The Intel® Ultra ATA Storage Driver

The Intel^® Ultra ATA Storage Driver

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Soon after the release of the I810 and I815 chipsets and the arrival of ATA and Ultra-ATA, Intel^® released utilities to properly install the drivers necessary to enable Ultra ATA ability within the Windows^® 98, Windows^® 98 SE, Windows^® Me, Windows^® NT 4.0, and Windows^® 2000 operating systems. In addition to this Ultra-ATA driver, Intel^® has also released a special INF installation utility that allows these operating systems to properly recognize and take advantage of the capabilities built into some of their newer chipsets, such as the I810 through to the I850.

Overview
The Intel Ultra ATA Storage Driver automatically enables fast Ultra ATA transfers for a variety of ATA/ATAPI mass storage devices such as hard disk drives and CD-ROMs. This driver has been developed to take advantage of the latest Intel Ultra ATA controller features to improve both storage subsystem performance and overall system performance. Driver installation is flexible and fully automated for Microsoft Windows* 98, Windows* 98 Second Edition (SE), Windows* Me, and Windows NT* 4.0 operating systems. Also included is the Intel Ultra ATA Companion, a useful diagnostic tool that can be used to view technical details of the ATA subsystem.

Before you Download
Before you download the Intel^® Ultra ATA Storage Driver we suggest that you review the data provided by Intel in order to determine whether you need the ATA storage driver as well as whether you may need to first install the Intel^® Chipset Software Installation Utility. If you have built your own computer system using an Intel motherboard with one of the chipsets identified below, then we suggest that you download both the Intel^® Ultra ATA Storage Driver and the Intel^® Chipset Software Installation Utility. Follow the directions provided by Intel and install the Chipset Software Installation Utility and then the Ultra ATA Storage Driver.

NOTE: The Intel^® Ultra ATA Storage Driver and the accompanying Intel^® Chipset Software Installation Utility are intended for use by developers of Intel ^® I810 chipset family, Intel^® I810E chipset family, Intel^® I810E2 chipset family, Intel^® I815 chipset family, Intel ^® I820 chipset family, Intel^® I840 chipset, and Intel^® I850 chipset based products only. If you are a business user or home PC user using Intel ^® I810 chipset family, Intel^® I810E chipset family, Intel^® I810E2 chipset family, Intel^® I815 chipset family, Intel ^® I820 chipset family, Intel^® I840 chipset, or Intel^® I850 chipset based products, we suggest you contact your PC manufacturer for driver updates specific to your system.

Review and Download the Intel^® Ultra ATA Storage Driver.

Review and Download the Intel^® Chipset Software Installation Utility. Read the Release Notes

 Intel^® Chipset Software Installation Utility
On some system configurations, it is important to install the Intel^® INF Installation Utility prior to installing the Intel^® Ultra ATA Storage Driver so that the Intel chipset is properly recognized by the operating system. See the Installation Instructions page for more details.

The following Intel chipsets are supported by the Intel^® Chipset Software Installation Utility:

440BX AGPset; Intel® 440DX AGPset; Intel® 440EX AGPset; Intel® 440GX AGPset; Intel® 440LX AGPset; Intel® 440ZX AGPset; Intel® 440MX; Intel® 430TX PCIset; I810; I810E; I810E2; I815; I815E; I815EM; I815EP; I815P; I820; I820E; I840 and I850. Review the Readme.txt

Windows* NT* 4.0 Users
The Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility is not required on systems using Windows* NT* 4.0 with the latest Service Pack update from Microsoft.

Supported Chipsets
The Intel^® Ultra ATA Storage Driver supports the following Intel^® chipsets:

• Intel^® 810 Chipset
• Intel^® 810E Chipset
• Intel^® 810E2 Chipset
• Intel^® 815 Chipset
• Intel^® 815E Chipset
• Intel^® 815EP Chipset
• Intel^® 815P Chipset
• Intel^® 820 Chipset
• Intel^® 820E Chipset
• Intel^® 840 Chipset
• Intel^® 850 Chipset

Supported Operating Systems
The Intel^® Ultra ATA Storage Driver works with Windows* 98, Windows 98 Second Edition (SE), and Windows NT* 4.0 (any Service Pack) operating systems.

Intel^® Ultra ATA Storage Driver Trouble Shooting Guide
See the Common System Configuration Issues Using the Intel^® Ultra ATA Storage Driver and Intel^® INF Installation Utility document for resolution of common system configuration issues.

Do I Need the Intel^® Ultra ATA Storage Driver?
The Intel^® Ultra ATA Storage Driver is designed to take advantage of devices supporting ATA DMA/Ultra DMA technologies, and improve system performance. It is not a requirement for your operating system to work properly, however it may be required to improve performance on systems that are equipped with Intel chipsets that support Ultra-ATA and the faster Ultra-ATA hard drives.

Known Compatibility Issues with the Intel^® Ultra ATA Storage Driver
There are a number of compatibility issues that relate to the use of the Intel^® Ultra ATA Storage Driver and the Intel^® INF Installation Utility. While the great majority of these issues are not attributable to either the driver or the INF installation utility, they are worthy of review.

Hot Topics:

Windows 98 Registry Error Fix
For customers experiencing Registry access error messages with driver version 5.01 in Windows 98 and Windows 98 Second Edition (SE), Intel has incorporated a fix into all driver versions 6.0 and later. The Beta driver that was previously posted is no longer available. If you installed Beta driver 5.02 on your system, we recommend that you uninstall the driver and reinstall using driver version 6.0 or later. See the “Overview” section above.

Norton* Speed Disk* Notification
Some customers have reported issues using the Intel Ultra ATA Storage Driver with Norton* Speed Disk.* The main issue reported has been corrupted files. We are currently investigating these reports. At this time, we recommend that you do not use Norton Speed Disk with the Intel Ultra ATA Storage Driver.

Intel^® 820 Chipset Memory Configurations
It has come to our attention that some Intel^® 820 chipset-based motherboards may be available with a three RIMM memory configuration. The Intel 820 chipset should only be configured with two RIMMs, as stated in Section 2.6 of the Intel 820 Chipset Design Guide. Intel 820 chipset-based motherboards that have a three RIMM configuration do not comply with the design guide. By not complying with the design guide, there is a possibility that the three RIMM memory configuration could cause the Intel 820 chipset to deviate from published specifications; also, users might experience other issues in the future.

Intel^® Ultra ATA Storage Driver
Event Log Event ID: 26 Out-of-Date Firmware Error Message
Some customers have reported that an ‘old or out-of-date firmware’ message appears in the system event log when using Windows^® 2000 and Windows NT^® 4.0. Microsoft^® has posted a Knowledge Base article regarding this issue that is available on Microsoft’s website. Note: This is not a Windows 2000 problem, nor is it normally a drive problem. This issue is normally corrected via a Motherboard BIOS update.

Other References

UDMA and Ultra-ATA Implementation in Windows 2000

Mandatory Requirements for ATA Implementation

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Windows® 2000 and Microsoft® Office are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.