Installing PC folder builds like RetroBat and CoinOPS

PC builds come in two flavours. Some are whole operating systems (such as a Batocera PC build) that you write to a drive like any other image: see writing to an SSD or hard drive. Most Windows builds, though, are folder builds: a big folder of front end, emulators and games that runs on top of Windows. RetroBat, CoinOPS, LaunchBox, HyperSpin and RetroFE builds are usually this kind. This guide is for those.

Not sure which you have? If the extracted download is one .img file, it is an image. If it is a folder full of files, it is a folder build. Our Build Your Retro Gaming PC page explains the difference too.

Step by step

1. Pick a drive with plenty of room. A second internal drive or an external SSD is ideal. You need space for the downloaded archives and the extracted build, so roughly double the build size while you set it up.
2. Format external drives as NTFS if they are new. Drives formatted as FAT32 cannot hold files over 4GB, which breaks many games. (Formatting wipes the drive, so only do this on an empty one.)
3. Extract with WinRAR, not the built-in Windows zip tool. Put all the .part files in one folder, right-click the first part and choose Extract to. Full walkthrough: extracting RAR and 7z files.
4. Extract to the top of the drive. Aim for something like D:\RetroBat or E:\CoinOPS, not C:\Users\YourName\Downloads\New folder\build v2 final\....
5. Set the drive letter if the build’s post asks for one (see below).
6. Install anything in the extras folder. Some builds include runtimes (support files such as Visual C++ or DirectX) that Windows needs first. The post tells you if so.
7. Run the launcher. For RetroBat that is retrobat.exe in the main folder. Other builds name theirs differently, so check the post. Many people right-click it and choose Send to, then Desktop (create shortcut).

Why short paths matter

Windows has an old limit of about 260 characters for a file’s full path. Big builds have deeply nested folders, so if you extract them somewhere already deep, some files end up past the limit and either fail to extract or fail to load. Short paths at the top of a drive avoid it. Also skip odd characters (such as &, # or accented letters) in folder names, as some emulators trip over them.

Drive letters

Some builds are set up to expect a particular drive letter, because the builder’s settings point at, say, E:\. If your drive comes up as F:\, games may not launch. To change it:

1. Right-click Start and open Disk Management.
2. Right-click the drive and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths.
3. Click Change, pick the letter the post asks for, and confirm.

Do not change the letter of your Windows drive (usually C:).

“Windows protected your PC”

That blue box is SmartScreen, which warns about any program that is not signed and widely known, which describes most emulators. If the build came from Arcade Punks, click More info, then Run anyway.

Antivirus going mad

Emulators and launchers do things that look suspicious to antivirus software, so warnings are common and almost always false positives. The danger is your antivirus quietly deleting files, which leaves the build broken. Add your build folder as an exclusion rather than switching protection off. Read antivirus false positives and our full guide Why Retro Gaming Front Ends Trigger Anti Virus Warnings.

Other common snags

• Missing DLL error: a runtime is missing. Install the ones in the build’s extras folder, or the latest Visual C++ redistributable from Microsoft.
• Front end opens, games do not: usually the drive letter, a path that is too long, or antivirus removing an emulator file.
• Runs slowly: see games run slowly.

Choosing between the big two? RetroBat vs Batocera compares them.

Still stuck? Try a game will not load or controller setup, or ask in our Discord.