How to Uninstall DirectX
DirectX has been around since 1995 and is a Microsoft API (Application Program Interface) that is provided mainly for gaming. It allows developers to write programs that can utilize a PC’s high-end gaming capabilities without needing to know what hardware is available on the computer. This provides access to joysticks, video cards and other devices, and has proved very popular with developers.
DirectX can increase the performance of hardware that is associated with audio and video animation and most audio and video devices are compliant with it. DirectX is designed to be backward compatible so that games developed for a certain version of it can be played with all later versions.
Why You Might Want to Uninstall DirectX
DirectX has gone through a lot of upgrades over the years and so there are several versions around. Windows XP uses DirectX 9.0c and the latest, DirectX 11, is available as a standard with Windows Vista and Windows 7 and is an integral part of the operating system. Other Windows Operating systems may have different versions installed.
Although the later versions of DirectX have been designed to enhance gaming technology, sometimes they can cause problems. Occasionally, when you try to run a game, you may get an error message reporting that a later version of DirectX is needed, that the installed version is incompatible with the game or that a DirectX file is missing (like directsound.dll or d3dx9 dll). In these cases, you may need to install a later version but may be unable to do this due to a problem with your existing version.
Always start by running dxdiag.exe to check the status of your DirectX installation to find any problems and details related to the problem. You can run the command from the Start menu in Windows, just type it in the search box or run command option.
How to Uninstall DirectX
Since Direct X is effectively an extension of video and audio drivers, removing it can cause problems. It is not intended that it will be deleted and so no uninstall option is provided.
The only official ways of removing a version of DirectX are to go back to a system restore point where the current version was installed or to re-install your operating system. The former relies on the installation of DirectX being fairly recent while the latter option is an extreme solution since it means you will have to re-install all your programs and copy back your data.
There are third party uninstallers available that may do the job. However, check the reviews on them before using one because some can be unreliable and cause more problems than they solve.
There are a few specific DirectX uninstall tools. For DirectX 9, there is DirectX 9 Uninstaller. Make sure to follow the exact instructions in the IMPORTANT.txt file inside the ZIP archive. Another option is called DirectX Eradicator. This program will allow you to remove the DirectX runtime components from your system. Again it supports upto DirectX version 9.0c, and runs on Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
The option for Vista and Windows 7 and to uninstall DirectX versions beyond 9.0c is a commercial product called DirectX Happy Uninstall, which is priced at $19.95.
Before you use any of these tools though, always first try downloading and installing the latest DirectX version for your Windows version as that can fix the most common problems with DirectX. The DirectX uninstall option should really be a last resort.
hi, my os is windows 7 home premium and without knowing directX 11 comes along with that windows, i installed directX 9c yesterday. now i checked direct version in my pc it is showing directX 11. is there any harm that i installed directX 9c over it? if so you want me to remove that 9c and how to do that….pls advice. Sir.
thank you
@Logan M – DirectX 11 is supposed to be downwards compatible with DirectX 9, so even applications or games requiring DirectX 9.0c should run. Having said that, I have seen more reports that it does not always work. Sometimes installing the DirectX 9.0c runtime distributable can help.
@Miriam – If you are running Windows 7, you can’t simply uninstall DirectX, since it is integrated with Windows 7. The best thing is to first try to install DirectX by downloading the dxwebsetup program from the Microsoft website. Also check if you have the latest video drivers, and update them if possible.
I’m trying to get Rift to work on my computer, but when I try to launch it I always get the same error: d3dx9_43.dll isn’t meant to run in Windows or it contain errors. I have tried everything. I have updated my DirectX and i’m running Windows 7. Rift is a brand new game, so I don’t get it. I have contacted Trion support, but they can’t help me, so now I thinking about using DirectX Happy Uninstall or I hope that you can help me. I have also tried to run a DxDiag and everything looks fine. Please help.
Im trying to play a game that requires DirectX 9.0c and I have 11. Will it still run because it comes with an error message saying DirectX encountered an unrecoverable error. Check the readme for possible solutions. Im stuck.
@DarknessBecomesHer – Have you tried a different media player to see if that works? Try VLC Media Player, that should play almost any format. If that works, it is probably something to do with the Windows Media Player. If that also does not work, it might be related to DirectX or the video file itself. Do other video files (not downloaded with ATube Catcher) work without problems?
Im having issues with my Windows Media Player playback whenever I try to run a video I have downloaded with the ATube Catcher from http://www.youtube.com. The problem seems to lie somewhere in my graphics card, videocard, or my directX. I have directx11 and its all nice and updated, however the video refuses to playback normally and all I get is an unmoving picture of the videos first second screen instead of the video playing normally. All this seemed to happen after doing a major load of updates on my computer and most likely when installing windows 7 SP1. It was FINE before these updates. Now the videos I play in windows media player dont play. what is wrong with my graphics card or my directx and how can I fix it? PLEASE help. I just wanna watch my videos normally again instead of an unmoving picture.
(I have Windows 7 on an HP Desktop with everything updated and all graphics and sound cards updated – or so it says)
@ Jules
thanks for your help. really appreciate it.
thank you!
@Suleman – Although DirectX 11 i supposed to be downward compatible (meaning it supports programs that required DirectX 10 or DirectX 9), this has caused problems for others. You can try to download install the DirectX runtime version that the program needs, but there is no guarantee that it works.
yes i meant directx 11. but the thing is that, they said that it is not a stand alone product and i will have to download another older version of directx with it.
plus i ran the scan and it said “windows resource protection did not find any integrity violation”.
@jae – What DirectX did you install? Windows 7 has DirectX 11 already, so it should get updated automatically by Windows update. Did you install a previous version of DirectX?
@Suleman – You can try the SFC /SCANNOW command in a command prompt window with admin rights. That will verify and correct any issues with Windows system files. So it should restore the original DirectX files that came with your Windows version.
And when you download DirectX from the net, you mean version 11?
hi i installed batman: arkham asylum and it wont run. it gives an error that says d3dx9_39.dll is missing. i have directx 11 installed. my pc gives the same error with burnout paradise but the code is d3dx_37. ive tried to download direct x from net but it abruptly stops saying internal error. please advise. thankyou.
after I installed directx, videos on my web browsers stopped working. It’s a new computer (win 7) and I haven’t yet created a restore point. is there a fix for this, or do I have to get the uninstaller?
@gamer – You can always reset the BIOS (either through an onboard jumper or by removing the BIOS battery, check the motherboard manual on that). So that would restore the video to it’s default.
In most cases the F2 key will bring you into the BIOS. That is before Windows loads. Once it is disabled, you can reboot.
Do I disable the bios on the blue screen menu before the windows load?how do I do that?cos what happens if it dosnt work and the on board card permenantly disables?I will try that later thought,I’ll also try and change my monitor,but that monitor works perfectly with the VGA card I have, I think I should try and change that bios settings,thanks
@gamer – If this is a desktop with an integrated video card, you probably need to disable the onboard video in the BIOS if you add another video card. Did you do that?
@julez
Thnx for the advised mate,the standard vga might be the problem so I tired to install me vga card (foxcon geforce 9800gt) but now wen I plug my monitor pin on the vga card,my monitor dsnt come on,the light keeps blinking and it dsnt switch on the screen,I’m thinking of just buying a gaming laptop for xmas lol
@gamer – If you are using a standard VGA card, it could very well be that it does not meet the requirements for the game, have you checked that?
If the game detects a 256 color mode, there is either a problem with your display settings (are you sure the color depth is set higher than 8-bit?), or there is a problem with your DirectX compatibility. Try running “dxdiag” and see what it shows.
I’m trying to run rise of nation throne and patriots,running it on vista home edition,1gb ram and core2 duo,but standard vga card, direct x10 is installed on pc, wen I launch the game it states that I gotta change my display from 256 colors to 16bit or higher, but my settings are on 36bits and it keeps giving me the same error,what do I do?
@Benino – According to Microsoft, DirectX 11 is backwards compatible, so you should be able to run software that requires DirectX 9 or DirectX 10 just fine.
I also expect that performance will be the same or even better, not worse. The supported DirectX 10 functionality would remain the same with DirectX 11 installed, even if your video card does not support the new features in DirectX 11.
As long as things work, I would not mess with it unless you get errors. And I don’t think Microsoft has a DirectX 10 runtime download available.
Hello, recently i have downloaded DirectX 11 on my computer, only to realise not much later that my Video card cannot support higher than 10.1. Do i have to Uninstall 11 and reinstall 10.1 or do you think this will not affect the actual performance of my graphics/peformance?
@Mooch – Are you running the games in the XP SP2 compatibility mode? That might help in some cases.
Also check that you are running a compatible screen resolution with default DPI settings. Windows 7 (depending on the monitor) can switch to 120 DPI instead of the default 96 DPI.
I recently installed Windows 7 Professional on my old PC. It came with Windows XP Home Edition. Ever since I had problems with my video card (or my DirectX maybe?). When I try to open a game or a screensaver, it shows me this error message:
Default video card dosn’t support stensil buffer. cGraphics::cGraphics(HWND _hwnd)
cEngine::cEngine(sContext &_context)
Restart the game please.
AND
The screensaver can’t run because it requiers a newer video card or one that’s compatible with Direct3D.
I tried almost every solution online. Updated my video and graphics card, got rid of ‘system errors’ and so on…
I’m pretty close to giving up. The games I tried to play used to work 100% with XP, like hunting unlimited 3, Need for Speed Underground and Farm Frenzy 2.
I would really apreciate it if you could help me out.
@ Some guy – No harm in reinstalling SP2 for Vista. If you are not sure, you can uninstall it first. Another option is to download and install the DirectX runtime from Microsoft.
@francis – In Vista or Windows 7 you mean?
Right-click the Start menu button and select Properties.
Then click the Customize button. Now scroll down untill you see the Run command option and select the checkbox in front of it.
how can i return the run menu in start??
I have Windows Vista Service pack 2 and it keeps bringing up and error message saying “This might not have installed correctly” at first i ignored it. But after opening up a game the graphics became all shadow and the game unusable. Any suggestions?