Problem with games and DirectX in Windows 10 Technical Preview

Anonymous
2014-10-06T23:58:31+00:00

After installing Windows 10 Technical Preview (a clean install) pretty much 99% of my games stopped working. Most of these I got on Steam, so when I try to play one, it starts the first-time setup, where it tries to install DirectX and then it just returns to desktop. If I try again, it just does the same, but if it's one of the few games which don't install it when running them the first time (i.e., Binding of Isaac), then it has no problems.

After that, I tried to play a couple of relatively new games I got from GoG, but they gave me error messages when trying to install DirectX. They still install, but if I try to play them they don't run because they can't find DirectX-related dlls in the computer.

According to Dxdiag, though, DirectX 11 is installed. Reading forums, it seems to me that most people can play games with no problem with the Tech Preview, but some can't because Windows 10 doesn't recognize their graphic cards, and they have to switch to integrated graphics. I can't do this, as my motherboard doesn't have them, but at least when checking system information it seems that the OS recognizes the card (a Radeon Hd 4870, not exactly cutting edge stuff...), so not sure if it's the same, though it might be, as I tried installing the latest drivers for Windows 7/8 and couldn't. Has anybody had similar problems? And did anyone manage to solve them, and how?

Windows Insider program | Apps on Insider preview

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Anonymous
2015-06-25T04:17:20+00:00

Hi,

I would suggest you to provide the feedback in the feedback app so that it will be implemented in the future Builds.

Updates and feedback

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/preview-updates-feedback-pc

Hope this helps. Let us know if you have any other issues with Windows in future.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-08-12T11:46:57+00:00

    I first upgraded from 8.1 to 10 without a fresh install and thats when I had these issues. SO for me I decided to do a clean install of 10, but that didnt solve any issues for me :(

    I really done want to have to reinstall eveything again, so I hope someone/microsoft can come up with another way around this.

    It's strange how Half Life 2 works perfectly fine on 10 but not Ghost Recon!

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-08-11T15:44:09+00:00

    Hello all,

    What a coincidence, I also fixed my problem last night, but nothing so drastic : I did a clean install of NVidia driver and Experience, and uninstalled MSI Afterburner. I'm quite sure the later was the problem, but I mention the driver install for the sake of completeness.

    Hope this helps.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-08-11T15:08:24+00:00

    Hello all.. I stumbled on this thread after having the same issue as the op and wanted to share my experience in case it helps someone else.  What the op said is spot on. Fresh installs of windows 10 somehow bork older versions of directx. I experienced the endless directx install loops in steam that prevented most games from launching. Whenever I tried to install directx manually it would crash and tell me to consult log files, which didn't provide me with any helpful insights.

    I finally fixed my problem last night though and all of my games are working flawlessly on windows 10. I decided to reformat my drive and installed a fresh version of windows 7. Once I was at the desktop I got the latest directx and installed it, which worked fine on the older os. I then installed a game that didn't work on windows 10 and it worked flawlessly on 7 with the older directx sdk installed. So at this point I upgraded again to windows 10 but opted to keep my files and apps this time so technically not a fresh windows 10 install but the tradeoff I feel is worth it since everything works flawlessly now.  I assume this would work on other older versions of Windows as well besides 7. Hope this story helps someone else!

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-08-10T07:59:13+00:00

    I'm having the same problem with the upgrade from Win 7 to the release version, running a GTX 670 and an Athlon II X4 620.

    Hearthstone works, but Path of Exile, Age of Wonders 3, Borderlands 2, Brothers : A Tale of Two Sons... don't. I tried everything to no avail (reinstalling a game, running through Steam or a standalone client, reinstalling / repairing DirectX, although dxdiag doesn't report an error, uninstalling GeForce Experience...). Everything was silky smooth on Win 7

    Why you do that to me Microsoft ? Whyyyyyyy ?

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