What DirectX is on Windows? How to check which version of DirectX is installed on your computer.

DirectX is a set of tools that was developed for efficient work multimedia in Microsoft Windows. Roughly speaking, a software component whose task is to “organize” all the hardware elements of the system. Most often used in the process of writing games, since it is responsible for graphics processing. For the system to work correctly, the video card requires reverse hardware support for DirectX..

This component, as well as its executable libraries, are updated during the installation of games. But how can you find out the directx version yourself and update it if necessary?

Which version of DirectX should you have?

Each version of Windows supports its own DirectX:

For Windows XP this is DX9;
for Vista – DX10;
for Win7 and 8/8.1 – DX11.

The release of the new “tenth” version of the OS from Microsoft brought us the new 12th version, which, according to the developers, will finally unleash the full potential of multi-core processors, making the CPU-video card combination many times more productive.

Determining Your Version

To find out what exactly you have installed, open Start and find the Run command. This is true for all versions of Windows, starting with XP.

Enter the phrase, or look for this menu item among the suggested ones. Search is still faster. Press Enter and wait for the collection of statistical data on your system as a whole and its individual components in particular.

We are interested in the “system” tab. We look at the very bottom and find that version 11 of DirectX is installed (example).

Updating DX Components

If you think that the software version is outdated and the games require a more recent package of executable libraries, update them on the official Microsoft website using the appropriate link (valid for version 11).

Then make sure that your video card supports this software version. If it can only handle DX9 and DX10, no upgrade will work. Hardware support is more important than software support, so keep that in mind.

You can find out about the specifications of the video card on the Internet.

DirectX is a set of libraries and software tools that are used to solve problems related to the release of applications and games for operating system Windows. Each OS version has a certain generation of this software installed, which corresponds to the capabilities of the installed video card. Each subsequent release of the API package includes all legacy libraries, so you don't have to install all the releases in a row - just install the latest package. Let's see how you can check DirectX on Windows 7 different ways.

Standard means

To operating rooms Windows systems a special one is built in that allows you to view information about the system, screen, sound and input devices. You can access this application in two ways: using a command in the Run window or by launching an executable file. Let's consider both options.

In order to check DirectX on Windows 7, you need to follow these steps:

Launch the Run application. This can be done using the Start menu and the item of the same name in it, or through the Win+R key combination.
In the window that opens, enter the dxdiag command and click OK to launch the desired application.
After some time spent collecting information, you will see a window with statistics and
On the first tab "System" there is a line "DirectX Version". Opposite it you will see the number of the current software version that is installed on the computer.
However, the version that appears in the first tab is not necessarily the one supported by your video card. To find information about supported libraries, you need to open the Display tab.
Pay attention to the "Drivers" section and the DDI line for Direct3D. Opposite this item is the generation number of the API package that is supported by your video card.

Now you know how to check DirectX on Windows 7 in two directions - the one that is installed on the computer, and the one that is supported by the graphics accelerator of your computer.

Second standard option

You can launch it in other ways. Firstly, you can open the system partition hard drive and go to the Windows and System32 directory. In the list of all files, find dxdiag.exe and open it.

Secondly, the user can use the search in the Start menu. To do this, open the menu and enter the name of the executive file. Once it appears in the list of matches found, run it. By all means, you can run the application and check the DirectX version on Windows 7. Also, the described options are suitable for all subsequent versions of the operating system, up to 10.

Third party programs

If you are not satisfied with the standard checking tool, then you can use a third-party utility to check information about the system and hardware. For example, one of such programs is the popular AIDA64. You can download a free trial version and see the DirectX version on Windows 7 through it.

You need to run the program and select “Operating system” in the main directory with partitions. In it, find the line with the name of the software, opposite which will be written installed version.

To understand which version is supported by your video card, find the DirectX section and open the "Video" tab. Then find the line "Hardware support". Opposite it, you can check DirectX on Windows 7, which is supported by your graphics accelerator.

The Windows operating system has a rather complex structure, which only its developers can understand. For competent work For all its components in applications and games that require serious resources, developers from the Microsoft studio release a special set of tools - DirectX. It is a mistake to think that this is just a program that users need.

In fact, DirectX is a set of tools that is supported by Microsoft for developers. It is impossible to program complex applications and games for Windows without DirectX. It must also be installed on the end user's computer of the developed program or game so that Windows can interact with it. DirectX tools are regularly improved and new versions are released. That is why it is important for the user to know which DirectX is installed on the computer, and whether it needs to be updated to work with a modern game.

How to find out which DirectX is installed

Determining the version of DirectX on a computer running Windows is very simple; for this you need to:

Press the Windows + R combination on your keyboard to open the “Run” line;
You will need to enter the dxdiag command in it;
This will open a system information window called “DirectX Diagnostic Tools”. On the “System” tab at the bottom you can see a column indicating which DirectX is installed on the computer.

Important: You can install any version of DirectX on your computer. However there is important nuance: If it is not supported by hardware, then Windows will not be able to work with it. Then the operating system selects the highest supported version of DirectX as active, and it is this version that is displayed in the diagnostic menu, information about which is given above.

How to determine DirectX version using third-party programs

In addition to the utilities built into the operating system, third-party applications allow you to determine the DirectX version on your computer. At the same time, they are able to provide much more information than the dxdiag command mentioned above.

A convenient computer diagnostic tool is the AIDA64 application. Its free version can be downloaded from the official developer website. This program allows you to find out information about all computer components, as well as about the software component.

In the left menu of the application you can see a separate DirectX item. It contains information in three subsections: files, video, sound:

AIDA64 is not the only diagnostic program for your computer. You can find many of its analogues on the Internet, both paid and free.

Why DirectX 12 does not work on Windows 10

One of the features of the Windows 10 operating system, which Microsoft is actively promoting, is games. New version The operating system at a “close to hardware level” works with games that are developed on DirectX 12. This allows players on low-power computers to run projects that require high performance.

However, some Windows 10 users may discover when checking that they have DirectX 11 or 11.2 installed, and not the modern DirectX 12. In such a situation, there is no need to download DirectX 12 from the official Microsoft website and install it on your computer, since this will not help. This version of drivers is natively available in Windows 10, and the solution to the problem should be sought in another plane.

If you see DirectX 11.2 instead of DirectX 12 on Windows 10, this is due to:

It is important to note that a more recent DirectX on a computer does not replace previous versions. That is, if an application or game requires DirectX 8,9 or 10 to run, and later versions are installed on your computer, you must download the “old” driver.

Playing modern games, you all know well that DirectX files are used as graphics libraries. Based on them, all graphic objects in the game, three-dimensional polygons, anti-aliasing, vertex and pixel shaders are drawn. Also, all backdrops, that is, backgrounds, are similarly drawn using DirectX. Each video card supports the corresponding version of DirectX, and the later it is, the better.

In this article I will tell you, how to check DirectX version on any version of Windows, including seven and ten, and I will also touch on the topic of checking the performance of DirectX in the operating system, namely, how it functions, whether it uses all modes, and whether it uses the PC’s power to its fullest. If, as a result of checking your DirectX installation, it turns out that some files were not installed, you may have to deliver the missing resources to your PC by reinstalling one of the corresponding DirectX packages.

As you know, depending on the power of the hardware, this or that game can run freely and easily in the most high resolution, may slow down slightly or significantly, or may not start at all. It will probably not be news to you if I say that in terms of graphics, everything depends on the power of the video adapter, in particular on the version of DirectX it supports.

If the video card supports latest version DirectX (currently 12th), and the video card is quite powerful and productive, has a fairly high bus width and a large amount of video memory, then you don’t have to worry about the graphics in games - everything will be fine highest level. If not, you will have to sacrifice some effects, as a result of which the game performance can also be brought to an acceptable level.

You can check the current version of DirectX on your operating system by running the Graphics Library Initializer and Checker. To do this, we’ll use the notorious Win+R combination and enter the “dxdiag” value in the “Run” mini-form.

As a result of this combination, the DirectX diagnostic tool will launch on your PC. To find out the supported version of DirectX, on the first System tab, look at the DirectX Version field at the bottom of the form. This will be the version number used on your PC.

However, not everything is as simple as it might seem at first glance. In fact, this field displays the version that is supported by the operating system, but not by the video card. That is, if you installed Windows 10 on a not very powerful computer, then this program will certainly show version 12, although the video card can support a maximum of 9.1 or 10.

You can find out which version of the library is supported by your device in technical specifications products. We also recommend updating your video card driver, because along with latest updates you can bring softer and smoother gameplay to your gaming experience without stuttering or stuttering, and the power of your video card can increase by another 5-8%.

Now a few words about how to check the performance and functionality of DirectX using the diagnostic tool already presented to you. Let's go to the "Screen" tab. Here in the bottom text block entitled "Notes" you can see if there are any problems with DirectX running on your PC. If, as in my case, you see the message “No problems found” here, then everything is in order, and you can’t even doubt the efficiency of your video adapter.

A similar field is presented on the “Sound” tab, so you can look there too. If any problems are discovered, it is likely that you will need to reinstall DirectX, which you can do as soon as you have a free minute before the game.

So we have figured out the operating features of the DirectX graphics library. Now you know how to check which version of DirectX is installed on your PC, how to find out about the current update of this package, and how to make sure it is working and effective. I hope that this material will be useful to you and you will enjoy playing your favorite game projects.

Often new users of personal computers wonder how to find out which DirectX is installed. This problem is especially of concern to those who like to play various computer games. Let's figure out what it is, how to discover and install it for ourselves.

What and why

Before we talk about how to find out which DirectX is installed, you need to generally understand what kind of “Direct” it is. Let's figure it out together.

In order for the computer to communicate with various devices and with its own hardware, as well as with various applications, it needs to have special libraries and connection modules. They usually have a .dll extension. If such “things” are missing, then you can forget about the proper operation of the game or program.

DrectX is a kind of set of special APIs that help the computer interact with certain applications. In other words, this whole line libraries that are necessary for the successful operation of a computer. IN Lately DirectX is used in development computer games, so for gamers this kind of thing is quite important and it is equally important for them to know how to find out which DirectX is installed on their “machine”.

Before detection

Now it’s time to talk about how you can detect this very “Direct” on your computer. First of all, you need to know some points that will help you get rid of unnecessary manipulations when looking for an answer to the question of how to find out which DirectX is installed on your computer.

The fact is that every computer, when purchased and first launched, already has one or another operating system. If you start studying it in more detail, you will notice that “by default” some “Direct” will already be installed on it. Depending on your operating system, of course.

So, if you want to know how to see which DirectX is installed, but don't want to go through any of the steps, try to remember: modern computers Direct X version 9 is already present on Windows 7. The G8 already has the 10th generation with the possibility of updating. In all other cases, you need to check your libraries yourself.

Start the search

Now it's time to talk about how to check which DirectX is installed on your computer. This is done in just a few seconds. If you want to rack your brain, you can look for special online services that can show information about your PC upon request. For those who don’t want to split hairs, the following method is suitable.

Open the command line. To do this, press Win+R. In the window that appears, enter the command "dxdiag" and press Enter. A window will open in front of you, which will display all the information about your computer. Towards the very end of the list you will see the line “DirectX installed”. Opposite this inscription your version of the “library” will be shown.

You can also make it even easier to access necessary information. This method is suitable for “seven” users. Just open the Start menu and type “dxdiag” into the search box. In response, the required page with data will be opened. Now that you know how to find out which DirectX is installed, it's time to talk a little about how to "handle" this application.

Update

Time passes, and with the development of technology, libraries connected to a computer also develop. Thus, DirectX also receives its updates. It needs to be updated from time to time. But how to do that?

The task is accomplished in several ways. The first is to independently search for the required version on the Internet. It is not very convenient, since you may run into trouble, namely, encrypted and hidden viruses. And your system and this application may be incompatible.

The second method is updating using the official Microsoft website. To do this, go to the website, find DirectX, then select the operating system you need and the version of Direct to download. Download and install according to the instructions. After this, restart your computer - and now you have updated your computer's libraries!

The last, most reliable method is automatic updating, using the center Windows updates 7. To do this, go into it, start checking for available updates, then select DirectX, if available, and wait until it updates. All you need is an Internet connection. And, of course, restart your computer after completion.

I installed Direct, but there’s no point

Sometimes it may happen that you install DirectX on your computer at the request of an application and game, but there are still problems with launching. What to do in this situation?

Many people start deleting Direct and reinstalling it, but this is not what is really needed. In reality, you need to rewrite the library (it is in .dll format) that you are missing, then download and “install” it on your computer. All libraries are stored in Windows folder-> System32.

Find the missing file on the Internet (or better yet, on the official website) and download it. Unzip (usually libraries are hidden in archives), then “put away” them in the System32 folder and, if necessary, restart the computer. All problems will be solved.