have Windows XP w/Service Pack 1, 2 & 3 and am having troubles playing a couple games. May not be the problem with the games but when I run DXDiag it shows the directx version is 8.1 (4.08.0001.0810)- I understood that SP2 included version 9a or 9b- I've downloaded and installed version 9c from the Microsoft update website a number of times- I've cleaned booted, I've un-installed directx, tried installing in safemode... nothing seems to work.

Hi, Please understand that we mainly discuss Windows Server issues in this forum. As your issue is related to Windows XP, we are not the best resource to troubleshoot it. I suggest discussing this issue in our Windows XP newsgroup. Windows XP newsgroup http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/newsgroups/reader.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.windowsxp.general&lang=en&cr=US I hope your issue can be resolved soon. Tim Quan - MSFT