AMD Athlon Manual page 79

22914B/0—September 1999
Installation of Your Operating System—What Hardware to Install
Q. What hardware should I have in my computer when I am ready to load my
operating system?
A. We strongly recommend that you have no more than the following peripherals and
components installed at the time you load your operating system:
n Processor and heatsink with fan
n Case exhaust fan (if possible with your case)
n Recommended memory module (use only one to start with)
n VGA-capable graphics card
n Hard drive
n CD-ROM drive
n Diskette Drive
n Keyboard
n Mouse
We recommend only these core components because if you can't get the operating
system to properly load and configure with these core components, you will have
more problems with other devices installed. Having a sound card, 3D graphics
accelerator, modem, or other devices would only confuse the diagnostic process.
After your operating system has been successfully loaded, make sure that you set
your video card up in generic VGA mode. Do not load your video card drivers until
you have loaded all motherboard drivers. You will need to load the following spe-
cific motherboard drivers before you should continue loading your additional
hardware and software:
n AGP Miniport Driver, Version 4.45
(Windows 95 and Windows 98, not required for Windows NT)
n IDE Bus Master Driver, Version 1.11RC
(For motherboards with the AMD-756™ peripheral bus controller)
Once these two drivers are loaded, you will be ready to continue installing compo-
nents, software, and configuring your system. Just be sure to reset your computer
system after loading each of these drivers for successful installation and configu-
ration.
A Guide to Building a PC with an AMD Athlon™ Processor
73