In simple terms, drivers are software programs that interact with DirectX components and hardware devices in your PC to allow the successfully functioning of the hardware with the software program that wants to talk to the hardware, i.e. use it. Different software programs make varying demands on other system components.

If you are getting a message that DirectX won’t initialize, here are a few things to check:

1. Is your computer having any problems related to DirectX?
   Here is how to find out:
   1. From your Desktop, click on START.
   2. Click on RUN.
   3. Then type DXDIAG in the white panel that comes up on the screen.
   4. Click OK. The DirectX Diagnostic Tool reports detailed information about the DirectX components and drivers on your system. Note the DirectX version running on your PC.
   5. You can check each DirectX component and driver by clicking the pertinent tab at the top of this report.
   6. At the bottom of the window there will be a note section. This will tell you if you have a driver issue.
   7. If any of DirectX compents and drivers have problems, contact your computer tech or the vendor.

2. Do you have the latest version of DirectX on your PC?
   You can get it at Microsoft:  Download DirectX

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Device Driver:
A device driver is a program that controls a particular type of device that is attached to your PC. There are device drivers for printers, displays, CD-ROM readers, diskette drives, and so on. Operating systems (e.g. Windows 98, Windows XP, etc.) include many device drivers. However, if you add a new type of device that the operating system didn't anticipate, you'll have to install the new device driver. A device driver essentially converts the more general input/output instructions of the operating system to messages that the device type can understand.

Some Windows programs are virtual device drivers. These programs interface with the Windows Virtual Machine Manager. Each main hardware device in your PC has a virtual device driver (including the hard disk drive controller, keyboard, and serial and parallel ports). They're used to maintain the status of a hardware device that has changeable settings. Virtual device drivers handle software interrupts from the system rather than hardware interrupts. In Windows operating systems, a device driver file usually has a file name suffix of DLL or EXE. A virtual device driver usually has the suffix of VXD.

DLL (dynamic link library):
In computers, a dynamic link library (DLL) is a collection of small programs, any of which can be called when needed by a larger program that is running in the computer. The small program that lets the larger program communicate with a specific device such as a printer or scanner is often packaged as a DLL program (usually referred to as a DLL file). DLL files that support specific device operation are known as device drivers.

DLL files save RAM space, because they only get loaded as needed by the main program. For example, as long as a user of Microsoft Word is editing a document, the printer DLL file is not loaded into RAM. If the user decides to print the document, then the Word application causes the printer DLL file to be loaded and run.

Hard Disk:
A hard disk is part of a unit, often called a "disk drive," "hard drive," or "hard disk drive," that stores and provides relatively quick access to large amounts of data on an electromagnetically charged surface or set of surfaces. PC's typically come with a hard disk that contains several billion bytes (gigabytes) of storage.

A hard disk is really a set of stacked "disks," each of which, like phonograph records, has data recorded electromagnetically in concentric circles or "tracks" on the disk. A "head" (something like a phonograph arm but in a relatively fixed position) records (writes) or reads the information on the tracks. Two heads, one on each side of a disk, read or write the data as the disk spins. Each read or write operation requires that data be located, which is an operation called a "seek." (Data already in a disk cache, however, will be located more quickly.)

Operating System (OS):
An operating system (e.g. Windows 98, Windows XP, etc.) is the program that, after being initially loaded into the computer by a boot program, manages all the other programs in a computer. The other programs are called applications or application programs. The application programs make use of the operating system by making requests for services through a defined application program interface (API). In addition, users can interact directly with the operating system through a user interface such as a command language or a graphical user interface (GUI).

Processor:
A processor is the logic circuitry that responds to and processes the basic instructions that drive a computer. The term processor has generally replaced the term central processing unit (CPU). The processor in a personal computer (PC) is also called a microprocessor.

RAM (random access memory):
RAM is the place in a computer where the operating system, application programs, and current user data are kept so that they can be quickly reached by the computer's processor. RAM is much faster to read from and write to than the other kinds of storage in a computer (hard disk, floppy disk, and CD-ROM). However, the data in RAM stays there only as long as your computer is running. When you turn the computer off, RAM loses its data. When you turn your computer on again, your operating system and other files are once again loaded into RAM, usually from your hard disk.

RAM can be compared to a person's short-term memory and the hard disk to the long-term memory. The short-term memory focuses on work at hand, but can only keep so many facts in view at one time. If short-term memory fills up, your brain sometimes is able to refresh it from facts stored in long-term memory. A computer also works this way. If RAM fills up, the processor needs to continually go to the hard disk to overlay old data in RAM with new date, slowing down the computer's operation. Unlike the hard disk which can become completely full of data so that it won't accept any more, RAM never runs out of memory. It keeps operating, but much more slowly than you may want it to.

Sound Card:
A sound card (also referred to as an audio card) is a peripheral device that attaches to the ISA or PCI slot on a motherboard. It enables the computer to input, process, and deliver sound.

The sound card's four main functions are: as a synthesizer (generating sounds), as a MIDI interface, analog-to-digital conversion (used, for example, in recording sound from a microphone), and digital-to-analog conversion (used, for example, to reproduce sound for a speaker). The three methods of sound synthesis are through frequency modulation (FM) technology, wavetable, and physical modeling.

• FM synthesis is the least expensive and least effective method. Sounds are simulated by using algorithms to create sine waves that are as close to the sound as possible. For example, the sound of a guitar can be simulated, although the result does not really sound very much like a guitar.
• Wavetable uses actual, digitally recorded sound samples stored on the card for the highest performance.
• Physical Modeling is a new type of synthesizing, in which sounds are simulated through a complex programming procedure. Some sound cards can also have sounds downloaded to them.

Some sound cards, such as Diamond MX300 and SoundBlaster Live!, have 3-D capabilities enabled by processors on the card that use mathematical formulas to create greater depth, complexity, and realism of sound. High quality audio can be produced through a system that uses the Universal Serial Bus (USB) and does not require a sound card. Processing is left to the CPU, and digital-to-audio conversion to the speakers.

Video Adapter:
A video adapter (also called a display adapter or video board) is an integrated circuit card in a computer or, in some cases, a monitor that provides digital-to-analog conversion, video RAM, and a video controller so that data can be sent to a computer's display. Today, almost all displays and video adapters adhere to a common denominator de facto standard, Video Graphics Array (VGA). VGA describes how data (essentially red, green, blue data streams) is passed between the computer and the display. It also describes the frame refresh rates in hertz. It also specifies the number and width of horizontal lines, which essentially amounts to specifying the resolution of the pixels that are created. VGA supports four different resolution settings and two related image refresh rates.

In addition to VGA, most displays today adhere to one or more standards set by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA). VESA defines how software can determine what capabilities a display has. It also identifies resolutions setting beyond those of VGA. These resolutions include 800 by 600, 1024 by 768, 1280 by 1024, and 1600 by 1200 pixels.