Reboot an old computer that has become obsolete to run a recent version of Windows and turn it into a real retro game console at a lower cost.
Do you have an old PC that you no longer use and lying around in the back of a closet? If its configuration no longer allows it to run Windows correctly, several options are available to you to restore it to service. You can, for example, install a version of Chromium OS there to make it a Chromebook likeinstall a light version of Linux, or even transform it into a retro video game console.
Among the many distributions dedicated to retrogaming on the market, Recalbox is a benchmark. This OS, which makes it possible to emulate dozens of consoles, computers and arcade terminals of the past, is most of the time installed on the Raspberry Pi, but can be run from a conventional PC.
No need to invest in new equipment, an old computer that you no longer use and that you have relegated to the back of a closet will do the trick perfectly.
Read also: Raspberry Pi: the best retrogaming distributions
There are now several important things to keep in mind. If the emulation itself is completely legal (emulators only virtually reproduce the operation of the consoles), the online downloading of ROMs and BIOSes required for the operation of certain consoles is illegal, because subject to intellectual property. Faced with this completely hypocritical rule (let’s be honest), you will therefore only be able to play if you have “dumped” yourself (understand which you have extracted yourself) the games from the original cartridges and the BIOSes of the consoles you own.
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Fortunately, Recalbox natively embeds some 150 free and unpublished games offered by independent developers, to allow you to play as soon as the system is started on your machine.
1. Download Rapsberry Pi imager and Recalbox
Start by downloading and installing the Raspberry Pi imager utility for your operating system. Then get the installation image of Recalbox for PC.
Download Raspberry Pi Imager for Windows (Free)

Download Raspberry Pi Imager for macOS (Free)
Download Raspberry Pi Imager for Linux (Free)
Download Recalbox (Free)
Raspberry Pi Imager basically allows to create with a fully automated process a bootable installation SD card for Rapsberry Pi nanocomputers. But it can also be used to create a bootable device for PC.
2. Create the bootable device
To work, Recalbox requires a machine with a 64-bit processor, 8 GB of RAM, an Intel, Nvidia or AMD graphics processor, 10 GB of storage space on the hard disk as well as a peripheral external storage of at least 8 GB.
To create the bootable card, open Raspberry Pi Imager then click on the Choose OS button.
In the window that appears, scroll down to the bottom of the list and choose the Use custom image option.
A file explorer window opens. Select the previously downloaded Recalbox disk image and click Open.
Back on the main Raspberry Pi Imager window, click the Choose Storage button.
Then select the external storage device to use for installing Recalbox.
Finally, click on the Write button in the Raspberry Pi Imager window to start writing the disk image to your removable storage medium.
An alert that the data on the storage device is about to be deleted should open. Confirm your choice by clicking Yes.
Wait a few minutes for the utility to write the Recalbox disk image to the external storage device.
3. Start your PC on Recalbox
Now that your USB key or memory card containing Recalbox is ready, you must start your PC on it. To do this, you need to enter the BIOS/UEFI of the device to change the boot order preferences. The manipulation to be carried out differs on each PC.
Some manufacturers indicate when starting their PC which key to press to access the BIOS. These are often the Esc, Del, F1, F2, F8 or F10 keys. In any case, refer to your computer’s user manual for the exact procedure.
When your PC boots to the USB key containing Recalbox, a blue screen displaying Recalbox should appear.
A few seconds later, Recalbox should load and display a quick introductory video before taking you to the main system page.
4. Configure your Recalbox
Unlike a classic OS, Recalbox is not intended to be installed “hard” on your PC. Therefore, it runs by launching your PC to your external storage device.
When Recalbox has finished loading, you should arrive at the main system page, where all available consoles are grouped.
You can now connect a USB controller (Recalbox groups on its Wiki list of compatible controllers) to start navigating the system interface.
You can first start by changing the default language (English). To do this, press the Start button on the controller and go to System Settings.
Here you will find the language section in which you can switch the interface to French, as well as the keyboard (keyboard) to Fr (French AZERTY).
Changes made should require a system reboot, so tap OK.
5. Connect the Recalbox to the network
After restarting, press the Start button on your controller to access the Main Menu, then enter Network Options.
Enable Wi-Fi, then enter the WIFI SSID menu to select your network there. Go to the WIFI Key field to enter the password for connecting to your Wi-Fi network using the joystick or directly from your PC keyboard. Then press the Start button on the controller to validate the connection.
This step is important, because it is thanks to it that you can then easily transfer games from your usual computer to the one running your Recalbox.
In addition, note the IP address assigned to your Recalbox which is displayed in the Network options.
6. Add games to your Recalbox
To add games to your Recalbox, in Windows, open a file explorer window, select Network in the left column, then double-click on your Recalbox. Then enter the Share directory.
If your Recalbox does not appear in the Network menu of your File Explorer, place the cursor in the text field displaying the path of the open directory, type \YourRecalboxIPAddressshareand validate by pressing the Enter key.
You should get an address like \192.168.xyshare.
It is quite possible that Windows asks you to identify yourself by entering the name and password of your session.
You are now connected to the storage of your Recalbox from your computer and can browse the different directories of the system. To transfer your games, enter the roms directory.
You now only have to drag and drop the roms of your games into the directories of each console.
Although your game roms have been added to the system, they do not automatically appear in the list of titles available in your Recalbox. You have to manually refresh this list.
To do this, select and enter the console for which you added roms, and press the Start button on the controller to open the Options.
Then choose the Game List Update option and select Yes to confirm. Your game should now be available in the console.