How do I detect which multiple old versions of directx are installed?

dxdiag says I have directx 12 installed. But some video games I want to play use directx 8 and 9 and the cd rom comes with the directx installer for the old versions. But if it did get installed, how do I check if the old versions have been installed?

I need multiple versions to be installed at the same time and to be able to check the existence of older versions being installed. Dxdiag only shows the latest version of 12.

I'm using Windows 10 21H1

DirectX 12 is backwards compatible to DirectX 9. Any application requiring versions before that will either install what is required or download and install components from MS.

You need to look at the Display Tab in that DXDIAG tool for your DirectX hardware feature levels which may not match what is installed by Windows 10.
In my case it is 9.1 to 11.1 for the integrated graphics.

I have a few old Games installed that require lower versions like DirectX 7 and they work.
e.g. Under the Epic Games folder > DirectXRedist folder, there are older components from 2007 and 2010
Only about 4 MB so by todays standards of no consequence.

"I need multiple versions to be installed at the same time and to be able to check the existence of older versions being installed. Dxdiag only shows the latest version of 12."

That is unnecessary as all versions were backwards compatible up to version 9.

Attachment 340293

Pejole2165 said:

DirectX maintains backward compatibility with previous versions, so version 12 can report as version 9 to a game/ app that requires version 9 functionality, for example.

Helmut said:

DirectX 12 is backwards compatible to DirectX 9. Any application requiring versions before that will either install what is required or download and install components from MS.

Helmut said:

You need to look at the Display Tab in that DXDIAG tool for your DirectX hardware feature levels which may not match what is installed by Windows 10.
In my case it is 9.1 to 11.1 for the integrated graphics.

So DirectX 12 is backwards compatible all the way down to version 9. But what if I'm installing a DirectX version that is below version 9? How do I check if it's installed then?

It doesn't appear in DirectX Diagnostics, System Information or Add Remove Programs.

Pejole2165 said:

Some games/ apps will install a custom version of a DirectX file, Windows (at least current versions) protects the DirectX files so prevents newer versions being over written but also allows custom support files to be installed if a current version does not exist, most well written games/ apps will maintain any custom DirectX files they require within their install locations.

You appear to be referring to the Component Store that is stored in the WinSXS folder that colloquially means, Windows Side By Side. It's supposed to prevent the DLL Hell errors that would occur when running software, in Windows versions prior to Windows Vista. The WinSXS will store multiple versions of the same DLL file, to prevent this error, along with multiple versions of other types of files. It even has different versions for different hardware types and windows version types, like 64 bit, 32 bit, ARM, vista, xp, win7.

That notorious frequent error was due to when a user wanted to install software that required a DLL file, like from a CD-ROM that would have the dll file on the CD to add to Windows. But if it had overwritten an existing DLL file with an older version, then it would cause software not to work. So the user would have to use the latest version of the DLL file they got from another CD-ROM or the internet. But some software did not support the newer version so you'd have to use the older version. And some badly made software would delete every DLL file it used when you uninstalled it. Free DLL websites were also an attack vector for distributing viruses. As a DLL file can potentially be used by multiple software at once, this would make keeping windows secure very difficult, as it was hard to trace the origin of a virus as to what software caused it. You can find more information about DLL Hell on the internet.


Well here's more information about WinSXS
https://archive.ph/C9yls
https://archive.ph/XIlep
https://archive.ph/y7FPK
https://archive.ph/eGai
https://archive.ph/n5Bz6
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/wi...iew=windows-11
WinSxS Folder in Windows 11/10 explained
https://archive.ph/rdACb

Helmut said:

I have a few old Games installed that require lower versions like DirectX 7 and they work.
e.g. Under the Epic Games folder > DirectXRedist folder, there are older components from 2007 and 2010
Only about 4 MB so by todays standards of no consequence.

"I need multiple versions to be installed at the same time and to be able to check the existence of older versions being installed. Dxdiag only shows the latest version of 12."

That is unnecessary as all versions were backwards compatible up to version 9.

That is irrelevant.
What if I want to install DirectX 8 that comes included on a CD-ROM of a video game.
Yes I could install the game myself from the CD-ROM and see if it works. Well if it works, that is irrelevant because even if it does work, there is no way for me to confirm whether it's actually been installed or not.

So how can I check if DirectX 8 is installed?