Has your DirectX Encountered an Unrecoverable Error? Many gamers have come across this message when they try launching their games in Windows lately. If you get this error message, whatever game you are trying to play will fail to start. As you would expect by the contents of the error message, its related to Microsoft DirectX.
When troubleshooting this problem, check your system requirements first to ensure that your PC is DirectX compatible. You might also want to try reinstalling your graphics driver or running the built-in DirectX diagnostic tool. Diving deeper into the problem, you may need to repair some corrupt registry keys or reinstall Windows.
If you are one of the many people facing this ‘DirectX Encountered an Unrecoverable Error’ problem, then you are in the right place. In this article, we will cover 5 easy solutions to resolve this problem.
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What Is Directx?
DirectX is basically a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia. Directx is essential in game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms.
Why Is Directx Not Working?
DirectX encountered an unrecoverable occur if your DirectX version doesn’t meet the minimum DX system requirements for a game. This failure could be as a result of:
Random Game Bug: Some games may encounter errors due to unexpected coding bugs. In some others, faulty hardware may trigger a software error while the game is running. Problems resulting from random bugs are minimized by making sure that software, drivers, and applications up to date.
Corrupted Game Files: a game may sometimes crash if its cache or critical files are corrupted for some reason. This crash could lead to the DirectX error message.
Outdated software or drivers: Driver-related problems are some of the common reasons why some of your games crash. If you encounter DirectX Unrecoverable Error suddenly, you may have an issue with the drivers on your computer. Sometimes, the fault may lie with the Operating System.
Incompatibility issues with other programs: Other applications may interfere with your game launcher in general.
Internet connection problems: Slow or intermittent connection can lead to matchmaking and other issues in Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Warzone games. You should consider troubleshooting your network connection if you continue to experience problems when trying to join matchmaking, or when already in the game.
Other causes include an Incompatible or outdated graphic driver, missing or damaged .dll file, any virus, or malware attack.
What Quick Fixes Can I Use To Resolve “Directx Encountered An Unrecoverable Error” Issue?
The “DirectX encountered an unrecoverable error” appears more frequently when trying to launch video games such as Call of Duty. It can also pop-up with other video games.
If you have a game returning the DirectX unrecoverable error, we recommend starting with the simple steps before proceeding to the harder ones. Detailed below is a brief guide on how you can resolve the issue efficiently.
Most times, merely running a virus or malware scan is enough to solve this error. Directx encountered an unrecoverable error problem results from a virus attack. By scanning your entire laptop with a strong antivirus, you can rid the DLL file from corruption.
Try starting your game to see if the error message still pops up and prevents your game from launching. If it does not fix the issue, try the next quick fix.
Another fix you can also consider for solving this problem is adjusting the screen scale of your device. Check if by altering the scale of your screen, the error message disappears, and DirectX can run the game graphics. To do this, here are a few steps you should follow:
- Step 1: Turn on your computer. On the desktop, right-click on the mouse and select open display settings (or Display),
- Step 2: You should see a scale option. In the Scale option, select the custom format. You may see this on your device as scale and layout
- Step 3: Set the scale to 100 then click OK.
- Step 4: You should try to rerun the game to see if the problem has disappeared.
If this doesn’t work, do not panic. Continue down this article for possible solutions to this DirectX error.
What Alternative Measures Should I Take To Resolve “Directx Encountered An Unrecoverable Error” Issue?
If you have tried the quick fixes detailed above to no avail, you should try these.
- Deleting and reinstalling an updated graphic driver
- Using the Directx diagnostic tool.
- Reviewing the Directx requirement for your system
- Editing the registry
What Steps Can I Take To Resolve This?
Solution 1: Review Your Directx System Requirements
A significant number of video games require the installation of DirectX. Among these, there will be compatibility differences, with some requiring either older or more recent versions of DirectX.
The most modern of video games, for example, usually require one of the latest systems, either DirectX 11 or 12. Some applications, however, need you to install an older version of DirectX to run correctly.
For this simply follow these steps
- Step 1: Go to the official website of the game publisher and check which version of the DirectX system you require
- Step 2: Next, open DirectX on your PC to see which version you have installed on your computer. Just follow the steps below to check the installed version.
- Press the Win + R commands and Run will open
- Type DxDiag in the text bar that displays. When you accept, a screen with the diagnosis and version of DirectX will open.
At times, they may not match because you have an older version of DirectX. In this case, update it using the windows update option.
It Could Be An Operating System Issue
However, in some cases, not all versions of Windows are compatible with the latest versions of DirectX. Only Windows 10 and Server 2016 have support for the latest versions of DirectX 11.3 and 12. If this is the case, you should try stepping down to a previous version.
You should install an older version of DirectX to check if it fixes the issue. Here’s how to install an older version.
- Step 1: Go to the DirectX download page on Microsoft’s site.
- Step 2: Click on the red Download button to save the setup file to your computer.
- Step 3: Open the dxwebsetup.exe file. To complete the DirectX installation, follow the directions from the DirectX installation program. The installation program should not take more than a minute.
Restart your computer device then test to see if this corrected the DirectX unrecoverable error message.
If it doesn’t disappear with this formula, we recommend trying the other solutions mentioned in this article.
Solution 2: Try Deleting And Reinstalling A Previous Graphic Driver
One reason for this error is graphic driver incompatibility. The video driver is the software that allows your operating system and programs to use your computer graphics hardware.
Your graphics drivers must be up to date for better performance. In most cases, merely reinstalling the video drivers helped fix DirectX errors. Driver updates usually provide bug fixes and compatibility with newer software. You will need to uninstall your graphic driver first then reinstall it. To do so,
- Step 1: Type “device manager” in the search bar and open it. Expand your video hardware device section. Go to the Display adapters section, select your driver, and right-click on it. Next, choose “Uninstall device.”
- Step 2: Make sure you check the “Delete the driver software for this device” to uninstall the driver.
- Step 3: To reinstall, you must restart your device. Windows will automatically install the missing drivers.
If, after this process, you are still getting the Directx error message, update the drivers. To update your drivers,
- Step 1: Go to your device manufacturer website and download the latest driver for your graphics card, copy that driver into your USB drive.
- Step 2: Type “device manager” in the search bar and open it. Then expand your video hardware device section, select your driver, and right-click on it. Next, choose “Update Driver.”
- Step 3: Restart your computer device and check if you can launch your game now.
We, however, prefer an automatic update over the manual update. We advise you to do an automatic update because the manual process comes with the risk of getting the wrong driver installed.
Installing the wrong drivers may lead to severe malfunctions of your system. The automatic update, on the other hand, is a safer and easier way to update your graphic drivers.
For this, you’ll need to install a software that automatically carries out the update. The software automatically identifies each device on your computer and matches it with the latest driver versions from the online database.
Consequently, drivers can then updated in batches or one at a time without requiring you to make any complex decisions in the process.
If the problem continues, do not panic. Continue to the other solutions in this article.
Solution 3: Try Using The DirectX Diagnostic Tool
The DirectX Diagnostic Tool helps you to troubleshoot the issues associated with DirectX. This tool not only solves DirectX error but also saves your information on your system. To start this diagnostic operation:
1) Press Windows + R
2) Type in “dxdiag” and click on OK
3) Once open, you will see four tabs: System, Display, Sound, and Input. The system tab provides information about your computer system, and the version of DirectX installed on your computer.
The “Display” tab provides information about your graphics adapter and monitor. It also shows information about your graphics drivers and enabled DirectX features.
The “Sound” tab of the diagnostic tool provides information about the sound hardware, drivers, and output devices used on your system.
The “Input” tab lists the input devices connected to your computer, and the input drivers installed on your computer.
4) Check the tabs one after the other. If there are any identified errors, a message will display on the faulty tab.
Reboot your system and try relaunching your game. If it displays the DirectX error message, still then go to solution 4.
Solution 4: Download Visual C++ Redistributables Package
installing Visual C++ Redistributables can fix DirectX errors. Visual C++ Redistributable Packages installs runtime components of Visual C++ Libraries on a computer lacking Visual C++.
Many applications require redistributable Visual C++ packages to function properly. We recommend you download and install the most recent package. Here is a guide on how to do this.
- Step 1: Go to the “Visual C++ Redistributable Packages “for the visual studio download page.
- Step 2: Click on download.
- Step 3: You may be required to install both the 64-bit version and the 32-bit version. However, if you’re using a 32-bit Windows version, you should install just the 32-bit version.
- Step 4: Next, follow the instructions to install the visual c++ package
- Step 5: Run a test to see if this fixed the error message. If your game is unable to launch still, please try the other solutions.
Solution 5: Edit The Registry
You can try this is a registry fix that might resolve the DirectX unrecoverable error. To try this,
Step 1: Open the Registry Editor first by holding down the Win key + R keyboard shortcut and entering ‘regedit’ in Run.
Step 2: Select the OK button on the Run window to open the Registry Editor.
Step 3: Navigate to the registry location.
Step 4: Click on File. Next select Export, then enter a file title and click save to back up the selected registry branch.
Step 5: Right-click text/XML, select the Delete option and press the Yes button to confirm.
Step 6: Then close the Registry Editor
Conclusion
DirectX is a significant component of Windows, required by a lot of multimedia applications. You might encounter the message “DirectX encountered an unrecoverable error” while trying to launch your game.
When it comes to resolving this issue, the first thing to check is your system requirements to make sure your computer is DirectX compatible. If it is but its still not working, you may want to reinstall the graphics driver. Beyond that, there is always the DirectX diagnostic tool which can, at times, be helpful. If you check everything else and its still not working, you may have some corrupt registry entries that you could either manually fix or resolve by reinstalling Windows.
We hopes this article helped you get to the bottom of your DirectX issue. Thank you for reading!