Direct X 9.0a has screwed my PC beyond all recognition. I had 8.1 (ME, AMD 1300, 512Mb, Geforce 4) and deeply regret upgrading. It won't now run any newish games that requird dx 8.1. Have tried every way of going back. It actually destroyed all my system restore points (somehow???) and none of the shareware uninstall progs have solved the problem. am now looking at a reformat. Any ideas? Am I just a poor home PC user who should leave his registry alone?

Hi Rob. If you tried all the uninstall options this may not help but take a look. I posted this on another board and was told it worked. Microsoft admits that DirectX 9 can cause problems with Win ME and XP. They even warn you on their website to set a restore point before upgrading to DirectX 9 if you have to go back to an earlier version. If you can't find a solution and don't have a restore point to go back to, there is a way to go back to an earlier version of DirectX. http://mypcclinic.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1079&PN=1 The above site has 3 pages. Read them all and note that on page 2 a change was made in the instructions given on page 1. Take care, Linda

Hi Linda Thanks for replying. I have already tried both the uninstall programs mentioned, and the german directxbuster did get rid of dx9, but then dxdiag said in short: "despite there now being dx 8.1, the system registry may have conflicts", as the program is shareware that doesn't fully deal with dx9. So I reinstalled win ME (back to dx7.1) and then reinstalled 8.1, and GTA3 still crashes!! which it didn't before dx9was installed!! As I say, it also then deleted all my system restores pre dx9 (LIKE HOW??) and so I finished up regediting anything containing the words directx out. and the problem persists!!!! boo hoo hoo hoo!! Effectively what they are saying on the site you kindly mentioned is: "reboot,then right click on my computer>properties>Hardware>Device Manager and delete your graphics card(make sure you already have the latest drivers for it)reboot,now on your cd that you got with the motherboard (if you don't have one you can find drivers here http://www.giga-byte.com/Motherboard/Support/Driver/Driver_List.htm) install those drivers first,reboot,then install direct x (8.1)drivers second,reboot then install your video drivers third." so maybe it's the order? I'll try this next and report back as I reckon loads of folks must be getting this with all the mag cover disks carrying dx9 this month...

OK no joy. It was barely possible to reinstall the m-board AGP and Via sound drivers BEFORE reinstalling the geforce 4 card as windows got really flusterd about it and kept hanging. In the end I had to install directx 8.1 in SAFE MODE and the VIA sound drivers needed repairing after this and the geforce 4 had been installed, as they kept crashing while being installed. It was that or else it probably wouldn't have worked at all. Anyway, the problem is still there, and probably nowt to do with the following: In DXDIAG I get the following (must be a result of my frustrated registry editing!): DISPLAY TAB The file nvdisp.drv is not digitally signed, which means that it has not been tested by Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs. You may be able to get a signed driver from the manufacturer of the hardware device. Problems were found in the system registry. Details are available in the saved text file (WHERE IS THIS?). You should reinstall DirectX to get the latest version. (I JUST DID!!!!) MUSIC No General MIDI DLS file was specified in the registry. NETWORK The registry information for the service provider 'Internet TCP/IP Connection For DirectPlay' is missing or damaged. The registry information for the service provider 'IPX Connection For DirectPlay' is missing or damaged. The registry information for the service provider 'Modem Connection For DirectPlay' is missing or damaged. The registry information for the service provider 'Serial Connection For DirectPlay' is missing or damaged. You should reinstall DirectX to get the latest version. To test DirectPlay functionality, click the "Test DirectPlay" button above. So looks like I really got carried away and now there's nothing that will save me from reinstalling windows into a new directory. Bloody microsoft. I remember when they released a copy of direct x 4.? which conflicted with their own intellimouse drivers! BAH!!! Can anyone help me? What is the best damage limitation strategy now I've wrecked my registry? Rob

Hi Rob. Maybe this will help. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=http://support.microsoft.com:80/support/kb/articles/Q221/5/12.ASP&NoWebContent=1 Take care, Linda