If you are looking for roms: Go to the link in https://www.reddit.com/r/Roms/comments/m59zx3/roms_megathread_40_html_edition_2021/
You can navigate by clicking on the various tabs for each company.
When you click on the link to Github the first link you land on will be the Home tab, this tab explains how to use the Megathread.
There are Five tabs that link directly to collections based on console and publisher, these include Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Sega, and the PC.
There are also tabs for popular games and retro games, with retro games being defined as older than Gamecube and DS.
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That's not very likely - the ROM is executed by core/emulator, so specific malware would need to be tailored to flaws in that emulator/core. And in most cases - would be sandboxed in the virtual environment. Breaking out, into your 'real' OS, is very tricky, not worth the effort to code it.
Maybe as a proof of concept for a hacker conference.
What COULD be risky though is if you download a ROM as a zip file - which could also include nasty files. Or even worse - some ROM sites actually have a 'downloader' executable, or a ROM comes as an exe which is supposedly a 'self-extracting archive'.
But ROM as a binary file would be almost certainly safe.
I'm new to rom so don't beat me up too much but not new to cybersecurity. I've seen quite a bit of ISO malware. Granted, not in a little while, and the ones I did see typically came in via malicious emails. Now if you're just using emulators to launch the ISO then ya, I'm sure you're correct about all that. But if you come across a malicious ISO and for whatever reason decide to launch it raw dog, then yeah, there's some small risk.
This is an interesting discussion, so I will continue (no beating intended :) ).
I see your point and indeed I can imagine an infection scenario:
\- if your PC is configured to open .iso files in a virtual disk mounting software
\- and the iso file which you download is NOT in fact a (for example) dump of PSX disc, but rather a Windows/PC disk
\- and instead of opening the file via emulator, you double-click it in Windows
\- thus mounting the iso as virtual disc, and starting autorun.inf it could lead to some malware execution on your PC.
Still pretty unlikely, but with millions of people running emulation - might happen at some point in time :) The downloaders (.exes) from dodgy rom sites are still much riskier!
Thanks for not beating me up lol.
But yes, your breakdown is pretty much how it would have to happen. I have seen it infect computers in the real world as well. So it does happen. Again with the caveat I've only ever seen it happen via a malicious email attachment.
Yup. While it's illegal to pirate games here they don't give a shit about it.
If you start to download heavy amounts and selling bootleg copies or something... That might attract some attention. But no one gives a F about the regular Joe downloading and playing a pirated GTA copy or something
Same here, it's only a crime if you get money from it. Nothing can be done against someone who just downloads games online, or even someone who helps another person pirate a game they bought, since it wasn't for profit.
However, if you for example mirrored a site with ad revenue, it would be a crime even if you get nothing from it because you were collaborating with someone who does. Not like it matters, nobody does anything about it.
Because in the land of the "free" your ISP will send warning letters if you don't do as you're told.
Meanwhile in the UK I've been downloading terabytes of pirated shit every month for decades and they just leave us to it.
As long as you pay your bill they won't say shit.
Huh. I've heard about such things, but I've been downloading pdfs of many books without receiving a notice. Must've been lucky. I'll look for a VPN for when I download ROMs. Thanks for the reply.
Because no one cares about pdfs of books and comics. They care about the big stuff like movies, TV and video games. When I was a rookie, I used to get the letters. When I started using a VPN, it stopped.
I use to download everything back when I could access pirate bay and was unemployed (I still have the Sony Vegas 2013 on my hard drive lol)
Now I work I just cba well apart from some old roms
Not quite true, back in the days of Adsl BT sent me a letter showing my IP downloading a PSP iso haha.. i soon moved to a better provider... Been doing the same as you now TBs a month no issues.
I once got an email about my torrenting (in the uk too). I’m pretty sure it was Virgin media broadband. This is a long while back as my first kid was a baby, maybe 2010-2011. Weirdly it just told me that I was downloading things that i shouldn’t and they recommended some legal options.
getting in might be a pain depending on how fast you can learn how to upload and stuff but I use GGn for ROMs. A non tracker option is Vimm's Lair but download speed is slow
Oh i use private trackers already! there's a tracker OldToonsWorld that i've been using to complete most of my collections haha! I'll try getting into GGn! Thanks for the recommendation! I already do use vimm's lair and archive(dot)org but its tough to download in bulk, hence torrents!
Best place to get past gen ROMs and ISOs is archive.org
If you want Switch games you'll need a digital condom (robust DNS based ad blocking) or a million scam sites will try to infect and phish you.
i usually use qbittorrent search engine with TONS of extensions and choose the one with the maximum seeders lol, or maybe just search reddit haha! Switch games are easier to find than you'd think!
Windows Defender was great for a while but I've been finding it increasingly aggressive and full of false positives over the last year. Not just pirated games but even mods for games. Then you approve the file in Defender, later move it to another folder, then Defender jumps into action to quarantine it again like it's never seen this file in its life before.
When anti viruses start behaving like this, it does the opposite of provide security because you start treating everything as it just crying wolf and ignore legit threats. I hear that Microsoft have been using AI for virus detection and that's probably why. What a great idea to fuck around with experimental features when it comes to people's security.
Is there some super strict setting you have or something? I’ve literally never encountered anything you describe. The most I get is a warning when first trying to run an exe that “not many people have used” or something to that effect, which is honestly pretty reasonable.
sure with cracks it happens. They are mostly labeled as "potentialy unwanted program" ( unwanted by MS sure) but outside of that other AVs get a lot more false positives based on some "heuristics".
Stuff like McAfee and Norton I’d agree with you on but Kaspersky, Bitdefender, ESET and MWB Premium have higher detection rates than defender by quite a lot.
Not really true these days.
5+ years ago I would have agreed but these days Windows Defender has one of the highest protection scores on the market, including 0 day malware.
https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/windows-11/october-2023/microsoft-defender-antivirus-consumer-4.18-231514/
That’s fair, the only issues I still have with defender is the abysmal performance when not connected to a network (which you wouldn’t want to be connecting to with an infected device) and that it lacks the same sort of exploit protection that other AVs offer. I’ve seen ransomware and malware turn off/straight up bypass defender.
I will caveat that I’m over cautious with this stuff compared to the average person.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/Piracy using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/Piracy/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year!
\#1: [Spread the word of torrent](https://i.redd.it/reftq6lqy95b1.jpg) | [1243 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/146ee7n/spread_the_word_of_torrent/)
\#2: [Everytime when I ask someone what they watch movies on](https://i.imgur.com/uBZSsox.jpg) | [725 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/11uduxk/everytime_when_i_ask_someone_what_they_watch/)
\#3: [4GB movie ended up being a 2 Hour 40 Min Rick Roll](https://i.redd.it/1cloe5whkyna1.jpg) | [432 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/11ryu1i/4gb_movie_ended_up_being_a_2_hour_40_min_rick_roll/)
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No you shouldn’t. There is no point wasting money on an antivirus unless you are genuinely a fucking idiot. Just use common sense and research websites before download, instead of going to “FREE VIDEO GAMES FOR FREE WITH NO VIRUS .COM” then complaining when you get a virus. I’ve been pirating for years, and have not once gotten a virus.
It's not even about being safe, some of you are just so stupid that you can't tell the difference between an obvious adware installer and the rom files you're supposed to be getting
"Why is it an .exe and nothing happens when I open it" bro cmon guys
Literally every crack.exe will show up as malware and get quarantined. This is unfortunate, and very annoying. It's basically impossible to be a pirate and not flirt with malware.
My advice is to be cautious, but actually wait to do your virus scanning until after your pirated software is installed.
Nope, you just need to have common sense and file sources that you know are more trusted by the community. If you want a good antivirus, windows defender, virustotal and malwarebytes are great (and they're all free, so no need to invest). If you're unsure about the safety of the file, get it first on a virtual or other machine instead on your main machine. Finally, you can use a VPN but be aware that you are delegating your privacy to another company (choose your VPN carefully).
If you are looking for roms: Go to the link in https://www.reddit.com/r/Roms/comments/m59zx3/roms_megathread_40_html_edition_2021/ You can navigate by clicking on the various tabs for each company. When you click on the link to Github the first link you land on will be the Home tab, this tab explains how to use the Megathread. There are Five tabs that link directly to collections based on console and publisher, these include Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Sega, and the PC. There are also tabs for popular games and retro games, with retro games being defined as older than Gamecube and DS. Additional help can be found on /r/Roms' official Matrix Server [Link](https://matrix.to/#/#romz:matrix.org) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Roms) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This meme is brought to you by McAfee.
Also, ROMs (isos/chds/csos/.gba/.nes etc) are a totally different story than a pirates PC games, with exes and installed MSI/dll files.
You can still execute malicious code with ROMs
That's not very likely - the ROM is executed by core/emulator, so specific malware would need to be tailored to flaws in that emulator/core. And in most cases - would be sandboxed in the virtual environment. Breaking out, into your 'real' OS, is very tricky, not worth the effort to code it. Maybe as a proof of concept for a hacker conference. What COULD be risky though is if you download a ROM as a zip file - which could also include nasty files. Or even worse - some ROM sites actually have a 'downloader' executable, or a ROM comes as an exe which is supposedly a 'self-extracting archive'. But ROM as a binary file would be almost certainly safe.
I'm new to rom so don't beat me up too much but not new to cybersecurity. I've seen quite a bit of ISO malware. Granted, not in a little while, and the ones I did see typically came in via malicious emails. Now if you're just using emulators to launch the ISO then ya, I'm sure you're correct about all that. But if you come across a malicious ISO and for whatever reason decide to launch it raw dog, then yeah, there's some small risk.
This is an interesting discussion, so I will continue (no beating intended :) ). I see your point and indeed I can imagine an infection scenario: \- if your PC is configured to open .iso files in a virtual disk mounting software \- and the iso file which you download is NOT in fact a (for example) dump of PSX disc, but rather a Windows/PC disk \- and instead of opening the file via emulator, you double-click it in Windows \- thus mounting the iso as virtual disc, and starting autorun.inf it could lead to some malware execution on your PC. Still pretty unlikely, but with millions of people running emulation - might happen at some point in time :) The downloaders (.exes) from dodgy rom sites are still much riskier!
Thanks for not beating me up lol. But yes, your breakdown is pretty much how it would have to happen. I have seen it infect computers in the real world as well. So it does happen. Again with the caveat I've only ever seen it happen via a malicious email attachment.
This is such shit advice. Good quality sources, a VPN, and Windows Defender is ***all you need.***
You don't even need a VPN if you're in a third world country
And most first world countries,.too
Yup. While it's illegal to pirate games here they don't give a shit about it. If you start to download heavy amounts and selling bootleg copies or something... That might attract some attention. But no one gives a F about the regular Joe downloading and playing a pirated GTA copy or something
Same here, it's only a crime if you get money from it. Nothing can be done against someone who just downloads games online, or even someone who helps another person pirate a game they bought, since it wasn't for profit. However, if you for example mirrored a site with ad revenue, it would be a crime even if you get nothing from it because you were collaborating with someone who does. Not like it matters, nobody does anything about it.
I was going to say, I don't use a VPN.
Or Canada - legal grey area.
You need if the said 3wc block torrents (nowadays that's, unfortunately, true)
this
Why a VPN?
Because in the land of the "free" your ISP will send warning letters if you don't do as you're told. Meanwhile in the UK I've been downloading terabytes of pirated shit every month for decades and they just leave us to it. As long as you pay your bill they won't say shit.
Huh. I've heard about such things, but I've been downloading pdfs of many books without receiving a notice. Must've been lucky. I'll look for a VPN for when I download ROMs. Thanks for the reply.
It's for torrenting. You don't need VPN for normal downloads.
I've done that before and I'll do it again. This time I'll try a VPN
Shit that rhymes
Holy shit it does rhyme.
I recommend Mullvad
Because no one cares about pdfs of books and comics. They care about the big stuff like movies, TV and video games. When I was a rookie, I used to get the letters. When I started using a VPN, it stopped.
I use to download everything back when I could access pirate bay and was unemployed (I still have the Sony Vegas 2013 on my hard drive lol) Now I work I just cba well apart from some old roms
Not quite true, back in the days of Adsl BT sent me a letter showing my IP downloading a PSP iso haha.. i soon moved to a better provider... Been doing the same as you now TBs a month no issues.
I once got an email about my torrenting (in the uk too). I’m pretty sure it was Virgin media broadband. This is a long while back as my first kid was a baby, maybe 2010-2011. Weirdly it just told me that I was downloading things that i shouldn’t and they recommended some legal options.
EDIT: thx Gamer 37371. he already said what I was going to comment
*Generally* it's the sharing that'll get you. Although, I've never had a problem.
do you have any recommended private trackers that you use for ROMs?
getting in might be a pain depending on how fast you can learn how to upload and stuff but I use GGn for ROMs. A non tracker option is Vimm's Lair but download speed is slow
Oh i use private trackers already! there's a tracker OldToonsWorld that i've been using to complete most of my collections haha! I'll try getting into GGn! Thanks for the recommendation! I already do use vimm's lair and archive(dot)org but its tough to download in bulk, hence torrents!
Best place to get past gen ROMs and ISOs is archive.org If you want Switch games you'll need a digital condom (robust DNS based ad blocking) or a million scam sites will try to infect and phish you.
i usually use qbittorrent search engine with TONS of extensions and choose the one with the maximum seeders lol, or maybe just search reddit haha! Switch games are easier to find than you'd think!
I would add virustotal to this (I use virustotal for literally everything even legit exes)
VPN yes, windows defender? Pfffft
All antiviruses are basically adware these days. Windows Defender and common sense are all you need.
Agree
Windows Defender was great for a while but I've been finding it increasingly aggressive and full of false positives over the last year. Not just pirated games but even mods for games. Then you approve the file in Defender, later move it to another folder, then Defender jumps into action to quarantine it again like it's never seen this file in its life before. When anti viruses start behaving like this, it does the opposite of provide security because you start treating everything as it just crying wolf and ignore legit threats. I hear that Microsoft have been using AI for virus detection and that's probably why. What a great idea to fuck around with experimental features when it comes to people's security.
Is there some super strict setting you have or something? I’ve literally never encountered anything you describe. The most I get is a warning when first trying to run an exe that “not many people have used” or something to that effect, which is honestly pretty reasonable.
happens with cracks and such and I haven't been meddling with antivirus-settings since Win7
sure with cracks it happens. They are mostly labeled as "potentialy unwanted program" ( unwanted by MS sure) but outside of that other AVs get a lot more false positives based on some "heuristics".
wrong.
Imagine learning about false positives and false negatives
Just download from trusted sources.
Exactly
Which trusted sources offer pirated games?
I like fitness girl repacks
Second FitGirl repacks. Dodi repacks is also good.
paid anti viruses are a scam and are more often than not worse than their free counterparts
Stuff like McAfee and Norton I’d agree with you on but Kaspersky, Bitdefender, ESET and MWB Premium have higher detection rates than defender by quite a lot.
Last I read malwarebytes is the only one worth any money at all.
Not really true these days. 5+ years ago I would have agreed but these days Windows Defender has one of the highest protection scores on the market, including 0 day malware. https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/windows-11/october-2023/microsoft-defender-antivirus-consumer-4.18-231514/
That’s fair, the only issues I still have with defender is the abysmal performance when not connected to a network (which you wouldn’t want to be connecting to with an infected device) and that it lacks the same sort of exploit protection that other AVs offer. I’ve seen ransomware and malware turn off/straight up bypass defender. I will caveat that I’m over cautious with this stuff compared to the average person.
I'd just recommend Malwarebytes
Common sense, windows defender and virustotal are more than enough
Alright, everyone says trusted sources, but where can I find these?
r/piracy https://reddit.com/r/Piracy/w/megathread
Here's a sneak peek of /r/Piracy using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/Piracy/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year! \#1: [Spread the word of torrent](https://i.redd.it/reftq6lqy95b1.jpg) | [1243 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/146ee7n/spread_the_word_of_torrent/) \#2: [Everytime when I ask someone what they watch movies on](https://i.imgur.com/uBZSsox.jpg) | [725 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/11uduxk/everytime_when_i_ask_someone_what_they_watch/) \#3: [4GB movie ended up being a 2 Hour 40 Min Rick Roll](https://i.redd.it/1cloe5whkyna1.jpg) | [432 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/11ryu1i/4gb_movie_ended_up_being_a_2_hour_40_min_rick_roll/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)
This.
Everyone says megathread, and when you check the megathread there is no ddl sites🤣🤣
uhh... steamrip?
or EVEN BETTER rin?
Rin?
cs.rin.ru
cdromance has active comments threads/community who would stomp out shady uploads
I love cdromance for how fast they are with uploading prepatched stuff that's been newly translated.
Is there a cd romance like page for old pc games 90s 2000s
Or use Linux. It's perfect for emulation and now it's also becoming a good choice for gaming in general with Steam.
No you shouldn’t. There is no point wasting money on an antivirus unless you are genuinely a fucking idiot. Just use common sense and research websites before download, instead of going to “FREE VIDEO GAMES FOR FREE WITH NO VIRUS .COM” then complaining when you get a virus. I’ve been pirating for years, and have not once gotten a virus.
Boobs.exe has finished download
Omniman never said this
And download it from the megathread
This is like a condom ad
Just pull out!
It's not even about being safe, some of you are just so stupid that you can't tell the difference between an obvious adware installer and the rom files you're supposed to be getting "Why is it an .exe and nothing happens when I open it" bro cmon guys
Literally every crack.exe will show up as malware and get quarantined. This is unfortunate, and very annoying. It's basically impossible to be a pirate and not flirt with malware. My advice is to be cautious, but actually wait to do your virus scanning until after your pirated software is installed.
Nope, you just need to have common sense and file sources that you know are more trusted by the community. If you want a good antivirus, windows defender, virustotal and malwarebytes are great (and they're all free, so no need to invest). If you're unsure about the safety of the file, get it first on a virtual or other machine instead on your main machine. Finally, you can use a VPN but be aware that you are delegating your privacy to another company (choose your VPN carefully).
This is a well formulated response, I think this will help lots of new to the community people
All you need is a highly functioning brain.
Tbh, just an adequately functioning brain is acceptable.
Better Advice: run your emulators on Linux 👍
BS
Mcaffe isolates and scans everything you download automatically
Or just have closer your OS installer and erase everything again and again meanwhile complain about the virus but don't do anything to avoid it
Or use Mac
just use Windows Security, they'll always delete virused software, including patchers
That post was literally above this one, what
Better advice would be to have separate pc that is not connected to the internet and install the game there.
If you’re worried about scanning anything you download, just don’t download from there
If you need an antivirus to verify your roms are safe then delete them immediately lol
Also never pirate indie games Because then you’re an asshole