Determine Your Computer's Operating System; Determine What Interface To Use - Plextor PX-504UF Installation And User Manual

Section 2. Installing Your PX-504UF
Determine Your Computer's Operating
System
To determine which operating system your personal computer uses:
1. Select the Start menu, then select Programs, then Accessories, and
choose Windows Explorer.
2. In Windows Explorer, select Help. The About line shows your
operating system. (For example, "About Windows 2000.")
NOTE: Your computer must be running Windows 98SE, Windows 2000,
Windows Me or Windows XP or the Macintosh operating system. If you
are not running one of these operating systems you cannot use the PX-
504UF. You cannot use the PX-504UF with early versions of Windows
98; it must be Windows 98SE (Second Edition).

Determine What Interface to Use

For best performance, you'll need to use USB 2.0 or FireWire. The
built-in USB ports on older computers (and even on inexpensive new
ones) provide only USB 1.1—that is, Full-Speed (12 Mbps) USB.
So for optimum performance:
• If your PC does not have built-in USB 2.0, use the FireWire port, if
available.
• If you have neither USB 2.0 or FireWire, you can purchase and
install a third-party PCI USB 2.0 or FireWire plug-in host adapter
card.
• If you don't want to purchase a separate card, you can use your PC's
built-in USB 1.1 port. However this limits the CD-RW drive
performance of the Plextor PX-504UF to 4X write, 4X rewrite, and
6X read. DVD performance with USB 1.1 is 0.7X.
14
Plextor PX-504UF Installation and Users Manual