i'm confused with which objects i have to release. do i have to release the viewport, the device, the execbuffer, the lights and materials? all of the examples i've seen didn't. also, why can't i release the d3d obj after losing the dd, i thought they were independent? if you have the time, could you also supply the hierarchy of the releases too.. Thanks for any help.

Execute buffers? Update to DX7, immediately, and save yourself a lot of headache.

You should release _all_ COM objects you create.