diff --git a/panda/src/doc/INSTALL.txt b/panda/src/doc/INSTALL.txt
index e3b8364f66..e68ffab621 100644
--- a/panda/src/doc/INSTALL.txt
+++ b/panda/src/doc/INSTALL.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+# Before getting started, you'll need to install VisualC++ sp5 and
+# the Microsoft Platform SDK
+
 #
 # Make a directory for installing Panda, e.g. c:\pandadir