DirectX Diagnostic Tool (DxDiag) is a diagnostics tool used to test

DirectX Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with "Direct" ...

functionality and troubleshoot video- or sound-related hardware problems. DirectX Diagnostic can save text files with the scan results. These files are often posted in tech

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s or attached to support emails in order to give support personnel a better idea of the PC the requester is using in case the error is due to a hardware failure or incompatibility. It has been bundled with Windows since Windows 98 Second Edition (DirectX 6). DirectX Diagnostic Tool is located in . Starting from

Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft W ...

, DirectX Diagnostic Tool only shows information; it is no longer possible to test the hardware and the various DirectX components.XNA Framework Goals

Functions

The System tab displays the current DirectX version, the computer's

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, the

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

's version, information on the system

BIOS In computing, BIOS (, ; Basic Input/Output System, also known as the System BIOS, ROM BIOS, BIOS ROM or PC BIOS) is a type of firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization d ...

, and other data. The DirectX Files tab displays information about the versions of specific DirectX system

files File or filing may refer to: Mechanical tools and processes * File (tool), a tool used to remove fine amounts of material from a workpiece. **Filing (metalworking), a material removal process in manufacturing ** Nail file, a tool used to gentl ...

, which are portable executables or

dynamic-link libraries A dynamic-link library (DLL) is a shared library in the Microsoft Windows or OS/2 operating system. A DLL can contain executable code (functions), data, and resources. A DLL file often has file extension .dll even though this is not required. ...

(DLLs). DirectX Diagnostic Tool displays information about the current display settings and the video hardware on the Display tab. If the computer has more than one monitor, then DirectX Diagnostic Tool will display a separate tab for each monitor. This tab can disable

DirectDraw DirectDraw (ddraw.dll) is an API that used to be a part of Microsoft's DirectX API. DirectDraw is used to accelerate rendering of 2D graphics in applications. DirectDraw also allows applications to run fullscreen or embedded in a window such as m ...

Direct3D Direct3D is a graphics application programming interface (API) for Microsoft Windows. Part of DirectX, Direct3D is used to render three-dimensional graphics in applications where performance is important, such as games. Direct3D uses hardware ...

, and/or AGP Texture Acceleration for troubleshooting purposes. If the installed

display driver In electronics/computer hardware, a display driver is usually a semiconductor integrated circuit (but may alternatively comprise a state machine made of discrete logic and other components) which provides an interface function between a micr ...

has passed Windows Hardware Quality Labs testing, DirectX Diagnostic Tool will display this result on the right side of the window. The Music tab displays information about the computer's

MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...

settings, and lists different music-related

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and hardware on your computer. The Input tab, displays information about input devices installed in the computer such as keyboards and

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. It will also attempt to detect problems with these devices. DirectX Diagnostic Tool also displays information about the installed

DirectPlay DirectPlay is part of Microsoft's DirectX API. It is a network communication library intended for computer game development, although it can be used for other purposes. DirectPlay is a high-level software interface between applications and comm ...

Service Provider. In

Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is an edition of Microsoft's Windows XP operating system that supports the x86-64 architecture. It was released on April 25, 2005, alongside the x86-64 versions of Windows Server 2003. Windows XP Profession ...

, Windows Vista x64 edition, Windows 7 x64 edition, Windows 8 x64 edition and Windows 10 x64 edition, two versions of DirectX Diagnostic Tool are included, a native 64-bit version and a 32-bit version. In Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows Vista x64 edition and Windows 7 x64 edition, the 32-bit version of DirectX Diagnostic Tool is run by default.

References

{{Microsoft Windows components Utilities for Windows Windows-only proprietary software DirectX