Registry Issues

Beginning with Windows 8 some games won't use IndirectSound even if the dsound.dll is in the correct location. To fix this the Windows registry must be changed. (Some Windows updates may also make it necessary to repeat these changes.)

Use caution when changing the registry! Making invalid changes can cause a computer to not function correctly.

Recommended Changes

The changes described in this section only affect the current user and are easier to undo if something goes wrong because they don't affect what Windows has done during installation or updates.

Instead of following the instructions below to make these changes manually in the registry editor you can use a file that I have made to do the same thing automatically, but use this at your own risk! You can download the file here. This is a text file and you can open it in a text editor to inspect what changes it will make (and verify that it makes the same changes that are described on this page). To use the file double click it in Windows File Explorer and select yes when asked if you want to allow changes to be made on your computer.

There are two locations where the relevant CLSID registry values are located. If you decide to change a registry value for a specific CLSID then it probably makes sense to change it in both of the following places:

• Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID
• Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\WOW6432Node\CLSID

There are two CLSIDs used to create DirectSound interfaces for playing sounds. If a game uses a CLSID explicitly it will likely be one of these two:

• {47D4D946-62E8-11CF-93BC-444553540000}
• {3901CC3F-84B5-4FA4-BA35-AA8172B8A09B}

Do the following for each CLSID (in other words, you will do the following sequence of steps 4 times):

• Find if a key already exists for the CLSID (it likely won't)
• If the key doesn't already exist then you must create it
  • It must be spelled exactly as listed above (including curly braces). I recommend copying/pasting from this page.
• The CLSID key needs a subkey named InprocServer32
  • If the subkey doesn't already exist then you must create it
• Change the (Default) value of InprocServer32 to:
  • dsound.dll
• This is an example of what correctly configured CLSID keys look like in the registry editor:
  • 
• (One way that games can use DirectSound is to ask Windows for an interface to it by specifying the CLSID. In Windows 8 or later if a game does this Windows will always give an interface to the official Microsoft version of DirectSound. By making these registry changes you are telling Windows to first look for dsound.dll in the same directory that the game is in before it looks for the official Microsoft version.)

Alternate Method

The changes described in this section are no longer recommended. They affect every user and change what Windows has done during installation or updates. Windows may also undo them during updates.

There are two locations where the relevant CLSID registry values are located. If you decide to change a registry value for a specific CLSID then it probably makes sense to change it in both of the following places:

• Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\CLSID
• Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\WOW6432Node\CLSID

There are two CLSIDs used to create DirectSound interfaces for playing sounds. If a game uses a CLSID explicitly it will likely be one of these two:

• {47D4D946-62E8-11CF-93BC-444553540000} (DirectSound Object)
• {3901CC3F-84B5-4FA4-BA35-AA8172B8A09B} (DirectSound 8.0 Object)

For each CLSID that you decide to change:

• Find the InprocServer32 subkey
• Find the (Default) value
• If the existing data is something like %SystemRoot%\System32\dsound.dll and a game explicitly creates a DirectSound interface using this CLSID then Windows will use the dsound.dll at that path instead of the IndirectSound dsound.dll that you have put in the game's directory. In order for Windows to use IndirectSound this registry value must be just the filename with no path:
  • dsound.dll
• There is a good chance that if you try to edit this value Windows will show an error message and refuse to accept the change. If this happens it is probably because your account doesn't have the permission required to change the registry key. If you search the internet you can discover how to change the key's permissions.

There are additional CLSIDs used to create other DirectSound interfaces. IndirectSound does not currently implement these interfaces, but they are listed here for completeness:

• {B0210780-89CD-11D0-AF08-00A0C925CD16} (DirectSoundCapture Object)
• {E4BCAC13-7F99-4908-9A8E-74E3BF24B6E1} (DirectSoundCapture 8.0 Object)
• {FEA4300C-7959-4147-B26A-2377B9E7A91D} (DirectSoundFullDuplex Object)
• {11AB3EC0-25EC-11D1-A4D8-00C04FC28ACA} (CLSID_DirectSoundPrivate)
  • (This last one will likely not be listed in the registry)

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