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Glossary:DirectX

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Revision as of 16:07, 1 March 2012 by Andytizer (talk | contribs) (moved DirectX Fixes to DirectX)

DirectX is a collection of API's for Windows that allows programs to interact directly with hardware. For most PC gamers, it is one of those things that most games require you to install before running the game. Most PC games require some version of DirectX to run.

Updating DirectX

To obtain the latest DirectX, download the DirectX Web Updater and run it. It will ensure you have the latest version of DirectX 9.0.

NOTE: DirectX 10 is built into both Windows Vista and 7, and does not need to be updated. DirectX 11 is built into Windows 7, but can be installed on Vista via this update. Neither DirectX 10 or 11 can be installed on Windows XP.

Old Games on Vista/7 Fix

One chief problem that PC gamers run into these days (relating to DirectX)is trying run older games on Windows Vista/7. Because Vista and Windows 7 run DirectX 10, some important .DLL files may not be installed, leading to errors when trying to run these games. If a game is complaining about a missing .dll file and you are running Windows Vista/7, follow these instructions:

1. Write down the name of the .dll the games says is missing.

2. Navigate to C:/Windows/system32.

3. Locate the .dll that has the same name as the missing .dll but with an additional x in the name. (I.e. if the game can't find dplay.dll, navigate here and find dplayx.dll.)

4. Make a copy of that .dll, and rename the copy to the initial .dll that was missing. (I.e make a copy of dplayx.dll and rename the copy dplay.dll).

With any luck, the game will see now be able to find the .dll and play normally.

NOTE: Be sure to create a copy of the .dll and rename the copy. If you rename the original, other games may cease to work.