How To Download And Install Directx
How To Install Directx 11
How To Install Directx 11 On Windows Vista Windows 7

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This article describes how to deploy the Direct3D 11 components on a system if necessary.

Integrating into Installation Programs

Overview

The Direct3D 11 API extends the existing Direct3D 10.1 API with support for multithreaded rendering and resource creation, Compute Shader, hardware tessellation, BC6H/BC7 texture compression, and HLSL Shader Model 5.0 with Dynamic Shader Linkage. In addition to the Direct3D 11 component, a number of additional graphics components are included in the DirectX 11 runtime: Direct3D 11, DXGI 1.1, 10level9 feature levels, WARP10 software rendering device, Direct2D, DirectWrite, and an updated Direct3D 10.1 with support for 10level9 and WARP10. For information on these and other Windows graphics components, see Graphics APIs in Windows.

All of these new graphics components are built into the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems. The Direct3D 11 API and related components can also be installed on Windows Vista by using a system update from Windows Update; see Knowledge Base article KB 971644. This update requires Windows Vista and Service Pack 2. End-users with automatic updates enabled will, therefore, likely already have the Direct3D 11 components installed, as will all Windows 7 users.

It is now possible to install and utilize DirectX 11 even on Windows Vista. All you have to do is to download and execute the attached script below. This script allows you to install the Platform Update for Windows Vista (KB971644) from Windows Update - which includes DirectX 11. Read more at NGOHQ. See full list on tomshardware.com.

The D3D11InstallHelper sample is designed to simplify detection of the Direct3D 11 API, automatically install the system update if applicable to an end-user's computer, and to provide appropriate messages to the end-user on manual procedure if a newer Service Pack is required.

Note

The HLSL compiler (D3DCompile*.dll) and the D3DX utility library for Direct3D 11 (D3DX11*.dll) are not built into any version of the Windows operating system, but they can be deployed as part of an application's installer by using the existing DirectSetup technology; for more information about using DirectSetup, see DirectX Installation for Game Developers. 'Effects 11' is available as a shared source support library at Effects for Direct3D 11 Update, and you can include it directly into an app (much like the DXUT utility library). Thus, it doesn't have any additional run-time redistribution requirements.

Direct3D 11.3

Windows 10 ships with the Direct3D 11.3 API built in. See Direct3D 11.3 Features for a list of new features in the Direct3D 11.3 API.

Direct3D 11.2

Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 ship with the Direct3D 11.2 API built in. See Direct3D 11.2 Features for a list of new features in the Direct3D 11.2 API.

Direct3D 11.1

Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 ship with the Direct3D 11.1 API built in. Partial support for the Direct3D 11.1 API is available on Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 with the Platform Update for Windows 7 installed. For more info about the Platform Update for Windows 7, see Platform Update for Windows 7.

D3D11InstallHelper.dll

D3D11InstallHelper.dll hosts the core functionality for detecting Direct3D 11 components, and performing the system update through the Windows Update service if applicable. The DLL displays no messages or dialog boxes directly.

The DLL consists of the following entry points:

CheckDirect3D11Status

This function performs the necessary checks and returns the status of Direct3D 11 on this computer. This function does not require administrator rights.

A status of D3D11IH_STATUS_INSTALLED indicates that Direct3D 11 is already installed on the computer and is ready for use.
D3D11IH_STATUS_NOT_SUPPORTED indicates that this version of Windows does not support Direct3D 11 or related technologies.
A status of D3D11IH_STATUS_NEED_LATEST_SP indicates that the latest Windows Vista Service Pack should be installed by the user.
Finally, a status of D3D11IH_STATUS_REQUIRES_UPDATE indicates that the system does not have Direct3D 11 installed, but that the system update does apply to this version of Windows.

DoUpdateForDirect3D11

This function uses the Windows Update API to perform the system update for installing Direct3D 11 on this system, if applicable. Note that this function requires network connectivity to Windows Update to succeed, as well as administrative rights. It takes an optional progress callback function and user-context pointer, and returns a final result code when complete.

The D3D11IH_RESULT_SUCCESS result indicates that the system update was applied and is ready for use, while D3D11IH_RESULT_SUCCESS_REBOOT indicates that the system update requires the computer is restarted before it is complete. Note that this function does not schedule a system restart.
D3D11IH_RESULT_NOT_SUPPORTED indicates that the system update does not apply to this version of Windows. This result should not occur if this function is only called after getting a D3D11IH_STATUS_REQUIRES_UPDATE status from CheckDirect3D11Status.
A result of D3D11IH_RESULT_UPDATE_NOT_FOUND indicates that the system update package was not found on the Windows Update servers.
If the Windows Update download or installation fails, then D3D11IH_RESULT_UPDATE_DOWNLOAD_FAILED or D3D11IH_RESULT_UPDATE_INSTALL_FAILED will be returned as the result.
If a network connectivity error is returned from the Windows Update API, then the D3D11IH_RESULT_WU_SERVICE_ERROR result is returned, indicating that the problem might be intermittent or related to network configuration or firewall settings. Trying the update function again may succeed.

For more information on the Windows Update API, see Windows Update Agent API.

D3D11Install.exe

Note

D3D11Install.exe requires D3D11InstallHelper.dll to execute.

D3D11Install.exe is a tool for using D3D11InstallHelper.dll as a stand-alone installer complete with UI and end-user messages, as well as acting as an example for proper use of the DLL. The process exits with a 0 if Direct3D 11 is already installed, if the system update applies successfully without requiring a system restart, if a Service Pack installation is required, or if Direct3D 11 is not supported by this computer. A 1 is returned if the system update is applied successfully and requires a system restart to complete. A 2 is returned for other error conditions. Note that this executable file requires administrator rights to run, and it has a manifest that requests elevation when run on Windows Vista or Windows 7 with UAC enabled. D3D11Install.exe can be used as a stand-alone tool for deploying the Direct3D 11 update, or it can be used directly by installers.

It supports the following command-line switches:

/quiet

Displays no messages, prompts, progress dialog boxes, or error messages.

/passive

Displays no messages, prompts, or error messages, but will show the progress dialog box.

/minimal

Shows only minimal prompts.

Suppresses prompting to confirm installing the update, if needed and applicable, for a standard and minimal installation.

/langid decimal

Forces which language identifier code to use when displaying end-user messages and dialog box resources. The default value is 1024, which uses the system default language setting.

/wu

Forces use of Windows Update rather than the system default, which may be Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) running on a managed server or some other non-standard configuration.

Integrating into installation programs

To comply with Support Easy Installation, Technical Requirement 3.1 for Games for Windows, care needs to be taken so that any end-user prompts are presented early in the installation process, and to ensure that there are not multiple UAC-related elevation prompts. There are three basic choices for achieving this goal:

How To Download And Install Directx

The most basic method is to execute the D3D11Install.exe with the command-line switch /minimal. This should be done early in the installer Q&A, and the installation should use the return value of 1 to indicate that a restart should be sche

How To Install Directx 11 On Windows Vista