DirectX 9 and Vista

intclass · External Since: Aug 15, 2006 Posts: 63

OK, so after reading the posts in this community, I have seen that many
people need to install DX9 to make their games work in Vista. I have some
questions regarding this:
- Will installing DX9 slow anything down / affect anything?
- Doesn't this cancel out the benifits of the new DirectX/WDDM structure?
- Is there a way to trick games into thinking DX9 is installed when it isn't?

Chuck Walbourn [MSFT] · External Since: Oct 25, 2006 Posts: 40

> - Will installing DX9 slow anything down / affect anything?
> - Doesn't this cancel out the benifits of the new DirectX/WDDM structure?

Running DirectSetup will not install any runtime bits onto Windows Vista. It
will install various optional components such as D3DX9. As such, you should
run it during setup. You could also try running the DirectX End-User Runtime
Web Installer http://www.microsoft.com/directx.

If the application requires DirectPlay Voice or Direct3D Retained Mode, it
just won't work on Windows Vista.

> - Is there a way to trick games into thinking DX9 is installed when it
> isn't?

If there is bad code in the installer that makes dumb version checks, then
you can try running the setup with the "Compatabiltiy Mode" shortcut option
to try to trick it into running the thing correctly.

--
Chuck Walbourn
SDE, Game Technology Group

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Dale M. White · External Since: Jan 31, 2007 Posts: 269

Games like FEAR and benchmarks like 3dmark06 need an updated version of DX
9.0c in order to run. I've installed both the Dec 9.0c update and the Feb
update and haven't had any issues (at least that I can tell) with Vista and
games.
Chuck provided the link to the update downloads

"intclass" <intclass.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8D75B7EC-AEDD-4786-9202-CDE6FBD6D602@microsoft.com...
> OK, so after reading the posts in this community, I have seen that many
> people need to install DX9 to make their games work in Vista. I have some
> questions regarding this:
> - Will installing DX9 slow anything down / affect anything?
> - Doesn't this cancel out the benifits of the new DirectX/WDDM structure?
> - Is there a way to trick games into thinking DX9 is installed when it
> isn't?

intclass · External Since: Aug 15, 2006 Posts: 63

Thanks for the input Dale, I am installing the latest DX release now. That
should fix any problems I am having.

"Dale M. White" wrote:

> Games like FEAR and benchmarks like 3dmark06 need an updated version of DX
> 9.0c in order to run. I've installed both the Dec 9.0c update and the Feb
> update and haven't had any issues (at least that I can tell) with Vista and
> games.
> Chuck provided the link to the update downloads
>
>
> "intclass" <intclass RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:8D75B7EC-AEDD-4786-9202-CDE6FBD6D602@microsoft.com...
> > OK, so after reading the posts in this community, I have seen that many
> > people need to install DX9 to make their games work in Vista. I have some
> > questions regarding this:
> > - Will installing DX9 slow anything down / affect anything?
> > - Doesn't this cancel out the benifits of the new DirectX/WDDM structure?
> > - Is there a way to trick games into thinking DX9 is installed when it
> > isn't?
>
>
>

greg · External Since: Feb 18, 2007 Posts: 3

You say that you should run directsetup during setup, how would you do this?
Basically, I cannot run any games on vista basic as they all say direct 9 not
found.

"Chuck Walbourn [MSFT]" wrote:

> > - Will installing DX9 slow anything down / affect anything?
> > - Doesn't this cancel out the benifits of the new DirectX/WDDM structure?
>
> Running DirectSetup will not install any runtime bits onto Windows Vista. It
> will install various optional components such as D3DX9. As such, you should
> run it during setup. You could also try running the DirectX End-User Runtime
> Web Installer http://www.microsoft.com/directx.
>
> If the application requires DirectPlay Voice or Direct3D Retained Mode, it
> just won't work on Windows Vista.
>
> > - Is there a way to trick games into thinking DX9 is installed when it
> > isn't?
>
> If there is bad code in the installer that makes dumb version checks, then
> you can try running the setup with the "Compatabiltiy Mode" shortcut option
> to try to trick it into running the thing correctly.
>
> --
> Chuck Walbourn
> SDE, Game Technology Group
>
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
>
>
>

Chuck Walbourn [MSFT] · External Since: Oct 25, 2006 Posts: 40

> You say that you should run directsetup during setup, how would you do
> this?
> Basically, I cannot run any games on vista basic as they all say direct 9
> not
> found.

Typically you just say "Yes" when asked if you want to install DirectX by
the setup.

It seems unlikely that every game you have has bad code for version
checking, but it is possible I suppose. Try running those installs with the
XP Compatability mode to see if that tricks them into running correctly.

--
Chuck Walbourn
SDE, Game Technology Group

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.