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Problem with DirectX 3.0a

BigCJBigCJ
edited December 2016 in Software
Need some help with DirectX 3.0a. I downloaded it from the library, but it doesn't work. No matter which mirror I use, the 7z archive downloads, but when I try running the executable after extracting it, I get this error message "WinZip Self-Extractor header is corrupt. Possible Cause: bad disk or file transfer error." I wanted this version for NT 4.0, but it gives this error under Windows 95 as well. Is the download bad or is there a problem on my end?
Thanks in advance,
C.J.

Comments

  • SomeGuySomeGuy
    No, at only 21k in size something is borked in that file. The 7z itself is ok, but the contents are bad. Thanks for pointing that out.
  • BigCJBigCJ
    Thanks, SomeGuy. I noticed the small file size too and thought it was a little fishy. This place has the best and safest downloads so I wanted to try here first. If I do find a good copy of DirectX 3.0a, should I upload it?
  • SomeGuySomeGuy
    No, the DirectX updates were freely redistributable so we don't really need them here and there are other sites that specialize in Windows updates. I forgot we even had an entry for DirectX, those are older files.

    There is a DirectX 8 for Windows 95 under the 95 patches, but that is provided for convenience.

    I'll consider if any of these others are of specific historic significance or provide a sufficient convenience. Of course, if anyone want to comment please do.
  • thinkpadmanthinkpadman
    SomeGuy wrote:
    I'll consider if any of these others are of specific historic significance or provide a sufficient convenience. Of course, if anyone want to comment please do.

    I don't see it necessarily a bad thing to have DirectX 1, 2, 3, and 5 from a historical sense and the reasoning behind not having version 4.
    http://craig.theeislers.com/2006/02/20/directx-then-and-now-part-1/
    https://books.google.com.au/books?id=7wEAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT93&dq=%22Directx+1.0%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjqm7-pjZHRAhVBGJQKHQa1AEAQ6AEIKDAB

    After that I would only really consider the last version compatible with a certain OS for convenience, i.e. such as DirectX 8 being available now for Windows 95.
  • 02k-guy02k-guy
    http://www.oldversion.com/windows/directx-3-0


    http://www.falconfly.de/directx.htm

    ftp://78.46.141.148/mirrors/lucasarts/p ... Dirx3a.exe
  • SomeGuySomeGuy
    Thanks for that information. Googling around a bit, that 3.0a seemed hard to find, but now that I can look at it, it actually seems a hair older than oldversion's 3.0. I'm guessing the "A" just represented a packaging difference.

    Apparently 3.0 was somewhat important as it was the last to support NT 4 - but at the same time DirectX 3 was included in the NT service packs. So one should not use the standalone packages for NT 4.
  • 02k-guy02k-guy
    Yeah, I'm not up on all the versions and which does what - Im sure the hard-core gamers are tho.

    I wouldn't have known about those links except I was just digging for info on a warez archive labelled "Microsoft DirectX 8 RC1.

    Internally it refers to itself as "Retail",

    and the versioning is: HKLM,"%DX%","Version",,"4.08.00.0219"

    which I take to mean that only from the chracter 8 on is the version. "4.0" isn't used.

    (sigh)
  • thinkpadmanthinkpadman
    Version 4 had been used from the beginning with DirectX 1.0 - possibly to signify Windows 95 being Version 4.00.x.

    DirectX 9.0 despite coming from the XP days, may have stayed as Version 4.0 for compatibility reasons with Windows 98 that may checked for a specific version when installing games?

    DirectX 10 versioning then jumped to 6.0 reflecting Windows Vista's 6.0.xxxx.

    That's my speculation as I didn't find anything specific about it, although I found this list and showing which one came with Windows originally over the years:
    http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/directx-versions/
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