I have a problem similar to that.  my system when i try to run Quake 2 tells me that direct 3d isnt even installed, and makes me reinstall 9, which does NO good whatsoever. I can't even get into the CD so i can run it manually.   They DO have things called DirectX busters, just do a search and download one.  Not sure where u can get DirectX 8 or 7.  

hi there i have a voodoo2 card and im trying to get my good ole copy of quake 2 running again for sh*ts and giggles, and when i try to run the CD, up pops a window entitled "directX(tm) Setup" and it lists a bunch of directX programs, and claims that Direct 3d is not installed.  it has the option to reinstall directX 9, which i did, and it does the same thing still.  

Any ideas or suggestions?  I cannot get into to my quake 2 CD to run any individual programs.  what gives???

peter