# 🕹️ Batocera: turn any PC into the ultimate retro console

🕹️ Batocera: turn any PC into the ultimate retro console Do you have a 2.5″ or 3.5″ hard drive lying forgotten in a drawer? At Bytechip we show you how to turn it into every gamer's dream: a retro game library with Batocera.linux. This independent operating system will turn any PC into a professional arcade machine. 🛠️ Hardware requirements: what you need Before starting, make sure you have the necessary material for the installation to be stable: The hard drive: It can be a laptop (2.5″) or desktop (3.5″) HDD. It also works on an SSD for ultra-fast loading. External enclosure or adapter:For 2.5″ drives: A standard USB 2.0 or 3.0 external enclosure powered directly from the port is enough. For 3.5″ drives: Careful here! You will need an external enclosure that has its own power supply (wall plug), since the USB port does not give enough power to start these large drives. A secondary PC: Where we will download everything and "burn" the initial image. 📥 Step 1: Download the software Don't download Batocera from just anywhere. Always go to the official sources to avoid malware: Batocera.linux: Go to batocera.org/download. Choose the "x86_64" architecture if you are going to use a modern or old 64-bit PC. BalenaEtcher: It is the tool that will "clone" the system onto your drive. Download it at balena.io/etcher. 💻 Step 2: The "flashing" process with BalenaEtcher Once you have the Batocera file (usually a .img.gz file), follow these steps: Connect your external hard drive to the PC. Open BalenaEtcher. Flash from file: Select the Batocera file you downloaded. Select target: Choose your external hard drive very carefully (make sure it is not the drive where you have your photos or Windows, since everything will be erased). Flash!: Wait for the process and verification to finish. 📂 Step 3: Where do I get the games (ROMs)? For legal reasons, Batocera does not include commercial games, but it is very easy to add them. Recommended sources: Many users go to Archive.org (searching for "Retro Games Collection") or Vimm's Lair to find classic titles that are no longer sold. How to put them in: Once you boot Batocera, press the F1 key to open the file explorer and copy your game folders into the partition called SHARE/roms. 🚀 Step 4: Let's play! Switch off the PC where you want to play, connect the USB drive and enter the BIOS (pressing F2, F12 or Del at boot). Change the boot order so that the USB/external HDD comes first. And that's it! Remember that at BYTECHIP we can do this kind of work and leave you with the console of your dreams! ← Back to the blog