Help me prove that a PsX Emulator doesn't hurt my computer.

[Maui Mallard]

Recently I had some problems with my computer, well basically I got this really nasty trojan. Yea so, this guy that we'll refer to as Admin pretty much fixxed my computer. But in doing so he comes out and tells me that I can't use PsX Emulators anymore because they mess with the system's BIOS which can potentially damage my motherboard.

So basically, I can't play any PsX games unless I can prove that it doesn't kill my computer - and I like really want to play PsX games. So can you guys explain to me exactly what PsX Emulators do to the system and whether they can potentially harm anything or not. Thanks for any input and I'll probably check back tomorrow or later tonight.

[MegaManJuno]

> But in doing so he comes out and tells me that I can't use
> PsX Emulators anymore because they mess with the system's
> BIOS which can potentially damage my motherboard.

Holy shit, "this guy" is an idiot. <img src=smilies/laff.gif> There's no reason, at all, that a legitimate Playstation Emulator would ever need to modify your PC's BIOS.

I'm guessing he saw mention of the required Playstation BIOS image somewhere and then somehow thought it was doing something with your PC's physical BIOS...? <img src=smilies/mystery.gif>

[Lenophis]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

But in doing so he comes out and tells me that I can't use PsX Emulators anymore because they mess with the system's BIOS which can potentially damage my motherboard.

<hr></blockquote>
That's about as farfetched as my brother's "roms will eat up your memory" to the point of never getting it back. Unless the emulator was a virus to begin with, it won't happen.

[Reaper man]

> I'm guessing he saw mention of the required Playstation BIOS
> image somewhere and then somehow thought it was doing
> something with your PC's physical BIOS...?

Bingo. That's what probably did it. What a moron. <img src=smilies/erm.gif>

PSX emulation is perfectly safe. No need to worry. <img src=smilies/cwm11.gif>

[Kitsune Sniper]

> But in doing so he comes out and tells me that I can't use
> PsX Emulators anymore because they mess with the system's
> BIOS which can potentially damage my motherboard.

Well, if this admin guy is from work, you shouldn't be playing with emulators in the first place. ;P

There really shouldn't be a problem with using the emulator -unless- you got a hacked version somehow. By hacked, I mean that it got infected with a virus or reverse engineered to do damage (which, even if unlikely, may still happen, you never know).

Curiously, I do recall that one of my PC games (Nocturne) -did- have a warning against using it with certain configurations. It wiped the bios, if I recall correctly. Which was enough to NOT install it, heh. I never did find out if it was true, though!

[IndeX]

> PSX emulation is perfectly safe. No need to worry.

I dunno man.. one time I ran ePSXe and the next day - my entire 2nd hard drive was full of Suicide Girls pictures.

I really dont know how that happened but I bet it was the emulator.
<img src=smilies/mystery.gif><img src=smilies/magbiggrin.gif>

[Audigy]

Also, if you're going to download ANY emulators for any system, do not, under any circumstances, download executables from P2P file sharing sites.

A search for "Playstation Emulator" turns up probably about 95% virus hits on eMule.

Go directly to the programmer's website and download the latest build from there, instead.

[Audigy]

> Curiously, I do recall that one of my PC games (Nocturne)
> -did- have a warning against using it with certain
> configurations. It wiped the bios,

Hm... wasn't there also a Japanese SNES emulator from wayyyyyyyyyy back that... if it detected that you were attempting to crack it, it would wreak similar havoc on the host PC?

[Kitsune Sniper]

> Hm... wasn't there also a Japanese SNES emulator from
> wayyyyyyyyyy back that... if it detected that you were
> attempting to crack it, it would wreak similar havoc on the
> host PC?

I really wouldn't know... I'm not from that far back. :p

[The 9th Sage]

> I dunno man.. one time I ran ePSXe and the next day - my
> entire 2nd hard drive was full of Suicide Girls pictures.
> I really dont know how that happened but I bet it was the
> emulator.

Yeah, I bet it was the emulator that did that. <img src=smilies/laff.gif>

[Reaper man]

> Hm... wasn't there also a Japanese SNES emulator from
> wayyyyyyyyyy back that... if it detected that you were
> attempting to crack it, it would wreak similar havoc on the
> host PC?

I don't recall that, but I do recall what NO$GB did when you tried to crack it. Ah, nothing like holding the space bar for a minute or so. Good times.

[Sliver X]

Super Pasofami. I can't remember if it was it or Pasofami (NES) that had some kind of evil cracking protection. I'm glad Pasofami in particular didn't catch on: the ROM format for it was more cumbersome than iNES (PRG and CHR were split, IIRC, in the Pasofami format).

[Freaker]

> I don't recall that, but I do recall what NO$GB did when you
> tried to crack it. Ah, nothing like holding the space bar
> for a minute or so. Good times.
>
And like the scared little kid I was back then, I sat there reading every dialog and freaking out.
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