safe Mode boot doesn't.
I think Apple made a major error in creating its own Helvetica with the same font number.
OK, I'll read the whole thing again.
No need. Read section 5 for the information you need to get Apple's Helvetica fonts out of the way.
Also, everytime, I have to relaunch the Finder after starting, otherwise I will not see folders and files on the desktop. And iTunes says it can't find the iTunes Music folder (it's there, where it always was) if I use the dock (draging a mp3 to the iTunes icon on the dock). But if I click on the hard drive, get the file and double click on it, iTunes starts fine.
Aren't all these problems related to fonts ? Bad fonts used by the Finder, Dock ?
Much more likely, permissions errors at minimum (run Repair Permissions with Disk Utility), or the OS is damaged, which can of course only be repaired by reinstalling.