An emulator is a program that can understand the programming language used by the Beeb and change it to something that can be used on the PC. Therefore you can have a Beeb running on your PC.

This page will explain how to download and install BeebEm, one of the available emulators, and then how to download and play Beeb games. As explained on the home page, I am going to assume very little computer knowlege and go through the process slowly, step by step. So, sorry to those for whom this is too basic, but I am trying to make the site available and accessible to everyone. If you have tried following the instructions and get really stuck, Please get in touch, but please have a go first, and in the email let me know at which point in the instructions you get stuck.

On this site, I am going to discuss the use of BeebEm, partly becasue it is free and mostly because that is what I use myself so I know how it works. There are lots of other emulators available and eventually I will create a list and review page for them all, but for now, if you want to know about them, have a look at The BBC lives emulators list

So lets get started....

1. To get BeebEm, go to The BeebEm Home Page If you don't understand everything on the page, don't worry. The link to download the program is about 2/3 of the way down the page "Download version 2.2 for Windows: BeebEm22.exe"
2. When you click on the link, it will download a program that will start the installation process for BeebEm.
   Because you are downloading a program file, Internet Explorer will come up with a message warning you "some files may harm your computer" and to "only download programs from a trusted source." Since you have chosen to download the program (and becasue there is no sypware or adware attached), just click "Open", which will download the file and start it running straight away.
3. A box will appear containing a blue bar showing the progress of the download. When the blue bar has got all the way across, the program has downloaded and it will open the installation program.
4. The next thing it will ask you is where on you computer (in which folder) you want to put the emulator. It will automatically choose "C:/program files", which means on you C drive in the folder "program files". If you are happy with this, click "ok". If not, click "browse" and choose for yourself then click "ok".
5. This next box asks you what you would like to call the shortcut when it appears in your start menu. Give it a name (or accept the one that has been suggested) and click "ok" to carry on.
6. The progarm will then install for you, and a link will appear to it in you start menu. When it is done click "finish". It is now ready for you.
7. To run the emulator, go to "start menu" --> "programs" --> "BeebEm" (or whatever you called it)
8. The entirety of the files will be in My computer/C:/program files/BeebEm (Or wherever you chose to put them) although you don't really need to worry about them.

You are now ready to download and play the games. Go to The Games Page to find out how to do this.

If you have problems with any of these instructions, please Get in touch with details of where in the instructions you get stuck and anything you have tried.