Directx9 problem

Installed DirectX9b on my machine (Windows98, 800MHz/256 RAM, 32MB NVidia GeForce 256) when it showed up in Windows Update. Now there's suddenly a long delay when I start up my games. I click the icon, the screen goes completely black and stays that way for several minutes. Then the game continues loading and works fine.

Have the 45.23 NVidia drivers. Tried reinstalling them and directx9b, but problem persists. Went into dxdiag and all tests passed, but it did take the direct3d test a long time to start up. I wonder if direct3d is initializing slowly when I start each game up and that's what the delay is?

1. Any ideas what would be causing this or how to fix it?

2. If it can't be fixed, I know there are utilities for uninstalling directx that would allow me to go back to directx8.1. I've found several, but are there any you'd recommend from experience? Don't want to pick one arbitrarily when I don't have the benefit of system restore points if it doesn't work.

Thank you!

 

Uninstaller here:

http://66.98.158.200/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20166

 

Did you install Direct X before you installed the video card drivers? You're supposed to. Uninstall direct x with some uninstaller, I believe Vlad provided it there. Then uninstall the NVidia driver... reboot and reinstall direct x first then NVidia drivers. It's best to disable any antivirus software while doing this.