d3dx9_43.dll or xinput1_3.dll missing? Install Microsoft's DirectX End-User Runtime

Why an older game asks for these files

Windows 10 and 11 already include DirectX. Microsoft's support article says updates for these versions come through Windows Update and there is no stand-alone package for them. So you don't "update DirectX" to fix this error.

What older games need is something different: extra libraries from the legacy DirectX SDK, such as D3DX9 (the d3dx9_xx.dll files) and XInput 1.3 (xinput1_3.dll). Windows doesn't ship them. Microsoft's support article gives an example of the message you might see, "The program can't start because d3dx9_35.dll is missing from your computer", and points to the DirectX End-User Runtime as the fix.

Microsoft lists what the runtime adds for "some games": D3DX9, D3DX10, D3DX11, XAudio 2.7, XInput 1.3, XACT and Managed DirectX 1.1. The file names in the errors map onto that list:

• d3dx9_43.dll and other d3dx9_xx.dll files are D3DX9 (likewise d3dx10_xx and d3dx11_xx for D3DX10 and D3DX11);
• xinput1_3.dll is XInput 1.3;
• xaudio2_7.dll is XAudio 2.7.

Fix it in four steps

1. Optional: check your DirectX version. From Start, type dxdiag and press Enter, then select dxdiag in the results. Microsoft says the DirectX Version is on the first page of the report, in the System Information section. This only confirms that Windows' own DirectX is present; the missing D3DX or XInput files won't show here.
2. Download the runtime from Microsoft. Open the "DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer" page on the Microsoft Download Center. Our DirectX End-User Runtime listing links to it. On 30 October 2026 the page listed version 9.29.1974.1, file dxwebsetup.exe, 288.4 KB, published 7/15/2024.
3. Run it. Microsoft's instructions: click Download, then Open or Run this program from its current location to start the installation right away, or Save to install later. Follow the prompts.
4. Start the game again. Microsoft says the package installs the D3DX, HLSL Compiler, XInput, XAudio and Managed DirectX 1.1 components, and that it "does not modify the DirectX Runtime installed on your Windows OS in any way".

No internet on the gaming PC?

Microsoft also offers DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010), the full offline package: directx_Jun2010_redist.exe, 95.6 MB, same version 9.29.1974.1. Download it on another PC, copy it over by USB and run it.

Don't use DLL download sites

Searches for "d3dx9_43.dll download" or "xinput1_3.dll free download" lead to sites offering the single file. They aren't Microsoft, you can't verify what you're getting, and a lone DLL in a game folder may be the wrong version or the wrong 32/64-bit build. The official runtime installs the right files in the right place. Skip "driver updater" and "DLL fixer" tools too.

If that didn't work

• Read the file name in the error again. If it names VCRUNTIME140.dll or MSVCP140.dll, that's the Visual C++ Redistributable, not DirectX: see our guide to fixing VCRUNTIME140.dll and MSVCP140.dll errors.
• Run Windows Update. Updates to the DirectX that's built into Windows 10 and 11 come only through Windows Update.
• Note Microsoft's own caveat. The download page's system-requirements list still names Windows 7 and older, and doesn't list Windows 10 or 11. The same page says DirectX is already included in Windows 10 and that this runtime only adds the optional legacy components.
• Ask the game's publisher. If the error persists after the runtime installs, the game's support page or its own installer is the next official stop.