How do I get my computer to support DirectDraw Acceleration? Currently my computer shows that it is not available. I do have the current version of DirectX

Hi,

See this FAQ answer. If your computer's display adapter does not support DirectDraw Acceleration (not just DirectDraw) the game will not run. However, most fairly modern cards should support it; are you sure it's not available to you? Follow the instructions in the FAQ answer to check.

I did check and it says that it's not available. So I was wondering how I make it available. What is it that needs upgraded.

What version of Windows are you running? What sort of graphics adapter? As the FAQ says, there may be a more up-to-date driver available from the manufacturer; that might possibly solve the problem, but it's possible that you'd have to install a new graphics card, or even change to a newer version of Windows.

I have windows XP and no clue as to the graphics adapter. Up until today I didn't no there was such a thing as a graphics adapter. *sigh* I guess my computer is just too out of date for this game. Thank you for the help Arnie I really appreciate it

Don't give up!

XP should run it OK, so it's probably something to do with the graphics card. Do you know how much memory it has? Does it use shared RAM (I forget the technical term)? You might try asking a computer expert if they can find a way of enabling DirectDraw Acceleration or can recommend a suitable way round it by installing a new card or similar.

I think it must be the graphics card as well. See our computer got a bad virus. Hubby had to wipe it out. When he reinstalled everything we couldn't find the graphics installation disk. So we did a windows update and it did a generic graphics adapter (this is what I've pieced together today). My computer tells me this and asks me to use the original disk to install all the functions. I've looked for a patch but so far no luck. If anyone has any information to how to get such a patch PLEASE let me know.

You can usually download drivers from the manufacturer of either the computer or the graphics adapter. You can find the details on your graphics adapter by looking at either System Information or in the Performance and Maintenance/System area of the Control Panel.

ok I'm not sure what I'm looking for. Here is the information that I get in the general area of System in Control Panel
Intel (R)
Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz
2.88GHz, 504MB of RAM

Am I looking in the right place? Our computer was pieced together by my husband. He bought the motherboard, hardrive and such from newegg and put it all together himself.

Click Start => All Programs => Accessories => System Tools => System Information

When it opens, click on the Components heading in the left pane, then click on Display.

Well there is my problem right there lol It's blank

The other option is to open Control Panel, select Performance and Maintenance, then System. On the System Properties dialog, click the Hardware tab, then click on Device Manager. On the Device Manager display, you can expand Display Adapters and double-click the listed adapter to examine its details and perform other display-related tasks (such as updating the driver and troubleshooting).

Barbara, you deserve a raise for all the help you've been giving me. Sadly There are no display adapters to double click. I guess something did not get installed when hubby put the computer back together.

That's clearly the issue with the game. In order for all of the DirectDraw features to work properly, the drivers must be installed, and Windows must recognize them as being properly installed. If it were me, I would ask hubby to download and install current drivers for the display adapter, since he is familiar with the components that he used in building the computer. I get a lot of stuff from newegg.com, too.

Wouldn't the maker and model number of the display adapter be printed on the card itself? He should be able to take out the card to take a look to find out.

Run free Belarc Advisor, it will show you the maker, model number, and version of all your stuff.

Hello,

I honestly am not sure this is a LDOW issue but I figured it doesn't hurt to ask. I recently upgraded to Windows 7 after I rebuilt my entire computer. I've noticed that often my graphic's driver stops and "recovers completely" according to the error message I'm getting. Sometimes it freezes up completely.

I noticed that it happens most often when I'm running Virtual families, and when I called the graphics card company, they suggested it's actually an issue with Flash Player or shockwave. I've had both installed forever so do your games use either of those?

Thanks!

Our games don't use either of those, and the error you're describing is not one that we have seen with our games. Have you tried running diagnostics on the display adapter and made sure that you're using the correct driver? Also, are you using Windows 7 compatible versions of Flash Player and Shockwave?

I've done all that, but I mostly came here to verify that you don't use it so my display driver can stop passing the buck and really look into the real issue. Thanks a bunch!