DirectX 9 October 2006 (downloaded w/o problems)
Visual Studio 2005 (C++) Standard Edition
OS: Windows 7

From my tutorial: the code below compiles w/o errors & displays to the screen a triangle on a blue background.]

PROBLEM: displays a BLACK trianlge instead of a triangle w/ a different color
emanating from each angle.
It's been a week and I can't find the problem.

Here is the code:

//include the basic Windows header files and the Direct3D header file
#include <windows.h>
#include <windowsx.h>
#include <d3d9.h>

//define the screen resolution
#define SCREEN_WIDTH 800
#define SCREEN_HEIGHT 600

//include the Diect3D Library file
#pragma comment (lib, "d3d9.lib")

//global declarations
LPDIRECT3D9 d3d; //the pointer to Direct3D interface
LPDIRECT3DDEVICE9 d3ddev; //the pointer to the device classe
LPDIRECT3DVERTEXBUFFER9 v_buffer = NULL; //the pointer to the buffer

//function prototypes
void initD3D(HWND hWnd); //sets up and initializes Direct3D
void render_frame(void); //renders a single frame
void cleanD3D(void); //closes Direct3D and releases memory
void init_graphics(void); //3d declarations

struct CUSTOMVERTEX {FLOAT X, Y, Z, RHW; DWORD COLOR;};
#define CUSTOMFVF (D3DFVF_XYZRHW | D3DFVF_DIFFUSE)

//the WindowProc function prototype
LRESULT CALLBACK WindowProc(HWND hWnd,
UINT message,
WPARAM wParam,
LPARAM lParam);

//the entry point for any Windows program

int WINAPI WinMain (HINSTANCE hInstance,
HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
LPSTR lpCmdLine,
int nCmdShow)
{
//the handle for the windows, filled by a function
HWND hWnd;

//this struct holds info for the Windows class
WNDCLASSEX wc;

//clear out the Window class for use
ZeroMemory(&wc, sizeof(WNDCLASSEX));

//fill the struct with the needed info
wc.cbSize = sizeof (WNDCLASSEX);
wc.style = CS_HREDRAW | CS_VREDRAW;
wc.lpfnWndProc = WindowProc;
wc.hInstance = hInstance;
wc.hCursor = LoadCursor(NULL, IDC_ARROW);
//wc.hbrBackground = (HBRUSH)COLOR_WINDOW;
wc.lpszClassName = L"WindowClass";

//register the Window class
RegisterClassEx(&wc);

//create the window and use the result as the handle
hWnd = CreateWindowEx (NULL,
L"WindowClass",
L"Our first Direct3D Program",
WS_OVERLAPPEDWINDOW,
0, //x-position
0, //y-position
SCREEN_WIDTH,
SCREEN_HEIGHT,
NULL,
NULL,
hInstance,
NULL);

//display the window on this screen
ShowWindow(hWnd, nCmdShow);

//set up and initialize Direct3D
initD3D(hWnd);

//enter the main loop

//this struct hold Windows event messages
MSG msg;

while(TRUE)
{
while (PeekMessage (&msg, NULL, 0, 0, PM_REMOVE))
{
//translate keystroke message into the right format
TranslateMessage(&msg);
//send the message to the WindowProc function
DispatchMessage(&msg);
}
//if the message is WM_QUIT exit the while loop
if(msg.message == WM_QUIT)
break;

render_frame();
}

//clean up DirectX and COM
cleanD3D();

return msg.wParam;

}

//this is the main message handler for the program
LRESULT CALLBACK WindowProc(HWND hWnd, UINT message, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
{
switch(message)
{
case WM_DESTROY:
{
//close the application entirely
PostQuitMessage(0);
return 0;
} break;
}
return DefWindowProc (hWnd, message, wParam, lParam);
}

//this function initializes and prepares Direct3D for use
void initD3D(HWND hWnd)
{
d3d = Direct3DCreate9(D3D_SDK_VERSION); //create the Direct3D interface

D3DPRESENT_PARAMETERS d3dpp; //create a struct to hold various device info

ZeroMemory(&d3dpp, sizeof(d3dpp)); //clear out the struct for use
d3dpp.Windowed = TRUE; //program windowed not full screen
d3dpp.SwapEffect = D3DSWAPEFFECT_DISCARD; //discard old frame
d3dpp.hDeviceWindow = hWnd; //set the window to be used by Direct3D
d3dpp.BackBufferFormat = D3DFMT_X8R8G8B8; //SET THE BACK BUFFER FORMAT TO 32-BIT
d3dpp.BackBufferWidth = SCREEN_WIDTH; //set the width of the buffer
d3dpp.BackBufferHeight = SCREEN_HEIGHT; //the the heigth of the buffer

//create a device class usinf his info and the info from the d3dpp struct
d3d->CreateDevice(D3DADAPTER_DEFAULT,
D3DDEVTYPE_HAL,
hWnd,

D3DCREATE_SOFTWARE_VERTEXPROCESSING,
&d3dpp,
&d3ddev);

init_graphics(); //call the function to initialize the triangle
}


//this if the funct used to render a single frame
void render_frame(void)
{
//clear the window to a deep blue
d3ddev->Clear(0, NULL, D3DCLEAR_TARGET, D3DCOLOR_XRGB(0, 40, 100), 1.0f,0);

d3ddev->BeginScene(); //begin the 3D scene

//select which vertex format we are using
d3ddev->SetFVF(CUSTOMFVF);

//select the vertex buffer to display
d3ddev->SetStreamSource (0, v_buffer, 0, sizeof(CUSTOMVERTEX));

//copy the vertex buffer to the back buffer
d3ddev->DrawPrimitive (D3DPT_TRIANGLELIST, 0, 1);


//do 3D rendering on the back buffer here
d3ddev->EndScene(); //ends the 3D scene

d3ddev->Present(NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL); //displays the created frame on the screen
}

//this is the function that cleans up Direct3D and COM
void cleanD3D(void)
{
v_buffer->Release(); //close and release the vertex buffer
d3ddev->Release(); //close and release the 3D device
d3d->Release(); //close and release Direct3D
}


//this is the function that puts the 3D models into video RAM
void init_graphics(void)
{
//create the vertices using the CUSTOMVERTEX struct
CUSTOMVERTEX vertices[] =
{
{400.0f, 62.5f, 0.5f, 1.0f, D3DCOLOR_XRGB (0, 0, 255), },
{650.0f, 500.0f, 0.5f, 1.0f, D3DCOLOR_XRGB (0, 255, 0), },
{150.0f, 500.0f, 0.5f, D3DCOLOR_XRGB (255, 0, 0), },
};

//create a vertex buffer interface called v_buffer
d3ddev->CreateVertexBuffer(3 * sizeof(CUSTOMVERTEX),
0, CUSTOMFVF,
D3DPOOL_MANAGED,
&v_buffer,
NULL);

VOID* pVoid; //a void pointer

//lock v_buffer andload vertices into it
v_buffer->Lock (0, 0, (void**) &pVoid, 0);
memcpy(pVoid, vertices, sizeof(vertices));
v_buffer->Unlock();
}

Thank you that solved the prob.

Sorry about the long code. I'm not very familiar with posting etiquette.
I need to correct that.

Thank you again!!