Called the Intel Application Accelerator, the free program replaces the original XP storage drivers with ones specifically optimized for different Intel chipsets. In addition to boosting performance, the program also promises to decrease boot times, speed up load times and, because it uses 48-bit logical block addressing, even allow users to use hard disks larger than 137GB.
The only catch is that it can only run on specific supported Intel chipsets. AMD lovers will still have to resort to overclocking to achieve better system performance.
Installing the Application Accelerator on systems with unsupported chipsets can cause some serious problems, including making the computer unbootable. To identify your chipset, Intel offers a handy program available at www.intel.com/support/chipsets/inf/chipsetid.htm. The list of supported chipsets is available at support.intel.com/support/chipsets/iaa/sb/cs009312.htm.
Once you've identified your chipset and made sure that it's supported, you just download the Application Accelerator program from support.intel.com/support/chipsets/iaa/index.htm, install the application. Reboot your computer, and you're on your way to speedy disk access.
