After installing the 1.74 patch, I get error d3dx9_32.dll message appears when launching.
To fix the error you are getting with the patch, please download and install the latest version of DX from the following link:
If you have any trouble installing the latest directx files via the web installer above, you can download the full August 2007 update from the path below (58.8 MB):
When you run the installer it will ask what directory to extract to. Create a new folder on the desktop and extract the files to the new folder. After it has finished extracting, you can go to that directory and run the DXSETUP.exe that can be found inside.