Operating systems that support Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE) instructions, which were first introduced with the Intel® Pentium® III processor, will also support the SSE2 instructions introduced with the Pentium 4 processor. To experience the power of the SSE2 instructions, however, it's critical to install drivers and software that have been optimized for the Pentium 4 processor's SSE2 instructions.

Operating systems and driver installation processes significantly affect system performance. It's therefore important to install the latest Intel® Chipset Software Installation Utility immediately after installing most Microsoft operating systems.

Newer operating systems like Win2k and WinXP look for a driver "signature" before loading any third-party drivers. A digital signature verifies that Microsoft has validated the driver for use with the operating system. Device drivers that have not yet been certified by Microsoft will require you to disable file signature verification. To do this:

1. From Control Panel, double-click the "System" icon.
2. Select the "Hardware" tab.
3. Click the "Driver Signing" button.
4. Select "Ignore" or "Warn" and click "OK" as in the picture below.

Most operating systems check the BIOS creation date to determine whether a board supports Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI). The boards' BIOS is new enough to cause the operating system to enable ACPI power management by default.

The drivers for the on-board LAN adapter can be installed from the driver CD or you may download and install the latest LAN adapter driver from the Intel Web site.

The drivers for the on-board audio can be installed from the driver CD or you may download and install the latest ADI Soft Audio driver from Intel's Web site.

Older operating systems such as Win98 and WinME install the Microsoft Bus Mastering Integrated Driver Electronics (IDE) drivers automatically during installation of the operating system. However, Bus Mastering DMA support is disabled by default. Every IDE device supporting Direct Memory Access (DMA) Mode transfers must be enabled individually. Perform the following steps to ensure that DMA support is enabled on each device that supports it:

1. Go to the Control Panel - System - Device Manager tab.
2. Expand the "Disk drives" and "CDROM" categories.
3. For each DMA capable device, select the drive from the list. For example, select "GENERIC IDE DISK TYPE47" as shown below:

4. Click the "Properties" button.
5. Select the Settings tab.
6. Select the box next to "DMA." A message box will be displayed. Click "OK."
7. A check mark should appear in the box as in the picture below. Click "OK."

8. Close all windows and restart the system when prompted.

Use the Intel Application Accelerator to automatically enable fast Ultra ATA transfers for a variety of ATA/ATAPI mass storage devices such as hard disk drives and CD-ROMs. The driver utilizes the latest Intel Ultra ATA controller features to improve both storage subsystem performance and overall system performance.

Along with boosting the performance of Pentium 4 processor-based systems, the Intel Application Accelerator offers support for next generation storage technology. The driver includes the Ultra ATA Companion, a diagnostic tool that can be used to view technical details of the ATA subsystem. The Storage Driver can be installed from the driver CD or you may download and install the latest Intel Application Accelerator.

Hi-Speed USB 2.0 is not supported by older operating systems such as Win98 or WinME.

Newer operating systems such as Win2K and WinXP support Hi-Speed USB 2.0 functionality; however, you need to install a driver.

Note: Depending on the operating system, the USB 2.0 QFE patch may need to be installed first, followed by the USB 2.0 EHCI driver. Follow the installation instructions included on the driver CD or download the latest drivers.

Microsoft DirectX 8.x is the latest DirectX version, which includes updated drivers for the most popular sound and video adapters currently available. It is critical that this version of DirectX is installed in order to enable optimum platform performance with Intel Pentium 4 processor-based systems. DirectX 8.x is included on the Express Installer CD that ships with pre-production samples, or can be found on the Microsoft Web site.

Follow these simple instructions to ensure proper installation:

1. Access the DirectX 8.x from the Express Installer CD. First open the Redist folder then the DirectX8 folder.
2. Open the DXsetup.exe application file and click "Yes" to accept the legal agreement.
3. Click "install." After installation, click "OK" to restart the system.

The Power Management applet in the Control Panel dictates sleep operation. Here are some recommended settings:

• Power Scheme: "Home/Office Desk."
• System Standby: The amount of idle time before the system enters the sleep (S1 or S3) state.
• Turn off monitor: This setting can be any desired time. If this setting is a time greater than the "System Standby" option, Standby will occur first, making this setting unused.
• Turn off hard disks: This setting can be any desired time. If this setting is a time greater than the "System Standby" option, Standby will occur first, making this setting unused.

• "Power Buttons" option: Change the "When I press the power button on my computer" option to "Standby." This will enable the system to go to standby (S3) state instead of shutdown when the power button is pressed.