VG Emulation for Newbies > Ch.03(Win) Downloading & Using WinZip

Contents
● Creating a Folder
● Emulation Websites
● Example #1: Cherryroms.com
● Example #2: The Old Computer.com
● Example #3: Romnation.net
● The File Download Window
● Tidbits on Placement & Zipped Games
● Using Compressed Folders (WinXP Users only)
● Downloading & Installing WinZip
● Using WinZip

Creating a Folder
I suggest you make a new folder for all the video game goodies before you start downloading. You don't have to, it just makes things easier. Here's how you create a new folder on your Windows desktop:
1. Right-click on an empty spot.
2. Left-click on New.
3. Left-click on Folder, the menu will look something like this.
4. Type in the name for the folder. I suggest "Emulation".

If you want to rename the folder...
1. Right-click on the folder.
2. Left-click on Rename.
3. Type the new name.
4. Press enter.

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Emulation Websites
Emulation websites distribute games in several different ways. I'll walk you through three of them. Most put certain symbols right next to the names of their R0Ms. The following is what these symbols mean:

(U) United States release
(E) Europe release
(J) Japan release
(###) Checksum
(##k) ROM Size
(M#) Multilanguage (# of Languages)
[!] Verified Good Dump
[a] Alternate
[b] Bad Dump
[f] Fixed
[h] Hack
[o] Overdump
[p] Pirate
[t] Trained
[T] Translation
[x] Bad Checksum
ZZZ_ Unclassified

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Example #1: Cherryroms.com
Note: CherryRoms currently has their R0Ms offline. For now, skip this section and refer to the next two examples.

Cherryroms is one of the best websites out there for downloading Super Nintendo games. First you will need to sign up with them (it's free). To do so:
1. Click on Signup within the Navigate menu. Follow the directions provided.
2. When you are registered, go back to the cherryroms.com main page.
3. In the upper-left you will see a box that says username and a box that says password. Click on username box to bring the blinking cursor there.
4. Type in your username.
5. Press tab to bring the cursor to password.
6. Type in your password.
7. Click on the login button.
8. Now that you're logged on, let's look for a game. Below the box you typed your username and password is the Search box. Type in "Super Mario World" then click go. You will see all these games listed:

     Super Mario All-Stars & World (E) [!] (IDSA Protected)
     Super Mario All-Stars & World (U) (IDSA Protected)
     Super Mario World (J) [!] (IDSA Protected)
     Super Mario World (U) [!] (IDSA Protected)
     Super Mario World (U) [T-Norwegian_V2001.04.28_Just4Fun] (IDSA Protected)
     Super Mario World (V1.0) (E) (IDSA Protected)
     Super Mario World (V1.1) (E) [!] (IDSA Protected)

Since Cherryroms is a really good website they distribute several different versions of a single game. IDSA Protected means the IDSA forced Cherryroms to remove those games. Cherryroms still has those games listed, but the game is no longer there for download. The IDSA is an anti-piracy group who cracks down on illegal distribution of copy-righted software. But the IDSA is not 100% against emulation. The only games they ban are the games made by the video game companies who pay the them to crack down on illegal distribution of their games. If you browse Cherryroms' search for a while you'll notice that the majority of the games by major companies, such as Nintendo, Squaresoft and Capcom, are all IDSA protected.
9. Search for a non-IDSA protected game you wish to download. If you can't think of something then just search for "Tetris".
10. In the game(s) that show up in the search, click on more info. This is the screen where you can download the game. You might also see some pretty screen shots of it.
11. Under Rate this game you will see Download. The name of the game is underlined. Click on it and the File Download window will pop up.

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Example #2: The Old Computer.com
This is an excellent website for downloading games for the reeeally old consoles like Atari and Coleco Vision, along with NES and TurboGrafx16.
1. Immediately when you access this website, this box might pop up. Just choose No. Always choose No when boxes like this show up.
2. Click on the ENTER link in the upper-right to enter.
3. Within the Main Menu, click on rom's.
4. Look under Library Sections. You will see a list of pretty video game logos. Each logo leads to the sections which contain all of its games for download. Go ahead and click on one.
5. You will see all the games conveniently listed in alphabetical order. You may have trouble finding the game you want because each one is abbreviated. To download, click on the green underlined abbreviated name with the .zip extension. The File Download window will pop up.

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Example #3: RomNation.net
This is a good example of the typical massive emulation site. It contains several thousand games. You are bombarded with new pop-up ads each time you go to a new page. All the ads are necessary for the webmaster because distributing such a large amount of games isn't a cheap thing to do.
1. Go to RomNation. Get ready to close a bunch of pop-up ads, and to keep on doing it as you browse each page.
2. In the menu located towards the upper-left, click on Roms.
3. You will arrive to a disclaimer. Scroll towards the bottom and click on Continue to our rom section. This page has the list of all the video game systems they distribute games of.
4. Clicking on any vg system link will bring you to an alphabet.
5. Clicking on a letter will bring you to corresponding games. You'll see the games listed with (U), (E), (J), etc. as you saw at Cherryroms.
6. Click on the game you desire to download.
7. Click on Download this rom. In the new page, ignore where it says to vote for them.
8. Look where it says "Enter the number you see above", go ahead and do so, then click on the Download button. The File Download window will pop up.

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The File Download Window
1. This is the "File Download" window.
2. Click on the Save button.
3. And now this window will show up, the "Save As" window. Each version of Windows has a slightly different looking Save As window, but all are based on the same methods. The Save As window gives you the option to choose where you want the file to go and to change the file name if you want to. The best place to save a game is right smack on your desktop. So let's make sure the Save As window will put the game there.
4. Look here. Click on the white box next to Save in to bring up another menu.
5. Click on Desktop.
6. Click on the Save button.

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Tidbits on Placement & Zipped Games
Now you have the game on your desktop. It will show up one of three ways:
● If you have Windows XP then it will show up as a folder with a zipper.
● If you have never installed WinZip then it will show up as an unrecognized file.
● If you already installed WinZip then it will show up as a WinZip file.

Before you touch it you should properly prepare your Emulation folder. Open it up and create a new folder for each video game system you intend to download games for. Why are these games in zipped files? Because doing so makes the game take up much less space, which allows you to download the game much faster and allows the webmasters of emulation sites to post lots more games.
● Video game emulators must be extracted (unzipped) from their zipped file in order for you to use them.
● Video game ROMs do not need to be extracted (unzipped) from their zipped files in order for you to use them. All the popular video game emulators have zip support, meaning they can automatically unzip the game for you each time you click to load it.

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Using Compressed Folders (WinXP Users Only)
As I have mentioned above, the game you downloaded will show up as a folder with a zipper on it. There are 2 ways you can extract its contents:
1. Windows XP treats the compressed file like a folder. You can open it up as if it were a folder, and simply drag & drop its contents.
2. This method must be used for extracting Kawaks, Mame and ePSXe. Right-click the compressed folder, then left click on "Extract All..." and the "Extraction Wizard" will pop up. Click Next to continue. The next screen says "Select a folder to extract files to". You don't need to worry about this part because it's defaulted to your desktop, so just click Next to continue, then click Finish. Now you should see the extracted files on your desktop. Note that you don't have to extract files to the desktop, it's just easier this way if you're not too computer literate.

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Downloading & Installing WinZip
If Windows detected the game as an unrecognized file then you need to download and install WinZip (WinZip is free btw).
1. WinZip can be found at www.winzip.com. Go there.
2. Click on Download Evaluation Version.
3. Click on the small image that says "DOWNLOAD.COM Host of Over 95,000,000 WinZip downloads". You will be automatically directed to another page and almost instantly the Download box will pop up with the WinZip.exe file.
4. Choose to save it to the desktop.
5. Double-click on the file.
6. A window will pop up saying "Thank you for your interest in WinZip!". Click on Setup.
7. Click OK when it asks if it's okay to install it in "C:\Program Files\Winzip".
8. Now the WinZip Setup window will show up. Click Next >.
9. Click Yes to the License Agreement.
10. Click Next > again.
11. Click to put the bullet next to Start with WinZip Classic (it's easier).
12. Click Next > again.
13. You'll arrive at the window with a bullet next to Express Setup. Leave it there and click Next >.
14. You can put the check next to delete setup file if you want to. Click Next > again.
15. Click on Finish. And now it's installed! :)

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Using WinZip
1. Double-click a WinZip file to open it.
2. Each time you open up Winzip a window will pop up telling you it's the evaluation version and try to convince you to pay the fee to register it. Just ignore that and click on Use Evaluation Version.
3. Now you'll get another window, it's the "WinZip Tip of the Day". These tips are annoying, just click the box where it says "Always show tips at startup" and choose "Never show tips at startup".
4. Now you'll arrive to the main WinZip window. This is how it looks like. There are 2 ways you can extract its contents:

● Extracting Method #1:
Simply drag & drop the file(s) onto the desktop or the folder you want them in.

● Extracting Method #2:
This method must be used for extracting Kawaks, Mame and ePSXe.
1. Click on the Extract button.
2. Another window will pop up. This window is kinda similar to the Save As window. Click on Desktop then click on Extract.
3. The real file of the game will show up on your desktop. Right-click on it then click on Cut.
4. Open up the desired folder.
5. Click on the Edit menu then Paste or right-click within the white space of the folder then left-click on Paste. Note that you don't have to extract files to the desktop, it's just easier this way if you're not too computer literate.

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