DirectX is the component of Windows XP that's responsible for squeezing every last ounce of graphics performance out of your computer's hardware. It makes games and other multimedia look, sound, and move as well as possible. New games are almost always written to take advantage of the latest version of DirectX, so computers using older versions are prone to problems with newer games. Here's how to get the latest version:
Find out what version of DirectX you are currently running on your computer by opening the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. Go to Start | Run and type dxdiag in the Open box (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Type dxdiag to start the DirectX Diagnostic Tool.
Towards the bottom of the System tab you'll find the version number of DirectX that's currently running on your computer (see Figure 2). As of this writing, the latest DirectX version is version 9.
Figure 2: Note the DirectX version running on your computer.
- If you need an update, you can download the latest DirectX files from the Microsoft website (www.microsoft.com/windows/directx) or from a number of other sites.
Installation is easy. When Windows asks you, “Would you like to open the file or save it to your computer?” you can either select Open to start the installation when the download is complete, or select Save and save it to a folder on your hard disk for later installation.
Once installed, DirectX can't be uninstalled. To be safe, Microsoft recommends that you create a restore point before installing DirectX 9.
