OK,heres my problem: About a week ago I bought a new game (Rainbow Six 3 Raven Shield). To play the game you need to hav DirectX 8.1b,so I installed 9.0b. Whenever I tried playing I got a message saying something like Critical Error Your Video Card is not supported, or something like that. After trying and trying I decided to Uninstall the game and go back to a different game (Diablo 2:LOD). This game requires Directx 6.1 or higher. When I tried installing 7.0 from the disk I got a Error Msg saying, You already have a higher version of directx on your computer and the installation is not necissary. Well, after reading that I downloaded the DirectX Buster and Uninstalled DirectX 9.0b (which was installed from Rsix3 CD). After rebooting I went on and installed DirectX 7.0a from the D2 classic CD. Now I have the 7.0a version on my comp,which my game (D2:LOD) should work now. Well I went on and inserted the CD-Rom,and ran a videotest,and got a Error Saying D2 CANNOT BE PLAYED ON THE COMPUTER: Make sure you hav Directx6.1 or higher,etc. So I went into the DirectXDiag Box, and on the Drivers Tab sure enough there's another problem. It says the follwing drivers:esfm.drv,essmpu.drv, and msjstick.drv are not certified. Now can anyone please tell me how to fix this. Also it'd be nice if you could tell me how I can get Rainbow Six 3 Raven Shield to run properly too,thank you for your help....

First off the problem does not lye with the DirectX. It's like a car needing enough power to run up a hill. If it tells you that a 6.1 engine is needed then that is the minimum. A 9.0 engine will just run up the hill faster and with more ease. My first bit of advice is to _Reinstall DirectX 9.0_. Secondly I would find out if a newer driver was available for the video card. Maybe even try to find an updated motherboard BIOS and/or AGP Drivers for the motherboard. Both should be posted on the manufacturers’ website. Third I would open the Display Properties and click the Advanced tab then open the troubleshooting tab. Now slide the acceleration down one notch. If this doesn't help then repost. Is the game rated for Win98? How much ram does it recommend?

Sounds like your video card isn't directx compatible. If it's an older video card it may not support directx of 3dfx. Check on your video card manufacturer's website for more specs and any compatability issues.

Smudgiekins; I sounds like You have a Software Conflict. This means several X Drivers are trying to work at the same time. It might help You, to Install Norton System Works. Once installed, open it, use correct & find Problems, follow the instructions, when Problems are identified, choose, Repair All option. Close Norton System works. Now reopen it, A Pop up box should appear saying Delete Files older than 30 days, pick yes, in the next box should be All Your X Drivers listed, delete them All. Now uninstall Your Raven Shield game, & reinstall it, it will probably install its own driver. Also,You may ask a PC Clerk, or PC Technician in a PC Store. Ask Friends to find a good one. All the Best, Christian Lee

Hmm I looked for the Norton System Works and it costs. Also I can't find anywhere to get a free trial of it. Is there any other programs like it that are free or I can get a trial for it to fix my problem...?

The video card is fairly old, but the one game (D2:LOD) used to work on my comp before. The newer game Rainbow Six 3 Raven Shield should still work with the video card also. It may not work very good cause its the lowest you can get with the game I think,but hypathetically speaking it isn't too old for the game. As for your post FJ,I've tried many times with directx 9.0b and it doesn't work good on my comp. The newer game can be played on Win98, and you need atleast 128mb RAM (256 recommended). Earlier in the week I was going through a different comp in my house, and found thingys with xtra RAM on them (64mb). There was 2 of them in the one comp, and I have another comp, which is the same that should hav more on it if I need it. Neither of the comps have windows so it doesn't matter heh. Sooooooooo I hope that will help you for helping me lol.

_Reinstall DirectX 9.0_. </I If the video card is not supported by Dx9, there is no point installling...only takes up some space on the HD and probably create some hundred redundant entries in the registry and basically sit on the comp doing nothing that the old version could. Just to say "hey u know what? I have Dx 9 "