DirectX

This tab shows information about DirectX.

Info
DirectX is an interface for programmers to show sumptous graphics (mostly 3D) on your screen. In addition to graphic-output DirectX also offers sound-output and the support of joysticks and gamepads. DirectX is used because the developers of games cannot take care of all different hardware. This is handled by DirectX. Almost all present-day games use DirectX. Because of this, Windows already contains the software.

Version
In the DirectX box you can see the version installed on your computer.

You should always have the latest version of DirectX on your computer to ensure functionality of all programs and gain the maximum performance. DirectX is downwards compatible. This means an application written for DirectX 5 also works with DirectX 8, but not with DirectX 3.

You can download the latest version here: www.microsoft.com/directx.

Open Control Panel Opens the DirectX Control Panel to change settings of the DirectX components.
Open DirectX Setup Opens the DirectX Setup to reinstall parts of DirectX.
Open DirectX Diag Opens the DirectX diagnostic tool which offers testing functions and information about DirectX.
Uninstall DirectX... Uninstalls DirectX. Warning: this is not recommended, because this may cause the computer not to start anymore! This function should be used only as a last resort.
After uninstalling you first have to install DirectX 5 before you can install a more recent version.