Direct X is used in many different applications in Windows, and it allows specific audio files and video displays to be standardized, because this will allow Direct X to run on more than one PC type. This is a big help to developers because there are standards in place. Many things can cause Direct X errors, but you can stop them.

Direct X has been developed to be backward compatible, meaning applications which were developed for earlier versions of Direct X should work fine with a newer version of Direct X. Any applications which are created for new versions of Direct X will not run properly if a previous version of this software is installed instead. It is crucial that the appropriate version or newer of Direct X is installed for an application or it will not function and you will end up getting Direct X error messages.

The first step to fixing Direct X errors is to see which version you have installed on your system. This can be done very easily. Click on your Start menu, then click on the run option. Type dxdiag into the run box, then press the Enter key.

Another window will open up, and at the bottom of this window you will see the installed version of Direct X on your system. If this version is not the newest one available, or it is not compatible with your applications, then download and install the newer version of Direct X to fix the problem.

Common Direct X Errors

- Cannot initialize dinput9.dll.

- Fatal exception error in dplayx.dll.

- A required DLL file, D3D9.DLL, was not found.

- dplay.dll has performed an illegal operation.

- Access violation error in Direct X file D3D8.DLL.

- This application has failed to start because d3d9.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem.

- Unable to find file d3d8.dll, ddraw.dll or d3d9.dll.

- No display at all on the screen.

All of the Direct X errors above can be caused by having the wrong version of Direct X on your system, or they can be caused by the Windows Registry becoming clogged with fragments from removed files, including older versions of Direct X.

The best way to fix any Direct X errors if you have the correct or latest version installed is to use a registry cleaner. These software programs can clean out your registry in a fraction of the time it takes to manually edit it, and there are no risks of deleting a file which is needed by the operating system.

When you manually edit your registry, one simple mistake can cause your operating system to crash, and never run again. Registry cleaners take the guesswork out of editing your registry, so you are left with no Direct X errors and great performance. So do give them a try.