Mac Emulation

There are many programs for the PC which allow you to run Apple Macintosh software. The quality and price of these programs varies considerably, as does the price.

I once used an emulator called Executor. I was only able to use the demo version as it is quite expensive. Unfortunately, Executor only runs a very small proportion of Mac software.

Basilisk II

I then came across another emulator, called Basilisk II. It is a very good Mac emulator. It does however require a ROM image from an Apple Macintosh and the MacOS operating system. Basilisk II is free, and is under continuous development. The screen shot below shows Basilisk II running MacOS 8 under Windows 95 (it can also run full screen).

I have found Basilisk II to be very fast - on a 350MHz Pentium II it is considerably faster than a 68040-based Mac, and slightly faster than a PowerPC machine, particularly when starting up. Basilisk II also seems very reliable and stable. It is almost more reliable than using Windows 95 itself!

Basilisk II supports all screen resolutions and colour depths, sound and networking. I have found it works best with MacOS 7.5.3. MacOS 8 does not work very well, as it is rather slow and the scrollbars do not work correctly. Basilisk II current only emulates a 68040 (or below) processor, so software which requires a PowerPC will not run.

Software You Need

Basilisk II is available from gamma.nic.fi/~lpesonen/BasiliskII/.
MacOS 7.5.3 was freely available from Apple's website at: asu.info.apple.com/swupdates.nsf/artnum/n11258. You need to download all the .bin files ('System_7_5_3_??of19_smi.bin'). It has now been removed from Apple's website. I have now made MacOS 8 available for download from this site os8.zip. Preferably try and get a MacOS CD-ROM!
Apple Mac ROM image. To legally use one you need to own a Mac. You could probably pick one up from a rubbish dump! You then need to extract the ROM image using software which runs on the Mac (software provided with Basilisk II). Alternatively, you could probably find a ROM image on the Internet. A 1MB ROM image from a Quadra works very well. You can find one at www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bit/4811/MacOs.htm#MacOs.
MacOS System 7 boot disk image. You need this to boot MacOS in order to install System 7.5.3. You can download it from this site: system70_boot.zip.
HFV Explorer. This is useful for copying files between Mac volumes and PC disks. This is available from gamma.nic.fi/~lpesonen/HFVExplorer/.

Setting-Up Basilisk II & Installing MacOS

The following instructions show you how to set up Basilisk II and get MacOS System 7.5.3 installed on your PC. The software listed in the previous section is required.

1. Install the software listed above, placing the ROM image and System 7 bootdisk in the same place as Basilisk II is installed. This just involves unzipping the files into the BasiliskII folder.

2. Use HFV Explorer to create a new Mac Volume File. Go to File... Format New Volume... The size should be at least 100Mb. Create the file in your BasiliskII folder and call it MacOS.hfv.

3. Run 'BasiliskIIGUI.exe' to configure as follows:
General: Set the Model ID to '7 (Mac IIfx)'. This is only required for booting the System 7 boot disk image, otherwise MacOS crashes. After installation of System 7.5.3 set it to '14 (Mac Quadra 900)'.
Memory: Set 'RAM size:' to something less than your computer's memory, preferably more than 16 megaytes. Set 'ROM file path:' to the name of your ROM file.
Disk: Set 'Installed disks:' to your Mac boot disk image and the Volume File you created in step 2.
CD-ROM: If you are going to install from a CD-ROM you need to set this up.
Screen: I recommend setting the Screen type to 'Windows GDI', Screen width and height to 'Full Screen' and Colors to 'Current Windows setting'.
None of the other settings need to be changed - the default settings should be ok. Click on 'OK' (NOT 'Run').

4. Use HFV Explorer to copy the 'System_7_5_3_??of19_smi.bin' files to the Mac Volume File. You need to do this so that you can install MacOS 7.5.3. HFV Explorer does not tell you when it has finished - just wait for disk activity to cease. Check the files are present - see the screen dump below.

5. Run 'BasiliskIIGUI.exe' again and click on 'Run' or press F1 to boot MacOS. This should work ok and leave you at the MacOS desktop. If you just get a disk icon with a flashing '?', you've set up the disk incorrectly - it cannot boot. To close Basilisk II, just press alt-F4, or ctrl-alt-del and 'End Task'.
If all goes well, you should see the desktop as shown below, with icons for your boot disk and an empty disk on the right hand side. I have opened both drives to show you the contents.

6. Now double click on 'System 7.5.3 01of19 smi' in the MacOS drive. This combines all the installation files into one file. A new icon should be created on the desktop called 'Sys7.5 7.5.3 CD Inst'.

7. Close all the open windows and double click on 'Sys7.5 7.5.3 CD Inst' to open the install folder. Double click on 'Installer'.

8. Choose 'Custom Install'. Select 'Universal System for any Macintosh' under 'System Software'. I recommend checking all the boxes from 'Assistance' to the bottom of the list for a complete installation. (Remember you can recover some disk space at the end by deleting the installation files. Also check that the 'Destination Disk' is set to 'MacOS'.

9. After Installation, go to Special... Shut Down...

10. Run 'BasiliskIIGUI.exe' again and set the following options:
General: Set the Model ID to '14 (Mac Quadra 900)'
Disk: Remove 'System70_boot.dsk' from the list of Installed disks.

11. Click on 'Run' or press F1 to boot MacOS System 7.5.3.

12. If you get an error message something like an 'Unimplemented Trap' referring to A/Rose, do as it suggests and hold down shift when you restart. Then go to the Control Panel and Extensions Manager and uncheck A/ROSE in the list:

13. After restarting again, you should have no problems, and you should reach the MacOS desktop. To enable full colour, click on the picture of a colour screen on the bottom left button bar and recheck 'Thousands of colors'.

14. Finally, delete the installation files from the MacOS drive by selecting them and dragging them to the 'Trash' icon, and then go to Special... Empty Trash...

15. If you want to use Mac CDs you need to enable this in the CD-ROM section of the BasiliskIIGUI.

16. You should now have a fully working installation of MacOS System 7.5 on your PC. Not all hardware and software runs in it yet. Basilisk II is updated quite regulary, with bug fixes and additional functionality.

Hope you find this useful! If you find any mistakes in this page, please let me know. I tried following them as I wrote them, so it should be correct.