A-2

What Affects System Performance

■16 MB RAM

■Hard drive with at least 528 MB storage capacity (with a transfer rate of at least 800 kB/sec and disk access time of less than 20 msec)

■110 MB free hard drive space for installing software

10 MB free hard drive space for each minute of music to be recorded

■An available space on an IDE controller (ATA-2 or EIDE)

■One available half-height drive bay (approximately 6” wide, 1.75” high, 8.5” deep /15 cm x 4.5 cm, 21.6 cm deep)

What Affects System Performance

How well your computer functions with the CD-Writer Plus drive, particularly how fast it writes data to a CD, depends on a number of factors. Some of these factors are listed below.

Processor (CPU). The type and speed of your processor greatly affects the speed at which your computer transfers data to and from the CD-Writer Plus drive. If the processor speed is too slow, you may have to write at 1x speed.

RAM. Your computer must have enough memory available to handle its operating system, the CD-Writer Plus applications, and the data you are transferring to and from CDs. The system should not have to swap data to and from the hard drive.

Your Hard Drive. The speed at which your hard drive accesses and transfers data (its access time and transfer rate) affects performance. Newer hard drives, those with a storage capacity greater than 528 MB, are fast enough to handle the CD-Writer Plus drive’s 2x write speed.

IDE Interface Type: CD-Writer Plus should be connected to the primary or secondary IDE controller.

For optimal performance, run SCANDISK.EXE and DEFRAG.EXE on your hard drive before using your CD-Writer Plus drive for the first time (see your Windows manual for more information). Then run them periodically after that. These programs improve access times to the hard drive, which will help improve system performance while writing to and reading from the CD-Writer Plus drive.