Before we tell you how to install DirectX, you should know what this gizmo is and why you need it. DirectX is such a special set of API functions that is designed to solve a variety of tasks under the Windows operating system. It is especially widely used in the development of computer games, but it is also used when writing many different programs.
Well, if in simple words, DirectX is an extremely important thing, without which, not only games, more than half of Windows will not function normally. Therefore, the actual DirectX libraries must be installed on the computer of absolutely every user!
Install DirectX and check its version
If you started looking for information on how to install DirectX, then you definitely have some kind of problem launching this or that application. Most likely, this application is a video game, after the launch of which, messages about the absence of a certain DLL file, apparently related to DirectX, were displayed in front of you, which you probably already learned about from the Internet.
You are moving in the right direction! Such errors are really solved by installing DirectX. But how do you install it? This is done in two ways: through the web installer, downloaded from the official Microsoft website, and through the installer, which is attached to the game / program itself.
First, open the root folder with the application you want and look for the Redistributable, Redist folder or something like that. Not always, but quite often there will be an executable file DXSETUP.exe, i.e. installer, and a bunch of archives with DLL files. Run the installer and follow the further instructions on the screen to install the found DirectX version.
If you need to install the most up-to-date DirectX libraries, it is best to use the web installer from Microsoft. Go to following link, click the red Download button and the Save button in the new dialog box. Next, run the downloaded dxwebsetup.exe by double-clicking on it with LMB, and follow the instructions. Be sure to uncheck the box to install Bing Bar, because no one ever needs it, and in general!
The web installer will automatically find and install any missing DirectX libraries, if any.
Now let’s talk about where you can see the version of DirectX that is running on your PC. Such information is often interested in users who encountered a corresponding error or saw a specific version of DX in the system requirements for the application. One way or another, it is very, very simple to find out the DirectX version:
- press Win + R;
- write dxdiag and press Enter;
- go to the “System” tab.
The information you need will be located at the very bottom line – the DirectX version. However, take your time to rejoice: this is the version supported by the OS as a whole, not the version supported by your graphics card. To find out the latter, you need to go to the “Display” tab and familiarize yourself with the line “DDI for Direct3D”. In general, one DX version can be listed in the system data, for example, 11 or 12, and in the screen data, it is 9 or 10.
DirectX 11 – how to install it?
I would like to note right away: you will not be able to install DirectX 11. The reason is that it is already preinstalled in modern versions of Windows. Vista, XP and everything below – DirectX 11 is not supported on these operating systems. Therefore, the only “real” way to install DirectX 11 on your computer is to install Windows 7 or something newer on it, for example, Windows 8 or 10. And therefore, do not try to surf the Internet in search of the “right” file, which will magically install DirectX 11 on your system.