Wow, am I glad I finally found this thread, after futzing around with this computer and searching the internet all afternoon!!

My desktop died, so I have to find and re-install some of my games on this new laptop. I have downloaded a dozen games and ran into a "cannot initialize DirectX" error when installing this game.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the advice to install somewhere other than program files (x86). I finally just got Black Mirror 2 to open.

So what is it about Program Files x86??
Mind you, Windows 7 is brand new to me.
There is much I don't understand about it yet.
I don't understand why there has to be a program files (x86) separate from program files and why it might be persnickety.

I was able to download these games in the default location and checked to be sure they would open and play in windows 7:
The Lost Crown
Baron Wittard
The Longest Journey
Lost Horizon
Dark Fall Lights Out
Yoomurjak's Ring
Sherlock vs. Jack the Ripper
Barrow Hill
Syberia I & II
Riven
Dark Fall Lost Souls

Black Mirror II was the first problem game that I encountered. And I am assuming that I will run into the same problem with Black Mirror III. In the future, should I plan on installing any other adventure games in mydocuments\games\ instead of the default location?

The Program Files(x86) folder isn't a Windows 7 feature -- it's a 64-bit feature.
64-bit XP, Vista and Windows 7 all have the Program Files(x86) folder.

x86 means 32-bit. x64 means 64-bit.

The Program Files(x86) folder is meant for programs that use 32-bit code on a computer with a 64-bit version of Windows. On a computer with a 64-bit version of Windows, the Program Files folder (without the x86) is only for programs that use 64-bit code.

32-bit versions of XP, Vista and Windows 7 don't have the Program Files(x86) folder because they use their Program Files folder for 32-bit programs.


A lot of games work fine in the default install location. I just don't like having to install more than once for those that don't.


It's up to you. Some games have no problems "installing" in the default location, but have problems later on because of modern Windows enhanced security and permissions. You'd think a game that puts its saves in My Documents wouldn't have a problem saving, but some of them do.

Thank you very kindly for your detailed explanation, Jenny100.

Your description of windows 7 is complicated and exceeds my knowledge of the nuts and bolts 'under the hood'. I had run a dxdiag yesterday while trying to find a fix for my download problems and was curious as to why I have windows 7 64 bit, but it stated that the current mode is in 32 bit. Is that something that can be changed by the user, and if so-when and why would someone need to change it?

Since the two folders are for, as you say, programs that using 32 bit code OR 64 bit code, how is one to determine which is the best folder to download to - program files (x86) or mydocuments\games, especially since you said they may download just fine but develop problems later?

Again, thanks so much for helping me to understand.