DirectX on Win/XP

I have Win XP Pro/SP3 on my pc.

I have installed a game that requires DirectX. The installation
program for the game installed the latest version of DirectX along
with the game. Everything seems to work fine.

I expected to see an entry in Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs for
DirectX. There is no entry for DirectX.

Am I misunderstanding something? What happened to DirectX?

David

David wrote:
I have Win XP Pro/SP3 on my pc.

I have installed a game that requires DirectX. The installation
program for the game installed the latest version of DirectX along
with the game. Everything seems to work fine.

I expected to see an entry in Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs for
DirectX. There is no entry for DirectX.

Am I misunderstanding something? What happened to DirectX?

David

It's in the C:/Windows/System32 folder.

C

David wrote in message ...
I have Win XP Pro/SP3 on my pc.

I have installed a game that requires DirectX. The installation
program for the game installed the latest version of DirectX along
with the game. Everything seems to work fine.

I expected to see an entry in Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs for
DirectX. There is no entry for DirectX.

Am I misunderstanding something? What happened to DirectX?

David

DirectX is a non-uninstallable (sp?) program. If you want to see what
version you're running, and the associated files, go to Start, Run, type in
DXDIAG, and press enter.

SC Tom

David wrote in message ...

I have Win XP Pro/SP3 on my pc.
I have installed a game that requires DirectX. The installation
program for the game installed the latest version of DirectX along
with the game. Everything seems to work fine.

I expected to see an entry in Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs for
DirectX. There is no entry for DirectX.

Am I misunderstanding something? What happened to DirectX?

This appears normal. You will probably find DirectX has installed
itself in default location c:\windows\system, i.e. the software
identifies itself as part of the Operating System rather than an
independent application. You can test/adjust DirectX by
running c:\windows\system\dxdiag.exe

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

David wrote:
I have Win XP Pro/SP3 on my pc.

I have installed a game that requires DirectX. The installation
program for the game installed the latest version of DirectX along
with the game. Everything seems to work fine.

I expected to see an entry in Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs for
DirectX. There is no entry for DirectX.

Am I misunderstanding something? What happened to DirectX?

David

There are a few things to learn about DirectX. You
can't "go backwards" in release numbers. If you needed
DirectX 8 and installed DirectX 9 for example, you
can't install DirectX 8 over top of DirectX 9. You'd
stay at 9.

You can install the same DirectX file over and over
again, without apparent side effects. At least, I've
done it and can't see a difference.

There are some other issues with DirectX, which is
the versioning information. Microsoft keeps offering
downloads with later dates, but claims they're all
"DirectX 9c". But there is one file in each download,
which is different, and appears to accumulate. And
some software appears to search for a specific version
of that file, not accepting one with a later number
on it. Check and see how many of these you've got for
example.

d3dx9_24.dll
d3dx9_25.dll
....
d3dx9_34.dll

And when you use DXDIAG.exe and look at your config, those
files don't seem to be mentioned in any way that I can
tell. A certain Lifecam software update, looks for
only d3dx9_35.dll for example.

If you happen to run Win2K, and want to try the latest
games, Microsoft has been careful to add some "WinXP only"
features into DirectX. This just seems to be carelessness,
done on purpose to get people to dump Win2K. Well done,
Microsoft. (In some cases, you can use a hex editor and
patch around it, that is, if someone figures out the
recipe. I've tried that for one game in Win2K, and got
it to run just fine. Which shows, if it wasn't for
embedded stupidity, there is no actual issue with the
game running. At one time, Win2K and WinXP were considered
to be very similar, so that it shouldn't have been much
work to support both.) There is a difference between
"not supporting" something, and willfully breaking it.

I don't play that many games, and I suspect some gamer
sites will have a lot more quirks for you. On the one
hand, since DirectX is usually bundled on the game
CD, chances are few people will see these issues. But
stuff like the Lifecam, means it may bite you when
you least expect it. For the Lifecam, the DirectX
thing seems to be related to placing animations
on top of your webcam feed (goofy special effects).
Most people would never suspect they'd have need
of something like that, to be able to chat with
grandma.

Paul

I read all the responses and found some interesting stuff on my pc

There is a c:\windows\syatem32\DirectX\Dinput directory with lots of
files dated back in 2004. They appear to be files related to a
variety of human interface peripherals. The files seem to have been
installed by the PC mfg.

DXDIAG system tab shows that I have v9.0c
DXDIAG Files Tab all dated 4/14/2008
No files on my PC are in the form d3dx9_??.dll I used File Mgr Search

My version of Direct X appears over 18 months old. Should I update?


On Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:58:05 -0500, David wrote:

I have Win XP Pro/SP3 on my pc.

I have installed a game that requires DirectX. The installation
program for the game installed the latest version of DirectX along
with the game. Everything seems to work fine.

I expected to see an entry in Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs for
DirectX. There is no entry for DirectX.

Am I misunderstanding something? What happened to DirectX?

David

David wrote:
I read all the responses and found some interesting stuff on my pc

There is a c:\windows\syatem32\DirectX\Dinput directory with lots of
files dated back in 2004. They appear to be files related to a
variety of human interface peripherals. The files seem to have been
installed by the PC mfg.

DXDIAG system tab shows that I have v9.0c
DXDIAG Files Tab all dated 4/14/2008
No files on my PC are in the form d3dx9_??.dll I used File Mgr Search

My version of Direct X appears over 18 months old. Should I update?

Ask Microsoft using their search feature at www.microsoft.com Use the
key word DirectX and compare the version available there to the one you
have.

Personally, I think you're making mountains out of mole hills.

C


On Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:58:05 -0500, David wrote:

I have Win XP Pro/SP3 on my pc.

I have installed a game that requires DirectX. The installation
program for the game installed the latest version of DirectX along
with the game. Everything seems to work fine.

I expected to see an entry in Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs for
DirectX. There is no entry for DirectX.

Am I misunderstanding something? What happened to DirectX?

David

David wrote:
I read all the responses and found some interesting stuff on my pc

There is a c:\windows\syatem32\DirectX\Dinput directory with lots of
files dated back in 2004. They appear to be files related to a
variety of human interface peripherals. The files seem to have been
installed by the PC mfg.

DXDIAG system tab shows that I have v9.0c
DXDIAG Files Tab all dated 4/14/2008
No files on my PC are in the form d3dx9_??.dll I used File Mgr Search

My version of Direct X appears over 18 months old. Should I update?

There is no reason to panic. I gave the little details I've run into,
so you'd be prepared for future situations.

You don't have to "update daily", and simply update when a new game
or game demo (or webcam software) requires. My version of DirectX is
stale as well, and I currently don't have need of an update. All the
games on the PC play fine with what I've got. A new game will tell you
if there is a problem. Most of the time, the game is bundled
with DirectX Redist, to cover the game requirements. And it shouldn't
have side effects, unless you're trying to get a DirectX 5 game to
run again. Chances are, any DirectX 7,8,9 game should co-exist nicely.

Paul



On Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:58:05 -0500, David wrote:

I have Win XP Pro/SP3 on my pc.

I have installed a game that requires DirectX. The installation
program for the game installed the latest version of DirectX along
with the game. Everything seems to work fine.

I expected to see an entry in Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs for
DirectX. There is no entry for DirectX.

Am I misunderstanding something? What happened to DirectX?

David

"David" wrote in message ...
I read all the responses and found some interesting stuff on my pc

There is a c:\windows\syatem32\DirectX\Dinput directory with lots of
files dated back in 2004. They appear to be files related to a
variety of human interface peripherals. The files seem to have been
installed by the PC mfg.

DXDIAG system tab shows that I have v9.0c
DXDIAG Files Tab all dated 4/14/2008
No files on my PC are in the form d3dx9_??.dll I used File Mgr Search

My version of Direct X appears over 18 months old. Should I update?


On Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:58:05 -0500, David wrote:

I have Win XP Pro/SP3 on my pc.

I have installed a game that requires DirectX. The installation
program for the game installed the latest version of DirectX along
with the game. Everything seems to work fine.

I expected to see an entry in Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs for
DirectX. There is no entry for DirectX.

Am I misunderstanding something? What happened to DirectX?

David

9.0c is the latest available version for XP, so you're good to go. Like
someone else said, you may be making too much ado over nothing.

SC Tom

You are probably right. I am probably making a mountain out of a mole
hill. But, my reason for the post and inquiry is merely curiosity. I
like to know how things work. I found it curious that ADD/Rem Pgms
had no DirectX. However, I will take your advice and let things go as
they are until a game doesn't work because of DirectX.

Thanks, David


On Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:43:17 +0100, C
wrote:

David wrote:
I read all the responses and found some interesting stuff on my pc

There is a c:\windows\syatem32\DirectX\Dinput directory with lots of
files dated back in 2004. They appear to be files related to a
variety of human interface peripherals. The files seem to have been
installed by the PC mfg.

DXDIAG system tab shows that I have v9.0c
DXDIAG Files Tab all dated 4/14/2008
No files on my PC are in the form d3dx9_??.dll I used File Mgr Search

My version of Direct X appears over 18 months old. Should I update?

Ask Microsoft using their search feature at www.microsoft.com Use the
key word DirectX and compare the version available there to the one you
have.

Personally, I think you're making mountains out of mole hills.

C


On Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:58:05 -0500, David wrote:

I have Win XP Pro/SP3 on my pc.

I have installed a game that requires DirectX. The installation
program for the game installed the latest version of DirectX along
with the game. Everything seems to work fine.

I expected to see an entry in Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs for
DirectX. There is no entry for DirectX.

Am I misunderstanding something? What happened to DirectX?

David