Plug 'n' Play (PnP) basically means that upon installing new hardware in to your computer the system will automatically configure the hardware settings for IRQ (Interrupt Request) DMA (Direct Memory Access) and Port Address Channels. These settings help your product work alongside other products also requiring similar settings. PnP technology makes these settings automatically so that you (the user) do not have to experiment with different jumper settings for each product until your system is working without conflict on these specific channels (which would result in some add-on cards not working due to them sharing the same IRQ/DMA or Port Address channels).
To fully support PnP technology three main ingredients are required. First the system motherboard must have a PnP BIOS. Secondly, the add-on card you are installing must also support PnP - This is done by means of hardware integrated in to the chipset (core logic) in addition to some additional hardware on the card to store the channel settings (this is usually in the form of an E2 PROM). Lastly the application software you are using must also support PnP (such as Windows '95)
All of the products covered in this CD-ROM are Plug 'n' Play except the ESS688/ESS1688 sound cards, however the drivers for these cards are already embedded within Windows '95, and the jumper settings are already defaulted to the most common channel settings - So installation should be simple and trouble free.
Windows '95 already has software drivers for a wide variety of popular hardware already embedded within its program. With PnP technology, after you have installed new hardware and re-started your computer system, Windows '95 will recognize your particular type of hardware and assign a default (or) embedded driver to it. However, because software drivers change regularly as technology improves, we recommend that you use the manufacturers own drivers instead of the default Windows drivers. This will ensure you are installing the latest technology to go with your specific hardware.
So, when the hardware has been installed, Windows'95 will automatically recognize this particular type of hardware and assign its own embedded drivers to it. Although, it does give you an option to use these embedded/Windows default drivers or to use those from the hardware manufacturer.
During Windows'95 boot up procedure (after new hardware has been installed) you will be prompted with a "New Hardware Detected" dialog box as follows.
At this stage you can choose the default Windows driver or one from the hardware manufacturer. Choose Driver from disk provided by hardware manufacturer. Then you will need to direct Windows to the location of the specific driver. At this stage Windows will prompt you with a dialog box Install from disk........And usually this will default the Copy manufacturers files from : field to... A:\
But, because you are using a CD-ROM you need to direct Windows to the specific locations of the Windows 95 drivers as follows..
Windows NT
Also, please note that since Windows NT is similar in its installation procedure to Windows '95 (in other words it does not use setup.exe or install.exe application programs, but instead uses setup information files or .inf files), therefore when setting up new drivers in Windows NT you will be required to direct Windows NT to the specific driver (.inf) file locations...
The following locations apply to each product covered in this CD-ROM.
| SOUND CARDS | PATH |
|---|---|
| OPTi931 Cost Saver 3D Sound Card | D:\app\product\3\win3195\ |
| OPTi931 Cost Saver 3D Sound Card | D:\app\product\3\winnt35\ |
| ESS1868 | D:\app\product\2\ess1868\win95\ |
| ESS1868 | D:\app\product\2\ess1868\winnt35\ |
| OPTi931 | D:\app\product\3\win3195\ |
| OPTi931 | D:\app\product\3\winnt35\ |
| ESS1868 Cost Saver 3D Sound Card | D:\app\product\2\ess1868\win95\ |
| ESS1868 Cost Saver 3D Sound Card | D:\app\product\2\ess1868\winnt35\ |
| VGA CARDS | PATH |
|---|---|
| Trident ProVidia 9685 | D:\app\product\7\9685vga\win95\ |
| Trident ProVidia 9685 | D:\app\product\7\9685vga\winnt4\ |
Notes :"D" represents your CD-ROM drive. This may change according to your set-up.
ESS688 & ESS1688 latest drivers are already embedded in Windows'95 so in this case use the default Windows'95 drivers.