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DirectX |
Microsoft's DirectX - love it or loathe it, these days you can't be without this uninstallable beast if you want to play games. Since version 7.0, DirectX has only been available in the full, 'end user' format, now called the DirectX Runtime. The links below are for the English language 'end user' versions of DirectX. Links for DirectX 8.1 for other languages and Windows versions can be found here.
Current DirectX Downloads
| File | Date | Description | Info | Size |
 Microsoft |
01.07.03 | DirectX 9.0b End-user Runtime. The File link will send you to the Microsoft page that supports the web-installer version of DirectX 9.0b. Downloading from this page will give you a ~300Kb 'dxwebsetup.exe'. You'll need an Internet connection to use this installer, not just to download it. Note that using this web setup WILL install DirectX 9.0b - there's no confirmation dialog (guess how I found that out ;-). A redistributable version is also available from there (there's a link to the DirectX 9.0b Redist at the bottom of the page), at a whopping 32Mb. Note that 9.0 does not support Windows 95 - users with that OS should continue to use DirectX 8.0a. | Microsoft |
variable |
| Microsoft |
25.06.02 | DirectX 8.1b End User installation (English language version for Windows 98, 98SE and Me). Note that 8.1b does not support Windows 95 - users with that OS should continue to use DirectX 8.0a. | Microsoft |
11,863Kb |
| DX81eng.exe | 08.11.01 | DirectX 8.1 End User installation (English language version for Windows 98, 98SE and Me). Note that 8.1 does not support Windows 95 - users with that OS should continue to use DirectX 8.0a. | Microsoft |
11,861Kb |
| DX80eng.exe | 05.02.01 | DirectX 8.0a End User installation (English language version for Windows 95, 98, 98SE and Me). | Microsoft |
11,208Kb |
DirectX 7.0, and DirectX Media 6.0, are included below. DirectX 7.0 is only available in the 'end user' format, in this case the English language version for Windows 95 and 98. For any versions other than English language, check the Info links.
My system was running fine with 6.1, so I just installed 7.0 on top ... and everything looks OK. Using the DirectX Diagnostics app (dxdiag.exe), I found that parts of the DirectX Media were in fact missing - whether that was from a previous problem or the installation of 7.0, I don't know, but re-installing DirectX Media then re-installing DirectX 7.0 cured the problem.
Version 7.0a adds some improvements to the DirectX handling of input devices, i.e. DirectInput. This installed on top of 7.0 without any problems; since then, Microsoft have released a patch to update from 7.0 to 7.0a. After I'd completed the 6Mb download, of course...
Archive DirectX Downloads
| File | Date | Description | Info | Size |
| dxcpl.zip | 12.11.00 | DirectX Control Panel applet. Download, unzip and drop directx.cpl into \windows\system. Some installations of DirectX don't include this, so here you go. | None | 35Kb |
| Microsoft |
11.01.00 | Patch to take DirectX from 7.0 to 7.0a (English language version for Windows 95 and 98). | Microsoft |
234Kb |
| Microsoft |
16.12.99 | DirectX 7.0a End User installation (English language version for Windows 95 and 98). | Microsoft |
6,192Kb |
| Microsoft |
20.09.99 | DirectX 7.0 End User installation (English language version for Windows 95 and 98). | Microsoft |
6,164Kb |
| Microsoft |
30.11.98 | DirectX Media 6.0 Runtime patch for Windows 95. This patch fixes a couple of problems with the original DirectX Media 6.0, and checks whether you need the patch before installing. | Microsoft |
552Kb |
| Microsoft |
24.09.98 | DirectX Media 6.0 Runtime for Windows 95. The download includes updates to DirectShow™ and DirectAnimation�, and adds DirectX Transform. | Microsoft |
4,570Kb |