DirectX 9.0c compatible trouble, please help

i installed the sims2 and an error keeps popping up when I try to play the game. "Failed to find any DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics adapters in this system. PLease make sure you have a DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics adapter......" I have installed the DirectX 9.0c like 5 times but the message keeps popping up. then somone said somthing about searching dxdiag so i did it and it said:
directdraw acceleration: not available
direct3D acceleration: not available
AGP Texture acceleration: not available
i dont know what this means and how can i enable it? there is no enable button..?
so I tried this but it didnt work..

1. Set the display to 16-bit color. To make this change, follow these steps:
a. Click on the Start menu and select Settings, Control Panel, and then double-click on Display. If using Microsoft Windows* XP: Click on the Start menu and select Control Panel, "Switch to Classic View" if the category view is shown, and then double-click on Display.

b. Select the Settings tab.

c. Change the Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. (Color Depth) to 16-bit color.
2. Run the game with the -w switch which forces the game to run in a window. To add this switch, follow these steps:

a. Right-click on the The Sims 2 game and left-click on Properties. You can do this either on the game's shortcut on the desktop or on the game's entry in the Start menu.

b. Add a space and -w to the end of the Target field, so that it looks like this: "C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2\TSBin\Sims2.exe" -w

Note: The actual path may vary depending on where the game was installed. Make sure that the -w goes outside the quotation marks and that there is a space between the last quotation mark and the -w.

c. Click OK.



I dont know what to do? and i dont know where to go to get a graphic card upgrade? PLEASE HELP ME..

Hello and welcome to Techspot.

What video card do you have?

Check with the games system requirements to make sure your video card is capable of running the game.

If it is. Make sure you have the latest drivers installed for your video card.

What mobo do you have?

Regards Howard

Sorry to break it to you but your runninng "modern" applacations (sims2) on old harware. Like others had said you need a new gpu Graphics Processing Unit you can get a cheapy one for about $50-$100 http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/SubCategory.asp?SubCategory=48 , for a gpu this is cheap

where do i look to find out which video card I have? and how do i find out what the requirements are?

somehow although i installed the directX9.0c the
directdraw acceleration: not available
direct3D acceleration: not available
AGP Texture acceleration: not available
is not enabled? how do i enable it?..

If your current video card doesn`t support direct draw etc, it won`t work regardless of the fact that you`ve installed DirectX 9c.

If you click on the first link in my signature. You will find a link to the SIW programme. It will give you lots of info about your system.

Regards Howard

PLease re send the link to the SWI programme.

I`ve just checkd the link. It`s working fine.

But here it is anyway.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/gtopala/about_siw.html

Regards Howard

how do i find out what game card I have and which one I need?? to get the game started?

what am I looking for now after i entered the site? i dont know

In the SIW programme click on the +next to the hardware icon in the lefthand pane, then click on video in the left hand pane. You should now be able to see the details of your video hardware in the right hand pane.

Regards Howard

In the lefthand pane of the website click on download SIW.

Regards Howard

im looking in the video hardware. what am i looking for and what do i need?

BitsPerPel: 32
Caption:
Description:
DeviceName:
DisplayFlags: 0
DisplayFrequency: 1
LogPixels: 96
PelsHeight: 768
PelsWidth: 1024
SettingID:
SpecificationVersion: 1025
BitsPerPixel: 32
ColorPlanes: 1
DeviceEntriesInAColorTable: -1
DeviceSpecificPens: -1
HorizontalResolution: 1024
Name: Current Display Controller Configuration
RefreshRate: 1
VerticalResolution: 768
VideoMode: 1024 by 768 pixels, True Color, Default Refresh Rate

Video Bios Date: 03/04/30

DirectX? then what?? I dont know what im looking for.

What does it say at the top of the righthand panel.

Example this is what mine says.

AdapterCompatibility: NVIDIA
AdapterDACType: Integrated RAMDAC
AdapterRAM: 128 MBytes
Availability: 3
Caption: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 4000

You might need to scroll to the top of the page.

Regards Howard

Another way to find out what video card you have is.

Right click on a blank part of your desktop, and select properties. Click on the settings tab. Under display, it should tell you what video card you have.

Regards Howard

you are still not telling me what I am looking for.
sorry it took so long for me to answer back but i didnt see your new messages.

where is AdapterCompatibility? is it under hardware- video- DirectX??

I just want to say 1 more thing, sorry for sounding eargnt but onborad video wasn't made for gaming, it was for standerd offices use watching a movie, simple stuff.

I like the fact that you are hellping ppl out and good job.