KB178644 - DirectX: Cannot Uninstall or Remove DirectX

Article ID: 178644

Article Last Modified on 12/1/2007

Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Microsoft Windows 2000 Standard Edition
Microsoft Windows NT 4.0
Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
Microsoft Windows 98 Standard Edition
Microsoft Windows 95

This article was previously published under Q178644

SUMMARY

DirectX run-time for End Users (also known as DirectX) is an extension to the Microsoft Windows operating system that provides a set of fast, low-level hardware controls that programmers can use to increase performance for Windows games and multimedia programs. The current generation of Windows games and multimedia programs do not function properly without DirectX. Therefore, by design you cannot remove DirectX.

MORE INFORMATION

Beginning with Microsoft Windows 95, DirectX has been integrated into the operating system. Later versions of Windows have included newer versions of the DirectX libraries.

Earlier versions of DirectX included updated audio and video drivers because many hardware manufacturers did not provide DirectX accelerated versions of their drivers. This is no longer the case, but if you cannot start Windows 95 after you install an early version of DirectX, you may have to restore your previous sound and video drivers.

For additional information about how to download and install DirectX, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

179113 How to Download and Install DirectX

For more information about how to troubleshoot issues related to DirectX, you can use the DirectX Home User Troubleshooter. To do so, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=%2FSupport%2FDirectX%2Ffaq%2Fdefault.asp

Additional query words: msgame dx8 DX direct-x kbdw win95 win98 winme winmil win9x

Keywords: kbenv kbfaq kbinfo kburl KB178644