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    The PC (Personal Computer) is a highly configurable and upgradable gaming platform that, among home systems, sports the widest variety of control methods, largest library of games, and cutting edge graphics and sound capabilities.

    I Broke My PC Games. Help!

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    ExplodingTuba

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    I recently purchased the "Command and Conquer Ultimate Collection" for Origin and was attempting to play the original "Red Alert". After reading this forum thread here,

    http://

    I attempted their second solution, which was to "Download & install the DirectX SDK from March 2008". I did so and followed their directions closely, but was still unable to get "Red Alert" to load. No harm, no foul. So I promptly uninstalled the DirectX SDK and went about my business.

    Now, however, every game on my PC refuses to load and crashes to desktop, regardless of the launcher: Origin, Steam, etc. Here are a few error messages that I am receiving.

    - Max Payne -

    An error has occurred in the graphics engine. Try to downgrade your screen mode and/or other settings by pressing the "Options..." button in Max Payne startup dialog. Max Payne requires a DirectX 8 compatible display adapter. Please consult the troubleshooting readme in the installation folder.

    Error: setFullscreen - creating the device failed: Unrecognized error: 0x80070057

    - DMC Devil May Cry -

    Failed to create the D3D9 Device! This can happen if the desktop is locked. Exiting...

    - Fallout 3 -

    Failed to initialize renderer.

    Unknown error creating the Gamebryo Renderer.

    - Dead Space -

    Dead Space.exe has stopped working

    A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available.

    I cannot help but notice the timing of all of these game crashing and my recent "DirectX SDK" download and installation. Does anyone know what I did, and how it could be reversed or undone? I'm close to simply re-installing Windows 8 again, and starting from scratch. However, any help or assistance anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated. If you need more information, just tell me what you need and how I can provide it.

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    goreyfantod

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    Have you tried running DXDIAG? Go to the START menu and type "dxdiag" in the search window, then hit ENTER on dxdiag.exe to run it. It will perform a set of diagnostics on your DirectX installation that should tell you which components are messed up. You'll probably need to re-install the latest version of DirectX.

    This page has a link for downloading the up-to-date DirectX runtime for Win8: Win 8 DirectX

    P.S. I'm not a Windows 8 user, but I believe that the starting point for DirectX issues is the same as in Win7.

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    tread311

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    Could be a resolution issue. Try starting something up windowed and see if it helps. I know I get these sorts of errors if my desktop and laptop saves are synced up, because my desktop runs at a higher resolution than my laptop supports.

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    AlexW00d

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    I figure you overwrote your DirectX install in doing whatever it was you did. Just reinstall it and you should be ok.

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    ExplodingTuba

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    Thank you guys for responding. @goreyfantod I have run DXDIAG a number of times and every time I run it, everything says it is alright. No components are messed up as far as I can tell. I have been trying to re-install the latest version of DirectX a number of times, but the only way I can see to do that is to re-install Windows 8.1, which does not seem to be possible. That link you provided does not explain how to do a manual installation of Direct X, unless I'm missing something painfully obvious.

    @tread311, I don't think it is a resolution issue, though it is possible. I have tried running a few of the games in Windowed mode, but they all still crash unfortunately. No laptop or other display for my computer games, just the one monitor.

    @alexw00d, I did reinstall the old DirectX SDK, but games were still crashing and broken. However, I am currently installing the "Windows Software Development Kit for Windows 8.1" which should theoretically overwrite any setting or bad configuration that the 2008 SDK messed up.

    This is what I get for trying to get a game from 1995 to run on my PC!

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    goreyfantod

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    @explodingtuba: Yeah, sorry I wasn't clearer. The link I gave is for the end-user runtime of DirectX 9.0c, which is usually the one that causes problems with playing games and/or watching videos. It's supposed to also fix any issues with newer versions of DirectX.

    DirectX 11 has to be installed through Windows Update for Win8, although if DXDIAG is indicating that your install is fine, this may not work.

    Installing DirectX

    Your only other option may be a repair installation of Windows, which is definitely a pain in the ass, but less so than a clean install.

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    ExplodingTuba

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    @goreyfantod Yeah, I've tried that download numerous times. Every time I download it and start the installation process, it pops up and says "You have a newer version of DirectX, and do not need this." or something to that affect, and then promptly closes itself. I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and reinstall Windows 8. It's not a big deal, since I have save files and what not backed up, but it'll just be frustrating reinstalling all of the software and updating everything. Thank you all for your assistance though. Live and learn I suppose.

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    deactivated-62f93c42ce57b

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    VACkillers

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    #9  Edited By VACkillers

    I would say, reinstall DX11, reinstall Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package, reinstall your graphics card drivers, and also like billymagnum suggested, check the integrity of the steam games first.. might just be a simple download if their on steam but really its just drivers issues sounds like, as its effecting more then 1 game, something you did messed around the DX drivers would be my guess... could try reinstalling flash and java too.. incase one of those games uses that...

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    morello

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    #10  Edited By morello

    Restoring Windows from a system restore point is almost always the easiest and quickest solution if you think that installing or uninstalling a program has messed things up. Look in the Windows 8 Settings / Control Panel for Recovery and there should be an Open System Restore option. Pick a point just before all this started happening and you should be OK. If you've installed any programs since though you'll have to re-install them, but it should leave all your documents / photos etc alone.

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    Bollard

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    @morello said:

    Restoring Windows from a system restore point is almost always the easiest and quickest solution if you think that installing or uninstalling a program has messed things up. Look in the Windows 8 Settings / Control Panel for Recovery and there should be an Open System Restore option. Pick a point just before all this started happening and you should be OK. If you've installed any programs since though you'll have to re-install them, but it should leave all your documents / photos etc alone.

    This is probably the simplest solution. System restore has saved my ass so many times now.

    This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

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