Can't launch...support solutions not working

Ok I have literally spent the past 6 hours trying EVERYTHING in every thread to try and resolve my launching issue. I repeatedly get the error: d3dcompiler_42.dll is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error. This is about to completely put me off of the game. 6 hours and I cant even get the game to run in any capacity with any of your "support" suggestions. I have never had a problem installing a game anywhere remote as frustrating as this.

Im running windows 8 64 bit
gefore gtx 650 ti
AMD FX 6200 hex core processor 3.8ghz
10 gb ram
1 tb mem


I bought the machine a few months ago and feel like Im about to drop kick it this is so frustrating. I have deleted files, re-installed graphical drivers, directx 11 and 9, reinstalled the game completely (twice), rinse repeated everythinga above each time, I have no onboard video card to disable. I have unpacked the directx files that came with the client into my sys32 folder and into my game folder with no change. I have done everthing short of actually programming the game myself and it just doesn't want to run. Im about to just give up and not bother. It sucks because the game looks very interesting.

I just Googled "d3dcompiler_42.dll is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error" and one of the links got me to another message board with a post:

"Bahaha!!! This Thread is very old. But if anyone is still having this problem I have a solution that worked for me. Right click on the game's Icon and select "Properties" Then go to the "Compatibility" tab and check "Run this program as an administrator" and also check "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" then select Windows XP SP3 (This is a solution for Win 7 users) This worked for me oddly enough hopefully it works for you :D

You should try that and see what happens. Can't hurt. Also google the error message yourself and see if you find other posts from other gamers having this same error with their game. Some one somewhere must have a solution. Good luck.

edit: This is definitely a DirectX/Direct3D error and not a PoE bug.
I run my 3 PoE computers on ATI video with no problems. This must be an nVidia driver issue/bug. Do you have the latest drivers? Or maybe the latest Geforce driver is causing this bug and you need to use an older driver. Just a thought.

Go to Redist folder in your PoE game folder and install Direct X from there. If it still doesn't work for you find the Aug2009_D3DCompiler_42_x86.rar. Unpack it. Put the D3DCompiler_42.dll in the game folder.