DirectX is a component of Windows operating system that has been included since Windows 95 until today’s Windows 7. According to Wikipedia, Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Whether you think is important or not, Microsoft does not provide a way to uninstall DirectX nor you can update it from Windows Update. The only way to get the latest version is to download the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer from Microsoft Download site.
I found out about a tool called DirectX Happy Uninstall 3 years ago but never really tested it. In my opinion, this tool could be very useful in fixing Windows computers with DirectX problem because it seems to be the “only” software that supports up to DirectX 11 and the latest Windows 7 operating system, including 64 bit (x64).
DirectX Happy Uninstall is a shareware that cost $19.95 but without a usage time limit. Meaning anyone can use the software to backup and restore DirectX from their computer but the 2 most important function Rollback and Install (force) is disabled. Only after entering the correct User ID and Registration Code will unlock all features.
I tried contacting the author of the software if they can provide a free test license but never got a reply. I had to choice but to buy the software license in order for me to test the Rollback and Force Install feature.
The backup and restore feature is very straightforward. Clicking the Start Backup button will start to scan and backup all DirectX files into a CAB file. As for the Restore button, it shows you the list of DirectX backups that you have made and can easily restore by clicking the Restore button again. You can also delete the backups from there.
The Rollback feature works by restoring all original DirectX files from the Windows installation disc to your Windows computer. This way it should logically fix any problems caused by corrupted DirectX files and etc. You will need to insert the Windows installation disc, select the “sources” directory and continue with the process. A reboot is required at the end of the rollback process to fully restore all DirectX files and registry entries. If you don’t have the Windows installation disc, you can download the official Windows 7 ISO from the link which is shared by ted in forum and then mount it to a free drive letter.
One problem that I experience after rolling back the DirectX using DirectX Happy Uninstall is the DirectX Diagnostic Tool (dxdiag) couldn’t run. After checking the file in C:\Windows\System32\ using Windows Explorer, the dxdiag.exe is only 6.04KB in size while normally it should be around 258KB. The dxdiag icon which is supposed to resemble a deformed radiation warning symbol has turned into a default Windows 7 empty EXE icon. Fortunately replacing a working dxdiag.exe file from another computer fixes this problem. If you are unable to obtain a working dxdiag.exe file, running the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer (dxwebsetup.exe) will also work.
DirectX Happy Uninstall does a pretty good job in restoring DirectX back to the original state but I find that it is a risk to purchase DirectX Happy Uninstall since you can’t really tell if you are definitely having a DirectX problem and there is no money back guarantee if DirectX Happy Uninstall doesn’t fix the problem.