The Intel® Chipset Software Installation Utility (also known as the Intel® Chipset Device Software) is often referred to as the chipset driver or chipset drivers. This is a common misconception. A driver is a program that allows a computer to communicate (or talk to) a piece of hardware. The Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility, however, is not a driver, nor does it include drivers. It contains information files (INFs).

An INF is a text file that provides the operating system with information about a piece of hardware on the system. In the case of the current Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility, that information is primarily the product name for the piece of hardware. This allows the operating system to show the correct name for that piece of hardware in Device Manager.

If a chipset is released well after an operating system, the INF allows the operating system to identify all the pieces of the chipset. Intel and Microsoft* work together to include information on both current and future chipsets in new operating systems so, in many cases, the operating system will recognize all the pieces of the chipset even without the INF.

The best rule of thumb is that, unless you are installing an operating system, you don't need to install the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility. If you do install the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility after installing the operating system, and the installation program recognizes that some or all of the product names in Device Manager match the product names in the included INF files, it just won't install those INF files.

INF files outline to the operating system how to configure the Intel(R) chipset components in order to ensure that the following features function properly:
- Core PCI and ISAPNP Services
- AGP Support
- IDE/ATA33/ATA66/ATA100 Storage Support
- SATA Storage Support
- USB Support
- Identification of Intel(R) Chipset Components in the Device Manager