This is the line that is failing: hr = D3DXCreateTextureFromFile(pID3DDevice, FILENAME, &pTexture); if(FAILED(hr)) break; Well here''s FILENAME: #define FILENAME "dx5_logo.bmp" and I put that file in the debug directory. It fails when I hit F5 from the IDE, but if I run the .exe from the debug directory it works perfectly. What''s wrong? Thanks..

The default working directory is the project directory, not the Debug or Release directory. You can change this in project->settings.

Actually I already put the bmp in both directories, but it still didn''t work..