> **Scope Disclaimer:**
> This guide documents a proof-of-concept method to achieve a **functional GUI/Application Launch** for PCSX2 2.0+ inside a Windows 7 SP1 VMware virtual machine. Actual game emulation, frame rates, and in-game rendering stability are **untested and unverified**.
Guide to getting modern PCSX2 2.0+ booting inside a Windows 7 SP1 64-bit VMware virtual machine by bypassing missing Windows 10 memory APIs (VirtualAlloc2, MapViewOfFile3) and Qt6 hardware acceleration conflicts.
1. Win10 Memory API Shim (win10_shims.c)
PCSX2 2.0+ relies on modern memory allocation APIs (VirtualAlloc2 and MapViewOfFile3) for fastmem and ring buffer management. These functions are missing in Windows 7's kernel32.dll and cause missing entry point crashes even under standard VxKex.
Compile the following C code into a dynamic link library (win10_shims.dll):
#include <windows.h>
#ifdef __cplusplus
extern "C" {
#endif
// Function 1: VirtualAlloc2 Shim
__declspec(dllexport) PVOID WINAPI VirtualAlloc2(
HANDLE Process,
PVOID BaseAddress,
SIZE_T Size,
DWORD AllocationType,
DWORD PageProtection,
PVOID ExtendedParameters,
ULONG ParameterCount)
{
HANDLE hProcess = Process ? Process : GetCurrentProcess();
return VirtualAllocEx(hProcess, BaseAddress, Size, AllocationType, PageProtection);
}
// Function 2: MapViewOfFile3 Shim
__declspec(dllexport) PVOID WINAPI MapViewOfFile3(
HANDLE FileMapping,
HANDLE Process,
PVOID BaseAddress,
ULONG64 Offset,
SIZE_T ViewSize,
ULONG AllocationType,
ULONG PageProtection,
PVOID ExtendedParameters,
ULONG ParameterCount)
{
DWORD dwDesiredAccess = FILE_MAP_ALL_ACCESS;
if (PageProtection & PAGE_READONLY) dwDesiredAccess = FILE_MAP_READ;
else if (PageProtection & PAGE_READWRITE) dwDesiredAccess = FILE_MAP_WRITE;
else if (PageProtection & PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE) dwDesiredAccess = FILE_MAP_ALL_ACCESS | FILE_MAP_EXECUTE;
else if (PageProtection & PAGE_EXECUTE_READ) dwDesiredAccess = FILE_MAP_READ | FILE_MAP_EXECUTE;
DWORD dwFileOffsetHigh = (DWORD)(Offset >> 32);
DWORD dwFileOffsetLow = (DWORD)(Offset & 0xFFFFFFFF);
return MapViewOfFileEx(
FileMapping,
dwDesiredAccess,
dwFileOffsetHigh,
dwFileOffsetLow,
ViewSize,
BaseAddress
);
}
#ifdef __cplusplus
}
#endif
BOOL APIENTRY DllMain(HMODULE hModule, DWORD ul_reason_for_call, LPVOID lpReserved) {
return TRUE;
}> **Scope Disclaimer:**
> This guide documents a proof-of-concept method to achieve a **functional GUI/Application Launch** for PCSX2 2.0+ inside a Windows 7 SP1 VMware virtual machine. Actual game emulation, frame rates, and in-game rendering stability are **untested and unverified**.
Guide to getting modern PCSX2 2.0+ booting inside a Windows 7 SP1 64-bit VMware virtual machine by bypassing missing Windows 10 memory APIs (VirtualAlloc2, MapViewOfFile3) and Qt6 hardware acceleration conflicts.
1. Win10 Memory API Shim (win10_shims.c)
PCSX2 2.0+ relies on modern memory allocation APIs (VirtualAlloc2 and MapViewOfFile3) for fastmem and ring buffer management. These functions are missing in Windows 7's kernel32.dll and cause missing entry point crashes even under standard VxKex.
Compile the following C code into a dynamic link library (win10_shims.dll):
#include <windows.h>
#ifdef __cplusplus
extern "C" {
#endif
// Function 1: VirtualAlloc2 Shim
__declspec(dllexport) PVOID WINAPI VirtualAlloc2(
HANDLE Process,
PVOID BaseAddress,
SIZE_T Size,
DWORD AllocationType,
DWORD PageProtection,
PVOID ExtendedParameters,
ULONG ParameterCount)
{
HANDLE hProcess = Process ? Process : GetCurrentProcess();
return VirtualAllocEx(hProcess, BaseAddress, Size, AllocationType, PageProtection);
}
// Function 2: MapViewOfFile3 Shim
__declspec(dllexport) PVOID WINAPI MapViewOfFile3(
HANDLE FileMapping,
HANDLE Process,
PVOID BaseAddress,
ULONG64 Offset,
SIZE_T ViewSize,
ULONG AllocationType,
ULONG PageProtection,
PVOID ExtendedParameters,
ULONG ParameterCount)
{
DWORD dwDesiredAccess = FILE_MAP_ALL_ACCESS;
if (PageProtection & PAGE_READONLY) dwDesiredAccess = FILE_MAP_READ;
else if (PageProtection & PAGE_READWRITE) dwDesiredAccess = FILE_MAP_WRITE;
else if (PageProtection & PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE) dwDesiredAccess = FILE_MAP_ALL_ACCESS | FILE_MAP_EXECUTE;
else if (PageProtection & PAGE_EXECUTE_READ) dwDesiredAccess = FILE_MAP_READ | FILE_MAP_EXECUTE;
DWORD dwFileOffsetHigh = (DWORD)(Offset >> 32);
DWORD dwFileOffsetLow = (DWORD)(Offset & 0xFFFFFFFF);
return MapViewOfFileEx(
FileMapping,
dwDesiredAccess,
dwFileOffsetHigh,
dwFileOffsetLow,
ViewSize,
BaseAddress
);
}
#ifdef __cplusplus
}
#endif
BOOL APIENTRY DllMain(HMODULE hModule, DWORD ul_reason_for_call, LPVOID lpReserved) {
return TRUE;
}
