"This application has failed to start because d3dx9_32.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem"
The solution:
Download the most recent package of DirectX End-User Runtimes from Microsoft. The latest and greatest at this time --> "DirectX End-User Runtimes (November 2008) - English"
The rest of the story:
I installed Bootfighter Windom XP sp-2.NET, went to run it the first time and received the d3dx9_32.dll error message - missing / not found.
I ran dxdiag - the DirectX Diagnostic Tool - and yeah, I'm running DirectX 9.0c. It shows that I do have all of the latest DirectX runtime libraries.
However, just having DirectX 9.0c installed does not guarantee all previously released DirectX runtimes are installed.
Running the "DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer" does not install all previously released DirectX runtimes either.
So, I located the Redistributable package, installed that, and now Bootfighter works on my XP Pro workstation.
Two things of note:
1.) I tried put this information, or a link to it, in the Bootfighter Windom page at mirrormoon.org somewhere in the comments, but it won't let me login.
When I try to register from that page, it says "Cookies should be enabled in your browser for CAPTCHA validation." no matter what browser I use.
It also throws up a "Sorry, unrecognized username or password. Have you forgotten your password?" message when I use my account info from here.
2.) In my opinion, telling people to download the missing DLL from dll-files.com is wrong. I don't know whether or not dll-files.com is a trustworthy site, and this goes against best-practices for security. Getting the right software straight from the author is the best way to fix things like this.
Maybe this is sticky-worthy?