Error: Missing D3DX9_26.DLL. How I fixed it.

When I installed Civ 4 it gave me a strange error that I've seen mentioned in the posts afterward, that of the cab not being trustworthy. I continued on with the install. When I tried to play, it gave me the following error:

This application has failed to start because D3DX9_26.DLL was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem.

My system, btw, is a Dell Inspiron 9200 laptop w/ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9600/9700 Series (Omega 2.6.75a). It's got an Intel 1.6gHz Pentium M chip, and 1.2gb of memory.

Anyway, I re-installed the application, ATI drivers, etc. Nada. I was browsing the forums to try and fix the problem when I ran across a reference to this page as a fix to the missing .DLL problem.

http://nexe.gamedev.net/directKnowledge/default.asp?p=D3DX+DLL

I downloaded and installed the zip file and fired the game back up without re-installing the game. Works fine. There's no black faces or fog, the speed seems normal, and I can hear Nimoy's voice-overs.

Now I think I'm just going to go away for a month or three, wasting inordinate amounts of time with Civ4.

Silverjim

Part of the problem is that the version of DirectX on the install disk isn't the standard directx - it includes this file. Many people think they already have directx 9c, so they don't install it. Glad you got it working though.