Updating DirectX in Windows XP and Vista
Article by
Bill Fulks (54,552 pts )
Edited & published by Lamar Stonecypher (76,436 pts ) on Jul 23, 2010 DirectX is a multimedia system that is one of the key components of Microsoft Windows. Keeping it updated is an important way to make sure you are getting the most out of your games and using your video card to the utmost of its capabilities. google_ads_line1 google_ads_visurlgoogle_ads_line2 google_ads_line3 DirectX is a multimedia component of Windows and also a requirement of most modern PC games. As of this writing, DirectX version 10 is already in place for Windows Vista while version 9 is the one most commonly used today, because only newer video cards support version 10. If you don’t have the right version on your machine, it could adversely affect how well some of your games run, or if they even run at all. This article will tell you how to update your version of DirectX in both Windows XP and Vista. The first thing you need to do is figure out which version of DirectX you already have installed on your computer. To check your version, follow these steps: Click on the Start button, then go to Run. In the Open box,
Windows 7 Home Premium, type ‘dxdiag’ and click OK. This will bring up the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, as seen in the graphic below. If you look toward the bottom of the first screen,
Windows 7 64 Bit, it will say what DirectX version you have. As you can see in this screenshot, my Windows Vista PC has version 10. As of this writing, only Windows Vista supports DirectX 10, though a version is currently being developed for Windows XP. If your computer is showing DirectX version 9 or 9.0c or something similar - don’t panic. This doesn’t necessarily mean your computer is out of date. In order to run DirectX 10, you also need a graphics card that can support it. Otherwise, version 9.0c is the best your Windows XP system will run. For example, you’ll need an Nvidia GeForce 8000 series or better card to utilize DirectX 10. If you prefer the ATI chipset,
Office 2007 Keygen, you’ll need an HD 2000 series or better card for DirectX 10. Pretty much every modern game I’ve played included a DirectX update in the install routine, but just in case you run into one that doesn’t automatically update, or doesn’t do it properly, you can always download the latest version from Microsoft’s DirectX website. It is recommended that you do it this way because you are downloading the entire install package and it’ll have all the resources it needs to properly update your system. After you have installed or updated your version of DirectX,
Office 2010 Professional, be sure to test your computer to make sure everything is working properly. Follow the steps above to run ‘dxdiag’ again,
Office Professional 2010, and this time wait for the little meter in the bottom left corner of the DirectX Diagnostic Tool window to finish loading. After that, click the Next Page button and go through each section – Display, Sound, etc – and make sure there are no errors reported. In DirectX 10, it runs the tests for you, but in older versions you may actually have a Test button under each section. Microsoft DirectX -