Windows emulator for BBC Acorn/Archimedes

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Rikkitic

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#303071 14-Jan-2023 16:46

Does such a thing exist? I want to view some BBC floppy disks from the 1980s. I still have a Win 7 machine with a working floppy drive but I need some kind of OS emulator to make sense of them.

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RunningMan

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#3021339 14-Jan-2023 16:57

You'd be looking for a BBC emulator then, not a Windows emulator. Try searching the other way around.

Rikkitic

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#3021342 14-Jan-2023 17:03

RunningMan:

You'd be looking for a BBC emulator then, not a Windows emulator. Try searching the other way around.

Yeah, I get that but there is no BBC forum here and I do need it to run on Windows. Trying here first then will search further.

Edit: I am probably not being clear enough about what I need. At this stage I am not looking to run BBC software on Windows, but to be able to read BBC floppy disks on Windows. I need to view the disks and see what is on them, and then maybe copy it to another medium.

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RunningMan

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#3021346 14-Jan-2023 17:11

Yep, got that. You need to emulate BBC, not Windows, so it's a BBC emulator you are looking for, not Windows.

Just trying to help if you are searching, because searching for a Windows emulator won't find what you are after.

RunningMan

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#3021350 14-Jan-2023 17:16

Here you go https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/BBC_Micro_emulators

Behodar

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#3021358 14-Jan-2023 17:46

ArcEm emulates an Archimedes, which can read BBC ADFS disks. It also has "HostFS", allowing you to access a shared folder from the desktop. I haven't tried using it on Windows but hopefully it'll do the trick.

Rikkitic

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#3021360 14-Jan-2023 17:55

RunningMan:

Here you go https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/BBC_Micro_emulators

Thanks. That is useful information.

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Rikkitic

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#3021362 14-Jan-2023 17:56

Behodar:

ArcEm emulates an Archimedes, which can read BBC ADFS disks. It also has "HostFS", allowing you to access a shared folder from the desktop. I haven't tried using it on Windows but hopefully it'll do the trick.

Also thanks. Looks like what I need.

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Behodar

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#3021366 14-Jan-2023 18:08

With that said, I'm not certain whether ArcEm offers direct floppy access or whether it only works with images. You may need to image the disks first.

roobarb

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#3021369 14-Jan-2023 18:38

If it is just the file contents you need then you could try a tool that reads the disk format.

https://github.com/simoninns/OpenAcornExplorer

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#3021374 14-Jan-2023 19:22

Rikkitic:

Does such a thing exist? I want to view some BBC floppy disks from the 1980s. I still have a Win 7 machine with a working floppy drive but I need some kind of OS emulator to make sense of them.

On a side note, Superior Software still exists as Superior Interactive and they still sell Windows ports of some of their most popular games.

We had an Acorn Electron, and BBC Master Compact when I was young.