Plug and Play or PnP expansion cards became available with the introduction of Windows 95. The theory behind PnP is the expansion card is smart enough to tell your PC what it is, and what it needs to work properly. Once your PC knows this, it can automatically configure itself to support your PnP card.

Although this may not seem like a big deal, PnP cards are much easier to install than non-PnP cards. You just plug them in and away you go. Non-PnP cards require that you pay attention to jumper settings and dip switch settings. Getting these settings correct on your non-PnP expansion card could be very time consuming.

In order to use PnP expansion cards, your PC must support the PnP technology. Your BIOS chip is where the PnP support is located. If your BIOS supports PnP, then you can use PnP expansion cards.

How can you tell if your PC supports PnP? When you boot your PC, the first screen your PC displays reports information about your BIOS. You will get some type of message that says PnP support.

So what's the moral of the story? If your PC supports PnP, buy PnP expansion cards!