Windows 7 Failed to create DirectX device

[nollijible]

I am a Warcraft 3 fan and while waiting for a game to open I Alt-Tab out and play Spider Solitare. This was never an issue with Vista, but now with Windows 7 when the War3 game starts the windows tries to switch back to it as it did before with Vista, but is stopped by the Error message "Failed to create DirectX device." Closing the message results in termination of the Spider Solitare game but does not affect anything else. I can then click on War3 on the taskbar and go to the game.

I was selected to host a Windows 7 party and received the Ultimate Signature Edition for free. This is the ONLY BUG I HAD after the 1 hour and 10 minute Upgrade from Vista Home Premium.

VITALS:
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 32-Bit Version 6.1.7600 Build 7600
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad Q6700 @ 2.66GHz, Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
nVidia GeForce 9800GTX 512M
1TB HDD RAID0 + 1TB External USB w/BitLocker
Board: EVGA 122-CK-NF68 2

Is this a DirectX 11 bug? Need a work around if any.

 

[nollijible]

Failed to create DirectX device - critical error

Follow up:
I sometimes play Windows games, like hearts, Spider Solitare, etc while waiting for another game to start up, like Warcraft3. When it does start, or when I switch back to the full screen game, I get the error. Closing the Error window terminates the Windows game, but leaves the Full Screen game unaffected. Further research and 3 hours online with Microsoft Help reveals that when I have Hearts or a Windows Solitaire, or other Windows game open and then open a Full Screen game of any type, I get the error.

I am running Win7 Ultimate with a GeForce 9800 GTX 512M and dual monitors. I still get the error with the Windows game on the other monitor.

It is unclear whether it is a Windows 7 or a DirectX 11 issue, but this did not occur with Vista.

Is anyone having this problem? What is the fix?

 

[aimee-bee]

vista problem

hey im on vista and have been for about 2 years now i play on solitaire often on my laptop and have never had any trouble before untill just now when i have clicked on the solitaire icon and the message comes up "Failed to Create DirectX Device". I dont no what has caused it to do this i was only playing on the game yesterday, so maybe it is not just a windows 7 problem?
If you have any ideas about how i can play games again please let me know
Thanks

 

[nollijible]

Failed to create DirectX device followup

I have been working with Microsoft on this one (6 hours so far). I was able to get the same problem when I put Win 7 on my laptop. What version of DirectX are you running? Did you upgrade it recently? Win 7 uses DX11 and that could be the problem.
I have since discovered that on my desktop it affects all the Win7 games except the 3 Internet games and Chess. On my laptop, the only game affected is Mahjong. Strange, but true.

 

[nollijible]

Update on 'Failed to create DirectX device" error message

I guess Microsoft has givien up on this one. They quit contacting me and won't reply to my numerous EMails. I still have the same problem on 2 totally different PCs with one running 7 Ultimate and the other running 7 Home.

 

[reghakr]

Due to the error message, you'll probably need to download an older version of DirectX. It will not affect your current version.

Download version 9.0c here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...38-DB71-4C1B-BC6A-9B6652CD92A3&displaylang=en