Re DirectX 7.0 and 7.0a
I have 7.0a installed, but dxdiag reports 7.0, so if somehow you got 7.0a, you most likely wouldn't know it!
Also, Bovingdon, in my DirectX setup, dxdiag reports some files as beta versions and warns they could cause problems. Have tried re-installing 7.0 and 7.0a patch, but can't get rid of them!!
Not running FS2k, so no probs with applications (yet)!