Windows Vista Exe's not working, constant reinstalls, directX malfunction

Hey guys, first post is an "I have a problem" type haha. I wouldn't be posting if I hadn't gone through an insane amount of Google searches and forum skimming for any solutions, so here goes.

I custom built my PC, the OS is Vista 64bit Ultimate, Intel q9300 CPU, and a nVidia 9800gtx graphics card. This was last summer before August. Around September my computer just stopped running Counterstrike, no errors or anything, and after forever of searching I just gave up. Along time later I wiped that driver and installed the same one. That fixed it.

Then again, around November, it happened again, so I replaced with a new driver. This was stable for some time, then out of nowhere the error message for any game would be something like "Graphics card not sufficient ", "The application has failed because d3dx9_38.dll could not be found" (for Dead Space), anytime I open a word document Microsoft office automatically reinstalls itself (so it will work after that, thank god). Nero says my XML Viewer is corrupt (will sometimes work after I try a DirectX web update), even Firefox says "Could not read application .ini" or sometimes "Firefox.exe could not be found" (shortcut error).

I have a install file for Firefox on my desktop to reinstall every hour or so to use the internet. I usually have to do a DirectX web update before using anything graphics intensive (dunno why this works), and whenever I feel like playing a video game I have to wipe the driver and reinstall it, which takes so long I usually don't bother.

So there's the temporary solution I have been using, but sometimes I can't even open a new window in Firefox, the .ini error appears, so I have to use new tabs or risk Firefox crashing.

I have done an insane amount of Kapersky, Spybot Search and Destroy, CCleaner, AdAware, etc. scans, as well as registry scans and fixes.

I really don't want to do a restore, simply because I have a crazy amount of programs that took forever to find. I have done a Windows Repair from the install DVD which turned up null.

Basically this problem is invisible to me, and the only thing I can think of is a registry virus or error (i read that somewhere), but scan results are clean.


Sorry about the long post, just figured I would write it all to narrow the problem down, thanks.

 

My computer has all the latest updates (via Windows Update) and is running the Vista SP1. The DirectX solution you mentioned is what I meant when I said DirectX web update, but in any case that only works sometimes. For Dead Space, it would say the d3dx9_38.dll is missing, DirectX error or something, I would reinstall DirectX, and then the error would be my graphics card is too weak, then I reinstall the graphics driver and everything works fine for about a day, sometimes within a couple of hours, and the problem kinda resets itself.

I have tried the sfc /scannow, which pops up as me having a few corrupt files which it couldn't repair, and since idk how to read the log it creates, and Windows Vista install DVD won't fix said problems, those have gone unsolved.

I'm pretty sure the driver itself is stable, I have tried several, ranging from fairly old ones cited by many at Guru3d as being really stable, to newer ones that nVidia claims are. Not that that means anything, I'm just saying I have tried quite a few and all have this problem sooner or later.

If this helps, there are some programs that seem totally unaffected. Like any of my virus scanners (I listed them in the original post), Winamp, Windows Media Player, Explorer, Azureus, Media Player Classic, several fairly old computer games or non-graphics intensive ones, Ventrilo, Trillian, picture viewing programs, or Adobe programs. All of those seem unaffected.

I'll try shutting down background applications to see if it's a conflict and post in a little bit.

 

My first thought is power for the graphics card. Graphics cards now need their own power supply connector, so check that. Does your power supply have enough power (Wattage) to run the system? Generic power supplies may require almost double the Wattage of high-end brands.
http://www.journeysystems.com/?power_supply_calculator

Matt

 

It's a PCI-E board, so it requires 2 12v connectors I think (can't remember at the moment, but I installed via the manual so I know I got it right), and my PCU is a Corsair 1000w. And everything in my case is nicely cooled as well.

 

Sounds like a nice system.

Try looking in Event Viewer when an error occurs. You can get details by double-clicking on the "event ". See if there is any correlation in the events.

Note that Evan's link is for DirectX 9.0c, I am told you can install 9.0c to run along side DirectX 10 in Vista. You can get information about DirectX and multimedia drivers by running dxdiag.exe (type dxdiag in the start line).

That dll "not found" appears to be a DirectX 9.0 version file. One, or some, of your programs may be set to run DirectX 9.0c.

Go to the motherboard manufacturer's website and get updated drivers, particularly the chipset drivers. Don't rely on driver updates in Windows Updates, get them from the hardware manufacturer.

Matt

 

mmmm...one other thing. If you are still stuck in the end, consider a BIOS upgrade.

 

I tried the Event Viewer. Sometimes there are problems with a .dll called FM20, sometimes mscomctl.ocx, sometimes it says there is a conflicting file or something. Most errors take place in SysWOW32 and are about files not existing (such as the two above I listed), even though I can navigate and find them where they should be in the SysWOW32 folder.

I did the sfc /scannow again, there are corrupt files. The disk error checker that I can schedule to run at start-up came back with no errors.

My registry scan programs finds many errors, most in configurations, and those fix what they can i guess.

I tried updating what drivers I could, which weren't much. I have the most current version for my motherboard as far as a BIOS goes as well.

DxDiag, both in the 32bit and 64bit modes, come back as saying I am running DirectX 10. I believe that it runs 9.0c at all times until a program (like an intensive videogame) calls for 10. I think that's how it works idk.

This is a tricky problem haha

 

I don't have those files or folder. A search I ran seems to relate them to DirectX 9.0c. You can right-click on those and other files in the folder and check Properties to see if you can find their origin.

AFAIK, you still can't uninstall DirectX. If you have a problem with it though, you can reinstall it over itself. I would reinstall DirectX 9.0c with the latest version (looks like Nov 2008). You also say DirectX updates fixes things occasionally.

I saw a reference to "dxdiag32" which resides in the SysWow32 folder. Try running that if you have it.

Still seems to be a DirectX problem (or program that uses DirectX) to me.

Matt