Can't install FFXIV on Windows 8.1

[Akselier]

As the title said, I've problems with the DirectX. I've already downloaded and installed the DirectX End-User Runtimes(Jun 2010), but it still keeps telling me to install the latest version of DirectX. Updating my drivers ad windows updates also didn't help. I've no idea if the problem is with my PC or the client. Does anyone have any suggestions? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Ekko]

Try this http://superuser.com/questions/74591...tect-directx-9

Whoops my bad, recently i have been disabled PCA (Program Compatibility Assistant) service, which i think that was an "assistant-popup" while we're running application using compability mode, and not necessary. IDK if this service is really important for any programs compatibility. So i re-enabling it and voila.. Sorry wasting your time guys ):

[Akselier]

Tried it.. didn't work either. I think my PCA was already enabled from the start. The benchmark on DirectX 11 works though, but not DirectX 9.

[Raist]

Make sure .Net 3.x is active. It isn't enabled by default in some installations and has been known to cause some installers to knacker up. You can check it in the add remove programs section...might be under a legacy category.

Edit:
Sorry.. was posting from phone earlier... forgot to mention you need to click the link to "Turn Windows features on or off" to find it. You can get to the Add/Remove Programs Snap-in through either the Control Panel, or by running appwiz.cpl from the Run/Search box.

[Akselier]

OP is talking about installing the game, not running it. It's a documented issue that some older installers will not run properly without the 3.5 framework active.

They stopped enabling 3.5 on new installs a while back--without it you loose older framework support. Forget exactly when this happened, may have gone as far back as Vista or 7... but it wasn't active in my 8.0 fresh install to my old XP PC, nor on my ASUS laptop (refurbed older model, but loaded with 8.0). A store bought system may have it enabled to support older bundled software, but a fresh install from a MS DVD won't. This was a big problem for people with XI and other older games as well... both 3.5 and DirectPlay had to be toggled for that game to work, so some of you guys may already have them turned on and never ran up against it with XIV, but it could potentially be an issue here as well.

Keep in mind that XIV was initially developed with the intention of running it on XP (even 2.0 ARR was targeted to run on XP initially)... which means there is a lot of legacy stuff in there. As in MSIE8, .Net 3.5, and DirectX9. So this could very well be an issue with fresh 8.1 installations.

@OP, you may also want to enable that legacy support for DirectPlay as well (old DX9 feature that may not be available by default as well). That should also be available in the list for turning Windows Features on or off, under the Legacy section.

Edit:
Just out of curiosity, I poked around in the installer with TextPad and there appears to be a .Net Framework check going on. Error messages are there in plain text about failing version check in mscoree.dll because of deprecation in the 4.0 framework, and further down another message in plain text about .Net framework 1.0-3.5 not found. Whether that is the root cause of the OP's problem or not remains to be seen. But it does appear that the installer may be checking for .Net and it may throw up on itself if it doesn't find the legacy components available. There also appears to be a check for DirectPlay and at least a specific version level on the DirectX files. So there may still be some weirdness where people need to enable legacy support or run the old DX runtimes again like we had to do in the early days of Vista/7.

Yeah, I've read and tried that earlier from the post you replied with a while ago, enabling neither the DirectPlay nor the net framework works.. I'm really running out of options here..

[Raist]

Only other thing I can think off would be security. I can't run the DISM cleanup of the WinSXS folders while Avast is running...latches onto something and blocks it, causing it to fail at about 60%. Might be something to try. May want to pull your network cable or lock down the web with your firewall though just in case you have something malicious trying to reach out.

Might even need to create an exception for the installer in your security as well while we're thinking along those lines. I've seen firewalls block things like flash and java updates until you add an exception for them.

[Akselier]

Anti-virus, firewall, Windows defender.. I've disabled so many of the protection tools my pc's practically naked. Guess I'll have to play the game on some other pc.. Thanks for your help though. Maybe I'll just wait for them to release the DirectX 11 client. Strangely enough, the benchmark works when I'm running it on D11.

[Cyclingsofa]

Then it's obviously not the game but your DirectX 9 installation that's bogus as it's not getting registered properly.