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I have had Halo 2 installed on my PC for some time now and have never had any issues. Last night, my PC (running Windows 10) updated. After the update, I can no longer run Halo 2. Upon launch, I receive the following error dialog:

Error dialog

I first re-installed Halo 2 from the disc, then re-installed DirectX 9 (the original version that worked) to no avail. I then downloaded the most recent release of DirectX and that also did not work. As a potential alternative, I manually installed multiple versions of d3dx9_31.dll which furbished no results. Has any one else had this problem? Is there another solution?

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3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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You are missing some version of DirectX 9 and as you have already figured out, you need to install it.

The best thing to do is to install the full dx9 redistributable package, which includes every DirectX 9 version ever released.

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  • I tried the installer, unfortunately it didn't work. I even attempted a reboot...
    – Mr. Mendelli
    Commented Nov 25, 2017 at 12:47
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    You can also try the web installer, which updates DirectX, but I'm not sure if it would include the old libraries...
    – Elise
    Commented Nov 25, 2017 at 13:29
  • Already tried that. The web installer was the "most recent release" I referenced in my initial question.
    – Mr. Mendelli
    Commented Nov 25, 2017 at 13:30
  • @Mr.Mendelli have you tried deleting the particular .dll file and then installing the full Dx9 version? It might not install the .dll's that you already have installed
    – Elise
    Commented Nov 26, 2017 at 21:59
  • I thought of that too. It seems like no matter how I try to replace or re-install DirectX, that library now refuses to communicate with Halo 2.
    – Mr. Mendelli
    Commented Nov 27, 2017 at 23:36
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After encountering even more problems involving system files with other applications, I decided to re-install Windows 10. I decided that it would be best to keep my files, but not my settings as I suspected some of them to be part of the problem. After the installation was finished, I had to then re-install some of my drivers from a backup. Unfortunately I never discovered the precise nature of what broke some of my system files, but it would appear that the only real fix is to partially or fully restore the Windows OS.

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  • What a bugger. Glad you sorted it out. Perhaps system restoring from before the update occurred would've helped?
    – Robotnik ♦
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 23:23
  • I would have rather done that, but I normally keep only the most recent restore point, and the most recent restore point did not work.
    – Mr. Mendelli
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 23:43
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What fixed this problem for me when I tried to play Halo 2 on my Windows 11 device in 2024 was to download the version of DirectX linked here: https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/acrobat/kb/download-directx9.html

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