First Time Help

[alanknights]

Hi,
This is my first time asking for support usealy I spend hours trying to fix the problem myself but I realy cant this time, I would say I am intermediate PC user not where near a pro but Im no novice so I will be able to follow instruction for any help/replys I get.
Well my problem is short but confuseing me as I dont know the cause of it.
Basicly every time I try to run a game I get an error message saying there is some problem with my graphics card settings but Im pritty sure there isnt.
My G-Card is a ATI Radeon 9600 LS which isnt the best but I havent had any problems running games before now EG: Halflife, Hitman, NFS, have all been run previously on this computer untill now.
I get the error message "cannot initate directx device there is a problem with your hardware settings. But I have the latest DX9c & runtime components installed? I have .netframework 2.0 recently installed and wonder if this could be the problem.
Anyway I have hijackthis installed and ready If needed.
Many thanks
Alan