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apparently, DirectX 9 has stopped running properly on my Windows 7 64-bit machine

Anonymous
2015-05-30T05:17:18+00:00

Hello, all,

I've had issues for close to two months, and I've slowly (between other life tasks) researched out what might be the problem. This is a lot of info, but I want to demonstrate what I've tried, what has worked, what has failed, etc. You'll see descriptions of various run-ins with a third-party software suite, but you'll also eventually see how it comes back to Windows.

Background

When I first got this computer, it was almost inoperable due to being a low-end machine and having gobs and gobs of malware and other stuff loaded on it. I repaired, optimized, and tweaked such things as the software, the registry, etc. until for the most part the computer ran just fine, yay. (I didn't mess with the hardware or BIOS or anything like that.)

From there, over time, I installed various tools I would use in my software business. For one, I got GameMaker: Studio (by YoYo Games, Ltd.) and had no problems; if you're unaware, GM:Studio is an IDE that facilitates creating video games for various platforms using a single codebase -- pretty nifty in my opinion. Well, some while later, right about the time I got a different version of GM:Studio, things started going wrong; this might be directly connected, or it might be mere coincidence due to other things I installed and tweaked at the time.

Things that went wrong:

  • Running either version of the GM:Studio IDE would work in and of itself, but compiling a game to test-run failed. (In GameMaker, a test run is basically a compiled preview that can interact some with the IDE.)
  • Running a standalone game compiled by other people using other machines failed: Task Manager showed a game starting to load in memory, then silently disappearing before any game window would ever show.
  • Similarly, running a standalone game compiled on other machines by earlier versions of GameMaker ("Legacy" versions 8.1 and earlier) would start to load, then silently disappear.

Partially fixing the problem:

I tried running the standalone games (compiled on other machines by Legacy and Studio) using Windows 7's Program Compatibility Assistant. Using the quick "Try recommended settings" button, it chose Windows XP SP2; starting the program this way, it ran just fine, maybe with the slightest hiccup, barely noticeable, good to go.

I then tried running GM:Studio the same way, in Windows XP SP2 compatibility mode. This time, test-running a game project from the IDE loaded the playable game pretty fine. However, a person can also test-run in a more detailed debug mode wherein the test game connects to the IDE's special debug module to transfer a bunch of information every frame, many times per second; when test-running in debug mode (with Win XP SP2 compatibility), the game stuttered terribly, (turning a simple 7-second animation into a 30+ second lag-fest,) until the debug module finally disconnected, at which point the game started running as expected.

Problem Found

I eventually noticed that when test-running a game from the GM:S IDE as normal Windows 7 (no compatibility mode), the GM:S IDE hung upon this moment: Create D3D9Ex interface

Scouring the Web, I eventually came across the following Microsoft links -- with the following results:

  1. Diagnosing basic problems with DirectX -- This built-in program crashed, indeed indicating that something was wrong with DirectX. (It's always a pretty bad sign when the diagnostic tool dies!) Following the other instructions on that page: I'd already manually updated my video card to the latest drivers, I don't have a gamepad or joystick for Windows, and all other checked drivers were okay.
  2. Download DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer from Official Microsoft Download Center -- If I recall correctly, this downloadable program would download entirely just fine, but when attempting to load to run (to install the actual help), would stop running and completely vanish; I mean the whole file, poof, no longer in the directory, download-and-save again if you want to run it again!
  3. Download Platform Update for Windows 7 from Official Microsoft Download Center -- I don't recall what happened with this downloadable program; it seems I couldn't get it before; I got it just now while typing this up, but the only info I see (in a quick research run right now) insinuates that this would've already come via Windows Update a long time ago, thus I'm not running it without good reason first.
  4. DxDiag has detected that there might have been a problem accessing Direct3D - Microsoft Community -- Ah, magic. Comparing to that poster's computer stats, this is a Compaq Presario CQ57 laptop with Windows 7 64-bit, quite similar. I ran the DirectX Diagnostics tool again, and surely enough, it asked to skip Direct3D, which I did, and I was then able to access the rest of the tool. (By this time, I'd sanity-checked crashes so much, I'd given up on crashing multiple times before moving on; when even pressing Win+Break (.. well, I'm sure it's Win+Pause, but I love the mnemonic device "when Windows breaks..." someone taught me!) and trying to access the System Properties window in other ways flat-out crashes repeatedly, you just get tired of checking absolutely everything multiple times before moving on. Sorry.) Anyway, long story slightly shorter, the tool's Display tab's info:
    • DirectDraw Acceleration: Disabled
    • Direct3D Acceleration: Not Available
    • AGP Texture Acceleration: Not Available
  5. Run DirectX Diagnostic Tool -- I currently don't see exactly how I got to this link, but I recall something being said about it working for Windows 7, too. The problem here is that trying to access "Display Settings" -> "Advanced settings" doesn't result as expected. Previously, I'm pretty sure I could click Troubleshoot then Change Settings, but there was no Hardware Acceleration slider; however, right this moment, in trying to reproduce, now I'm only seeing a Windows Explorer crash the moment I click "Advanced settings" (whether the system-wide"Launch folder windows in a separate process" is true or false).

YoYo Games has confirmed that GameMaker creates Windows programs that use DirectX 9 (for more widespread compatibility), but I also just learned it will switch to DirectX 11 if DX9 cannot be found (a move I deem clever). Meanwhile, other modern multimedia programs work as expected, including Adobe's Flash browser plug-in, and even when using GM:Studio to create an HTML5/Javascript canvas game or WebGL game! I currently have no other software I can confirm as requiring the older version of DirectX to run.

Question Inbound

Both Direct X 11 and Direct X 9 should work without compatibility mode, yet it seems Direct X 9 only works with it. Can someone please help me fix this specific issue where all the standard online answers fail me?

I'd really, really prefer not to system-restore multiple months backward, but I'm prepared for that misfortune if there's no other way. (I'm sure I'll thank you for a solution later if I'm alive to see it, but I certainly thank you in advance now, too!)

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-08-14T22:23:28+00:00

    Unfortunately, about a year later, I "fixed" the problem by performing a clean install of Windows 10. (I couldn't even upgrade from Win7 to Win10 properly, probably due to whatever was causing the DX9 issue.) So yay, now I can run all my software like before. Sad that I have to mark this as the "answer" -- despite "change your operating system" hardly being any proper answer).

    EDIT: Oh. One can't mark one's own reply as the answer. Sure. 'Kay.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-08-31T23:15:03+00:00

    [snip] Do not worry, will assist you with the issue. [snip] If issue persists, do get back to us. We will be happy to assist you.

    That sounded really hopeful three months ago when I first posted and you first answered -- but you haven't responded afterward. As I wrote before, I tried your directions but got halted part the way through, not knowing the best route to take thereafter. If you're unable to return, could someone else step in to assist? -- or, could you point me toward another area within Microsoft's cyber estate to ask this question?

    Thank you much,

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-06-16T20:54:04+00:00

    Microsoft auto-mailed me about this Q&A, asking me to bump it if it weren't answered yet.

    To really point out the current bottleneck, I still await info on just how to view a DXError.log or DirectX.log -- or what to do if neither can be found.

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-06-02T00:19:02+00:00

    Hello, Ms. Shankarappa,

    Thank you very much for your swift response and multiple attempts at help. Let's go through the list...

    I ran SFC near the beginning of all this problem, and it showed no issues. Today, I ran again, but this time it came up with problems -- but only those listed in conjunction with KB3022345 which should mean no real consequence.

    Your second link once again led me to the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer (with alternative link). (Edit: Sorry, I looked at the wrong info when first submitting this post. The following info is now correct.)

    Upon trying to download and install from DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010), the installer asked me to "Please type the location where you want to place the extracted files." I don't know where to do this (unless it's just supposed to be a temporary thing from which I'll run a real installer?).

    This once again led me to the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer. Perhaps I recalled "Problem Found result #2" incorrectly after all because, upon running this again, I believe this is what I actually got before (as the real "Problem Found result #2"):

    1. First, the installer did its thing and "finished" with the statement, "DirectX setup has determined that a newer or equivalent version of DirectX has been installed already. No installation is necessary."
    2. Upon closing, several seconds went by, and then it said it wanted to run again with proper recommended settings, and it mentioned version 9. I tried this, and eventually a little error window popped up, "An Internal system error occurred. Please refer to DXError.log and DirectX.log in your Windows folder to determine problem." Upon closing that error window, the installer "finished" with the text, "Installation failed."
    3. There is neither a DXError.log nor DirectX.log file in my Windows, Windows\system, Windows\System32, Windows\SysWOW64, nor Windows\SysWOW64\directx folder.

    Your third link relies on the .log files again, but it further led me to someone else's question with answer: [Error

    Your fourth link looked a little like more of the same -- at the very least, it looks like it'd be more informative after I first resolved the location (or the reason for non-existence) of the logs.

    Thank you again, and I look forward to further information. :)

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  5. Anonymous
    2015-05-31T01:10:01+00:00

    Hi Parody,

    Thank you for posting the query on Microsoft Community.

    I am sorry to know that DirectX 9 is not working properly on Windows 7. I do appreciate all your time and efforts. Do not worry, will assist you with the issue.

    Try to run SFC scan and check if it helps.

    Use the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files:

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833 

    You can refer to the threads below and check if it helps.

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_other-gaming/have-directx-11-wont-play-games-says-i-need/300f3c23-d2cb-4750-9566-aad125857c8c

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_programs/directx-90-webredistributable-install-fails-on/b3fac416-d5bb-4af9-9df4-61703da001fc

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_other-gaming/use-of-directx-9-in-windows-7/4e3a469a-35c6-45f4-83ab-d5147a8205a7

    Hope this helps in resolving the issue. If issue persists, do get back to us. We will be happy to assist you.

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