yup, it's checked (sorry to keep you waiting, but with my classes and all i just can't log on as often as i would like).
i don't know if this helps, but a few days before i posted, when i tried to play video files, the message "cannot create direct draw object" (or something like it) appeared on screen. bsplayer didn't even start.
however, according to dxdiag, direct draw is working perfectly...

i'm lost...