Windows Font Cache Service started and then stopped

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Office 2013 Error 1920. Service Windows Font Cache Service (FontCache) failed to start

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Allen White
How do I fix Windows font cache service?
What is Windows font cache service?
How do I rebuild font cache in Windows 10?

Written by Allen White on January 30, 2013. Posted in Office 2013

When trying to install Office 2013 or upgrade to Office 2013 during the installation you may come across the error below.

Error 1920. Service ‘Windows Font Cache Service’ (FontCache) failed to start

Additionally in the installation logs you will see errors like the following.

[4576] MSI(ACTIONSTART): ‘Action 22:26:30: StartServices. Starting services’
[4576] MSI(ERROR): ‘Error 1920. Service ‘Windows Font Cache Service’ (FontCache) failed to start. Verify that you have sufficient privileges to start system services.’
[4576] Log level changed from: Standard to: Verbose
[4576] Showing message Title: ‘Setup’, Message: ‘Error 1920. Service ‘Windows Font Cache Service’ (FontCache) failed to start. Verify that you have sufficient privileges to start system services.’

This error is down to your Font Cache Service not being set to automatic, even if you start the service it will fail when it tries to install the next part of the office install. To set it to automatic do the following.

For both Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Press Windows key+R
Enter Services.msc then press return.
Scroll down alphabetically and find the service named Windows Font Cache Service
Double click it and set the start-up type to Automatic
Click apply.

Now start the office 2013 installation and the error will not occur.

Allen White

Allen is an IT Consultant and holds the following accreditations. MCSA, MCSE, MCTS, MCITP, CCA, CCSP, VCP 4,5, 6 and HP ASE, AIS - Network Infrastructure.

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Alright, I'm at the end of my rope.

A few of the PCs in our network will not install Office 2013. It gets to 10% into the install, and says

Error 1920. Service 'Windows Font Cache Service' (FontCache) failed to start

So, following other's advice, I go into system32, delete the FontCache dat file, as well as the Local Service App Data dat files, restarted, nothing.

The entire time, FontCache is set to Automatic startup, and when trying to start it, it returns that it's stopped itself, so it never stays running.

I've reduced running services, messed with the Font Cache 3.0.0.0 service as well, but no matter what, the service won't start, nothing useful in the event logs, it just won't install any of Office 2013.

I have nothing else to try, anyone else have a possible solution?

Windows 7 - SP1 - 32-bit

All PCs built from the same sysyprepped image, but not all have this issue.

How do I fix Windows font cache service?

Way 1: Manually clear font cache Locate the Windows Font Cache Service. Double click on this service to open its properties dialog. Click Stop under "Service status" to stop this service, and then select Disabled from the "Startup type" list to completely disable this service. Finally, click Apply.

What is Windows font cache service?

Description. Windows service that optimizes performance of applications by caching commonly used font data. Applications will start this service if it is not already running. It can be disabled, though doing so will degrade application performance.