The document discusses the importance of preserving historical software to protect digital heritage. It highlights organizations like TOSEC and the Internet Archive, which serve to catalog and provide access to vintage software, and explains the legal complexities surrounding emulators and software copyright. Various emulation tools are mentioned, along with resources for further reading on software preservation and the challenges associated with it.

1. Mr Nathan Wade
Lanier Technical College
Oakwood, Georgia
Georgia Technical College of the year - 2014 .
The home of both the 2014 and 2015
Technical College Teacher of the Year.

2. Emulation - Rescuing and
Preserving Old Software
SAVE OUR DIGITAL HERITAGE!

3. Why preserve?
• Preserve historical software from volatile storage and neglect
• Analog Tape storage
• Audio dropouts
• Diskettes
• “Bit-rot”
• Dust
• Punch cards and tape
• Revive old programs and games on systems no longer supported on
either actual systems or emulators
• Programmers can learn code and make new homebrew programs for old
systems
• Sometime old hardware is rare and hard to find in good condition

4. Who is
• The Old School Emulation Center (TOSEC) is an
organization that is dedicated preserving and
cataloging hardware, software, and firmware images
for microcomputers and game consoles.
• Database includes:
• ROMs and firmware images
• Software from different types of media
• Manuals and magazines

5. Internet Archive Software Collection
The Internet Archive Software Collection is the largest vintage and
historical software library in the world.
It provides instant access to millions of programs, CD-ROM images,
documentation and multimedia.
 Software
 Shareware CDs, playable computer games, TOSEC files
 Magazines (in Text section)
 Family Computer, Byte, Creative Computing
 Magazine Cover Discs

6. Digital Millennium Copyright Act
An exemption is granted to the
Internet Archive by the D.M.C.A for
archival software. This software is
free for the public to download.
(http://archive.org/about/dmca.php)

7. Two types of emulators
STAND ALONE MESS
• Multiple OS’
• Dedicated to one system
• May not be up to date or
abandoned
• Multiple systems in one
program
• Up to date
• Not all working
What is an “emulator”?
A program that acts like a particular system that will
run program images for that system.

8. DOSBox
• Emulates x86 computer
• Used mainly to play DOS-
based games
• Can run Windows up to
3.11, WordPerfect, and
other applications

9. D-Fend Reloaded - DOSBox-Frontend Reloaded
• An open source frontend
for DOSBox, ScummVM
and Windows games

10. ME SSulti
mulator
uper
ystem
• Emulates computer systems and
game consoles back to the late 60’s

11. Daphne
• Laserdisc Arcade Emulator
• Will legally load commercial
versions of Dragon’s Lair,
Dragon’s Lair 2, Space Ace, and
Thayer’s Quest from Digital
Leasure.

12. Legal Hurdles
• Downloading emulators is legal
• Roms and software programs may not be legal to download
• This depends on the author or company
• Shareware and legally purchased software remain legal
• Copyright red-tape – hard to find who owns the copyright on ancient software
• Commercial software unsupported but still owned by a viable company
• Sierra On-Line
• Apple
• Commercial software owned by a company no longer in business
• Interplay
• Radio Shack
• Software with license keys/dongles/DRM

13. Further reading and links…
• The Ex-files: how long will our software last?
• http://www.blog.still-water.net/2013/05/the-ex-files-how-long-will-our-
software-last/
• Preserving.exe: Toward a National Strategy for Preserving
Software
• http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/meetings/preservingsoftware2013.html
• Preserving.exe: A Short List of Readings on Software Preservation
• http://blogs.loc.gov/digitalpreservation/2012/11/preserving-exe-a-short-list-
of-readings-on-software-preservation/
• The Geeks Who Saved Prince of Persia’s Source Code From Digital
Death
• http://www.wired.com/2012/04/prince-of-persia-source-code/

14. • Abandonware FAQ
• http://www.abandonwarering.com/?Page=FAQ
• Why Preserving Old Computer Games is Surprisingly Difficult
• http://mentalfloss.com/article/68930/why-preserving-old-computer-games-
surprisingly-difficult
• How to use DOSBox to run Dos Games and Old Apps
• http://www.howtogeek.com/104725/how-to-use-dosbox-to-run-dos-games-and-
old-apps/
• Installing Windows 3.1 in DosBox
• http://www.howtogeek.com/230359/how-to-install-windows-3.1-in-dosbox-set-up-
drivers-and-play-16-bit-games/
• Computer History Museum Makes Electronic Arts DeluxePaint Source
Code Available to the Public
• http://www.marketwatch.com/story/computer-history-museum-makes-electronic-
arts-deluxepaint-source-code-available-to-the-public-2015-07-22

15. • Copyright Law Is Eating Away At Our Cultural History: And It's Time To Fix That
• https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150129/06091629847/copyright-law-is-
eating-away-our-cultural-history-its-time-to-fix-that.shtml
• An Exemption to the DMCA Would Let Game Fans Keep Abandoned Games
Running
• https://www.eff.org/let-game-fans-keep-abandoned-games-running
• Old-Computers.com
• https://www.facebook.com/oldcomputers
• DosBox
• http://www.dosbox.com/
• TRS-80 Color Computer Archive
• http://www.colorcomputerarchive.com/