I could use a hand...

[Kairu]

A lot of times, I know on my last desktop. It was Windows 7, but it lacked the hardware for DX10. So by default, my new desktop could only use DX9 until I got the new GPU. I'd check on Direct X first, then look into your drivers, and finally, actual hardware. To check your Direct X capabilities, go to start>Search: Run>Then type "dxdiag" That will scan everything related to Direct X. It will show you your graphics and sound cards, DX Version, etc. And you can figure it out from there.