I’m not simply complaining in this article, but also I will be providing a solution for this problem. It is a basic compatibility issue that will harm your gaming experience if you do not fix it. Considering Microsoft makes both windows and DirectX you’d think they could just patch windows 7 to include the fix.
Apparently, Windows 7 comes with, pre-installed, DirectX 11. This means, the current commonly used version, 9 will not install (higher version already installed error) if you install a game using it. Also, DirectX 11 does not have certain DLLs that are required for games that run with DirectX 9.
Fortunately all hope is not lost for people already using 7. Through research and general searching you can get games using DirectX 9 to work. The method however is overly complicated for someone who doesn’t claim themselves to be a hardcore computer expert.
First, you’ll need a fixed version of 11 that contains the missing DLLs. This means visiting Microsoft’s official download site Do not go to third party sites or install single missing files on your own it will mess things up.
I can’t give you a direct link to the file you need as it may update. You want to search for the latest version of DirectX 11. It will have the missing files in it, and as a later patch will actually install.
You may have to uninstall the game you were attempting to play, then reinstall it at this point, when it attempts to install directX 9, hit cancel and continue with the main installation.
I am honestly disappointed in Microsoft, they recognized the problem, and fixed it, but failed to make any sort of automatic fix, which will confuse users who aren’t tech savvy as well as complicate issues and make users who are feel agitated.