Optical drives never require a driver when used in Windows XP os. The OS provides native support that allows this drive to read a data or music disk and to burn a cd-r disk. It does not contain any support for burning cd-rw disks or for playing dvd movie disks. For those extra tasks, compatible 3rd. party recording and dvd decoding software is required. ie: Nero or Easy Cd Creator and WinDVD or PowerDVD. These softwares must be newer versions in order to work with Windows XP. Older version made to run in Windows 9x and Windows ME will not usually work in Windows XP.