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Upgrade Guide

Install a DVD-ROM drive in your system, step by step.

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After years of predictions to the contrary, the DVD-ROM drive still hasn't replaced the CD-ROM drive. Nevertheless, the DVD-ROM drive is an increasingly common peripheral in new PCs.

DVD-ROMs deliver considerably higher-quality full-motion video than CD-ROMs do, propelling games to a new level of realism. They also allow content-rich entertainment and educational software to fit on fewer discs than they would on CD-ROMs. The Complete National Geographic, for example, comes either as a set of 30 CD-ROMs or 4 DVD-ROMs. And the popular game Riven comes on five CD-ROMs or a single DVD-ROM.

Add-in third-generation DVD-ROM kits, such as the Creative Labs PC-DVD Encore 6X Dxr3 shown here, give you the latest in DVD-ROM performance and let you read standard CD-ROMs. Those that include a PCI MPEG-2 decoder board (like the Encore kit) also allow you to watch DVD movies on your PC's monitor or on a television. Here's how to install a third-generation DVD-ROM kit that contains a drive using an IDE interface (the most common type of interface).

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