-  Make sure that you have no devices sharing IRQs. Most good motherboards 
   allow you to do this in the ROM BIOS by letting you select an IRQ for each
   PCI slot on the board (check mainboard manual for slot numbers if not 
   silkscreened on board).
 
      NOTE 1: DO NOT use the 1st PCI slot (if next to an AGP port being 
              used or while using BUILT ON VIDEO which is always AGP).
 
      NOTE 2. DO NOT USE the LAST PCI slot (it is usually sharing an IRQ 
              with another motherboard resource like USB, etc...)
           
   If your ROM BIOS does NOT allow you to assign an IRQ for each PCI slot 
   then do this trick:
 
      While booting hit the Pause Key while the motherboard settings screen
      is displayed (usually after detecting the drives or you hear a BEEP) 
      BEFORE it boots off the hard drive (you may want to put a floppy in to
      give you more time to pause on this screen).
 
      Check the resources for each device.
      Your Sound card is usually called 'multimedia device'
      Check to see if it is sharing an IRQ(s) with any other device.
      If so, Shut down the PC and try another PCI slot!
 
-  Make sure that you have disabled all applications running in the
   background. This includes anti-virus, IM programs, net messenger, 
   mp3 players etc.

-  Make sure that you have uninstalled any old sound cards. (If you have an
   onboard sound card make sure that the drivers have been uninstalled and 
   that the card itself has been disabled).
 
This, along with the instructions in the quick start guide that came with the
sound card, should help you to get the card installed with no problem.
 
As stated in the manual, if you receive the error message that the software
has not passed Windows logo testing or does not have a digital signature,
click "Continue Anyway" or "Yes" (depending on the operating system).
This will not make your system unstable.
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