Here's my attempt to simplify having MAME create the .ini file you need to give you access to the cheat option:

Step 1: Go into the MAME folder (wherever you put it) and copy the address in it from the address bar.

Step 2: Open up command prompt and type "cd " (no quotes).  Right click on the command prompt window and paste the address you copied into it.  Press enter.  The current directory should be set to the address you pasted into it (unless you didn't put a space between cd and what you pasted into the command prompt).

Step 4: Type into command prompt a variation of this:

mame.exe -createconfig

Rename mame.exe to the name of your .exe.  Press Enter, and that should create an ini file for you.  Close the command prompt window.

Step 5: Scroll down to # CORE MISC OPTIONS, look for "cheat", change the 0 to 1 and then save.

Step 6: Create a folder named cheat, and add the cheat files to it.  The next time you run the emulator, press Tab.  Cheat should now show up as an option.

Get M1 here:
http://www.zophar.net/utilities/arcademusic/m1.html

Get Bridge M1(it's a frontend for M1) and the latest files you'll need for it here:
http://www.e2j.net/downloads.html

Once you do that:
- Put the contents of Bridge M1 into the M1 folder (or vice versa).
- Put the game you want to rip sounds from in the roms folder.
- Double click BridgeM1.exe, and load up the rom by clicking the load button.  Turn off output normalization if you want to.
- Whatever sounds you want to rip, click the record button, play the sound, then click stop.  Whatever you recorded will be in the waves folder.

- This should also work for the other versions.  Just rename the cheat file to the name for the rom.

How to use:
Press F2 to go to the test menu, then turn on the cheat.  The screen will change to the character test screen. 

The buttons:
P1 Coin: Affects the text and BG.  Had I known about this, I wouldn't have searched for a cheat to hide the text. :p

2P Start: Changes the background color two ways: Holding it causes gradual changes in color, tapping it causes sudden changes.

Hold P1 Button 2 and press either Up or Down: Changes what sprite set you want to look at.  Use this to find Lynn's sprites.  To get to Lynn, press up 12 to 16 times.

1P Up or Down: Changes what sprite set you want to look at.  Use this to go through all of Lynn's animations.

1P Left or Right: Changes what direction the sprite's facing.

3P Up or Down: Flips the sprite up or down.

3P Button 3: Changes the palette the sprite's using.  This is useful for portraits, and BG things.

Hold P1 Button 1: Quickly goes through the frames to an animation.

P1 Button 2: Resets animation to first frame.

P1 Button 3: Cycle frame by frame through an animation

How to use:
Press F2 to go to the test menu, then turn on the cheat.  You now have access to the secret test menu. 

- To access Anita's sprites, the code must be turned on before entering the Hit Editer.

The buttons:
P1 Coin: Switches between Char Select Mode, Hit Edit Mode, and Exit Hit test.

Hold P1 Button 6 and press either Up or Down: Changes what character sprite set you want to look at. 

1P Left or Right: Changes what sprite set you want to look at.

Hold P1 Button 5 and press either Up/Down or Left/Right: Flips the sprites horizontally or vertically.

Hold P1 Button 4 and press either Up/Down or Left/Right: Repositions the sprites on the screen.

Hold P1 Button 1: Quickly goes through the frames to an animation.

P1 Button 2: Cycle frame by frame through an animation

P1 Button 3: Resets animation to first frame.

How to use:
Press F2 to go to the test menu, then turn on the cheat.  You now have access to the secret test menu. 

The buttons:
P1 Coin: Switches between Char Select Mode, Hit Edit Mode, and Exit Hit test.

Hold P1 Button 6 and press either Up or Down: Changes what character sprite set you want to look at. 

1P Left or Right: Changes what sprite set you want to look at.

Hold P1 Button 5 and press either Up/Down or Left/Right: Flips the sprites horizontally or vertically.

Hold P1 Button 4 and press either Up/Down or Left/Right: Repositions the sprites on the screen.

Hold P1 Button 1: Quickly goes through the frames to an animation.

P1 Button 2: Cycle frame by frame through an animation

P1 Button 3: Resets animation to first frame.

How to use:
Press F2 to go to the test menu, then turn on the cheat.  You now have access to the secret test menu. 

The buttons:
P1 Coin: Switches between Char Select Mode, Hit Edit Mode, and Exit Hit test.

Hold P1 Button 6 and press either Up or Down: Changes what character sprite set you want to look at. 

1P Left or Right: Changes what sprite set you want to look at.

Hold P1 Button 5 and press either Up/Down or Left/Right: Flips the sprites horizontally or vertically.

Hold P1 Button 4 and press either Up/Down or Left/Right: Repositions the sprites on the screen.

Hold P1 Button 1: Quickly goes through the frames to an animation.

P1 Button 2: Cycle frame by frame through an animation

P1 Button 3: Resets animation to first frame.

How to use:
Press F2 to go to the test menu, then turn on the cheat.  You now have access to the secret test menu. 

The buttons:
P1 Coin: Switches between Char Select Mode, Hit Edit Mode, and Exit Hit test.

Hold P1 Button 6 and press either Up or Down: Changes what character sprite set you want to look at. 

1P Left or Right: Changes what sprite set you want to look at.

Hold P1 Button 5 and press either Up/Down or Left/Right: Flips the sprites horizontally or vertically.

Hold P1 Button 4 and press either Up/Down or Left/Right: Repositions the sprites on the screen.

Hold P1 Button 1: Quickly goes through the frames to an animation.

P1 Button 2: Cycle frame by frame through an animation

P1 Button 3: Resets animation to first frame.

How to use:
Press F2 to go to the test menu, then turn on the cheat.  You now have access to the other menu. 

The buttons:
P1 Coin: Enter/Exit one of the menus.

Hold P1 Button 4 and press either Up or Down: Changes what character sprite set you want to look at. 

Hold P1 Button 4 and press either Left or Right: Changes what sprite set you want to look at.

P1 Button 5: Flips the sprites horizontally or vertically.

P1 Up/Down or Left/Right: Repositions the sprites on the screen.  You'll want to use a position mod to assist you in keep the character on the screen.

Hold P1 Button 1: Quickly goes through the frames to an animation.

P1 Button 2: Cycle frame by frame through an animation

P1 Button 3: Resets animation to first frame.

- I'll have to find another value for Kawaks, because this doesn't work for it.

How to use:
Press F2 to go to the test menu, then press enter to on the cheat.  You now have access to the Screen and Object Test. 

The buttons:
P1 Coin: Enter/Exit one of the menus.

Hold P1 Button 4 and press either Up or Down: Changes what character sprite set you want to look at. 

Hold P1 Button 4 and press either Left or Right: Changes what sprite set you want to look at.

P1 Button 5: Flips the sprites horizontally or vertically.

P1 Up/Down or Left/Right: Repositions the sprites on the screen.  You'll want to use a position mod to assist you in keep the character on the screen.

Hold P1 Button 1: Quickly goes through the frames to an animation.

P1 Button 2: Cycle frame by frame through an animation

P1 Button 3: Resets animation to first frame.

Would've been nice if I found this sooner. :p  It doesn't work in Kawaks though.

How to use:
Press F2 to go to the test menu, then press enter to on the cheat.  You now have access to the Character Test.

The buttons:
P2 Coin: Switches between 1 Player Mode, 2 Player Mode, Nage Mode, and Zoom & Roll Mode.

Press P1 Up or Down: Changes what sprite set you want to look at.

Hold P1 Button 3 and press Up or Down: Changes what sprite set (character, effects, etc.) you want to look at.

Hold P1 Button 3 and press either Left or Right: Changes the character's colors. 

Hold P1 Button 5 and press either Up/Down or Left/Right: Flips the sprites horizontally or vertically.

Hold P1 Button 6 and press either Up/Down or Left/Right: Repositions the sprites on the screen. 

Hold P1 Button 1: Quickly goes through the frames to an animation.

P1 Button 4: Cycle frame by frame through an animation

P1 Button 2: Resets animation to first frame.

P1 Buttons 5+6: Repositions the sprites back to the cursor.

For the cheat to ripping stages:

You can:
Reposition the players/player shadows, the timer icon, and 34 different BG elements. 
Change the sprite priority to the players/player shadows, the timer icon, and  31 BG elements.  The timer icon rescaling is it's own thing (the idea is you put everything you don't want to rip behind the rescaled timer icon). 
Modify what round you're currently on (because the look of the stages change depending on what round you're on). 
Adjust what is currently being displayed (various combinations of players/lifebars/BG Layers).

Notes:
- The effects being applied for "P1 sprite ripping":  Timer icon is rescaled, repositioned, and has its sprite priority changed.  P2 and both player shadows have their sprite priorities changed.  Lifebars are hidden.  Camera zoomed is locked, so make sure the camera's zoomed in before you turn this on.
- Don't go too far to the left or right, or the timer icon will stop hiding whatever's been placed behind it.
- The animation frame and state cycle are usable, but inefficient.  They're there so you have exact values to search for in Artmoney (you'll have to apply an offset with every new session of the emulator though).
- "Z offset adjust" is so you don't have to make your character jump into the air to center them.  Increase the value to raise the ground (and them) up.  Another reason I found this is because I wasn't able to find a y position mod that worked properly.
- You may not need to use the BG layer priority codes, but they're there if you need to force an BG object behind the timer icon.
- Here's another thing about the BG layer priority codes: The game will only use a couple of them for BG objects.  Others will be used for player effects.  Random bit of semi-useless trivia. :p
- For sound ripping:
Turn on "For music disabling". 
Perform a basic attack (the music should stop), then Turn off "For music disabling 1".
Go to any of the 3 Sound Tests, cycle through the set value range and press Enter to play a sound.

Notes:
- Both Players should be Hiryu, and forced into their winpose to hide them.
- Turn on "Hide Lifebars and Score" at the character select screen.  If you turn it on after the match loads, it won't remove the lifebars.
- Everything should work fine on Area 5 (looks like a museum). 
- P1 State Cycle and P1 Frame Cycle are easier to use in Artmoney.  The cheats are there so it's easier for you to find them.
- To access the option menu, select "Access Option Mode" and press Enter during a vs match.  To exit the menu, go to Exit, and press left or right.
- The colors aren't modded on the fly, so turn the color mods on before the stage loads.
- "Recolor Area 5" works on a couple other stages too, if you want to try and rip the weapon sprites.
- I wasn't able to find anything I could make into a "sound test" like I was able to for Dragoon Might, but what I found is still usable.  Basically, you turn on all but 1 of them.  If the sound you want to rip plays, wait a couple of seconds before doing it again.  Otherwise, try another one on the list.

This can mostly make it easier to rip character sprites.  If you don't mind your sprites not having the correct axis (no clue why it does that).  Or the color mod possibly not working properly because of how the game handles colors.  ......Yeah, this game wasn't as generous to me as the two above ones were when it came to finding certain things.


Notes:
- Make sure the Region is not set to Japan, Korea, or World in the dipswitches menu.  Hide Timer/Bars/Player Shadows won't hide the English name text.
- Also, make sure Free is set to on in the dipswitches menu.  Although I can hide the lifebars, I couldn't completly hide the credits text (hence recoloring it), so bits of it would show up on the edges of the screen.
- The first character P1 picks decides what stage you fight on in Vs Mode usually.  I suggest Long's stage, because I know most, if not all of the codes will work there.
- Don't do any attacks before using these.  I wasn't able to remove the super bars (what I found only works in Artmoney).
- P1 Swap to 2nd Character is to get around having to fill up the meter to do it and also avoiding the screen darkening/Lord Wizard's intro screwing with the color mods.
- I haven't gotten around to making it easier to get sounds outside of finding a music disabler (I suggest Zhuge's stage, because it also disables the waterfall sound). Edit:  Music disabler's unreliable.  It only sometimes works.
- Cycling through the player sprites, you'll be able to find projectiles/effects, but they'll be discolored because they use their own color set.  Try using the color cycle.

For the cheat to ripping stages:

Notes:
- The position mods to "misc" elements are there because the position mods to BG elements 17-33 only seem to want to work in Artmoney.  The misc elements may not consistently affect the same BG elements if it's something that's moving across the screen (at least in Long's stage anyways).  I suggest using the *BG color cycle to mark the BG elements you don't want to rip (set them to 4 or 5).  You won't need to use all 50, BTW.  I found that many just to be safe.  Let me know if any of them become rescaled when you reposition any of them.  I set the value range on them to 8000-8FFF because changing the 8 rescales things (that's a first).
- Use the infinite time (low timer) to change the BG to the alternate version.
- Don't do anything to fill up the super meters.  Also, there'll be bits of text on the edges of the screen from the p1/p2 credits, because I couldn't completely hide them.

Notes:
- The sound mod not what I was aiming for it to, but it's usable to rip the sounds.  Just keep in mind there's variations to some of the sounds, so you should probably have some sounds play a couple times.
- The code that removes the shadows was the only one I could find, unfortunately.  I tried color modding them, but what I found is outside the RAM search range.
- Set the player limb/body colors to 15 (0x0F) if you want to rip projectiles/effects.  It's what I used to make Death green/red.
- The battle damage is usually random, so I added a code that shows almost all of it, if not all of it.  ...If you wanted to add that to your character for some reason.
- Unless you want to search for HTML colors at Integer 3 bytes in Artmoney (also outside the RAM search range), try ripping your character on Thugg, Wulf, Musashi, Mantazz, or Death's stages.  They don't have a solid black background.
- It's possible to freeze some of the player effects/weapon effects, but you'd have to do it for every stage, and it's not all that reliable.   Edit: Seems I left one for Mantazz's stage in the cheat file. 

For the cheat to ripping stages:
- You can cycle through colors and reposition 54 different BG elements.  Let me know if anything doesn't work.


If you've got Artmoney, here's what you'd need to search for color mods.  Keep in mind applying the offset may not work with these, and you'll have to find them every time you start a new session with the emulator.



Notes:
- The sound modifier is very incomplete.  I've had no luck so far getting it to work how I want it to, but it's possible to get some sounds from it.  You may need to hit enter a couple times to get a sound to play though.
- I added some codes that change the players into the secret bighead characters (try and save you from having to enter the codes).  They're probably not useful, unless you wanted to make a headswap character.
- I don't know why you'd want to make an armless character, but there's an option for that (the gore effects aren't added if you remove the limbs by repositioning them).
- Stages you probably should use for ripping character sprites: Scorch HQ, Polaria, Golem's Lair, Triax.  Possibly Golem's Lair and Inner Sanctum with some repositioning.
- Hide lifebars is kinda buggy.  Turn it on during the match.
- I added something to unhide P1 Shadow, not that you'll really need it, because he's just a recolor of Hellhound (who's a recolor/headswap of Freon).
- Set the character or BG colors to 28 (0x1C) for solid grey.  If you want to recolor that?  First, search for a character's color in Artmoney (HTML colors at integer 3 bytes) so you have an address range to search within (make sure to turn the color back, because it'll stay at whatever value you change it to), then search for 303030.  There will be a bunch of addresses that affect the BG.
- Although I say turn on the all/no weapons codes at the character select screen, there will still be somewhat of a noticble effect to the character if turned on during the match.  I mention this for someone who wants to remove the extra stuff to a bighead character.

......Because nostalgia. :p
Notes:
- I haven't tested it with the other versions, but the addresses to the cheats look the same in them, so these will probably work with them.
- There's nothing for sound ripping.  But you can get all the sounds from M1.
- I found something that changes the animation to your walk to something else.  Not quite what I was looking for, but it can be used for easily ripping other animations.
- This game loves crashing the emulator, BTW.  So be careful when loading up savestates.

- I suggest Akuma/Chun Li's stage for character ripping.
- If you use the P2 sprite repositioner, P2 will appear on the screen when you go to either edge of the stage.
- What I found to freeze the players frames is kinda useless as a MAME cheat.  It's there for you so have exact values to find for Artmoney.

If you've got Artmoney, here's what you'd need to search for color mods.  Keep in mind applying the offset won't work with these, and you'll have to find them every time you start a new session with the emulator.

- I suggest Ken's stage.
- If you use the P2 sprite repositioner, P2 will appear on the screen when you go to either edge of the stage.
- What I found to freeze the players frames is kinda useless as a MAME cheat.  It's there for you to have exact values to find for Artmoney.


If you've got Artmoney, here's what you'd need to search for color mods.  Keep in mind applying the offset won't work with these, and you'll have to find them every time you start a new session with the emulator.

- If you use the P2 sprite repositioner, P2 will appear on the screen when you go to either edge of the stage.
- What I found to freeze the players frames is kinda useless as a MAME cheat.  It's there for you to have exact values to find for Artmoney.

If you've got Artmoney, here's what you'd need to search for color mods.  Keep in mind applying the offset won't work with these, and you'll have to find them every time you start a new session with the emulator.

- I now suggest Stage 3 for ripping sprites (because of the recoloring section).
- Setting the P2 color cycle to 1 when the freeze red BG code is on will recolor them red.
- You have to jump for the y position mods to work.  Also, make sure to freeze the jump gravity.
- The red BG freeze should be turned on before the match starts.
- What I found to freeze the players frames is kinda useless as a MAME cheat.  It's there for you to have exact values to find for Artmoney.

- This is the best thing I found so far to disable the music using what's within the RAM address range.  A bit of trickery is involved.  You basically go to the Test Mode Menu by pressing F1(? that's what it is for me anyways), then use the "Jump to start of match" code to force yourself out of the menu and into the start of the match with the music off.
- That's also currently the best I can do with removing lifebar stuff.  You'll just need to crop the top of the image.  ....Maybe I should just find the color values for the icon/text and add what you'd need to find to color mod those in the "Recoloring with Artmoney" section.
- Set the stage to Thorsten's to use the 'Hide' BG code (this forces the BG to zoom out super far).  You may need to destroy the crates by throwing the opponent into them.
- Keep an eye on your character.  Depending on where I was standing, the side of Jackie Chan's head would look look weird, despite locking the camera's zoom. 
- Repositioning the character might cause some sort of "twitching", depending on where both characters are positioned.
- State Cycle may not immediately work, and there's some "states" that'll cause the game to crash (just reload the savestate when it does this).
- You probably don't need sorta hide P2, since you can force them into the floor beyond where the camera can see them.
- Unlike some of the other games, Animation Frame Cycle can't be used to get all the sprites.  You can force an attack to stay at the 1st frame and go from there.
- "Sorta Hide P2" forces their sprite to be the Kaneko logo (because, why not?), forces them into a frame where they're not visible, and forces their sprites to be shrunken as small as possible.

If you've got Artmoney, here's what you'd need to search for color mods.  Keep in mind applying the offset won't work with these, and you'll have to find them every time you start a new session with the emulator.

- This music disabler doesn't work with Kinshiro or Kasumi's stages.  On the plus side, you can decide what stage you go to (it's the 1st person who picks their character).
- The frame and stage mods are there so you have exact values to search for in Artmoney.
- To hide the 2nd player, use the Y Position mod to force them into the floor.
- The flickering of the timer/lifebars is because they're constantly trying to go back to their default position.
- Stages you can try to rip the characters on: Arashi, Kinshiro, Benkei, and Goemon
- P1/P2 sprite y position lets you reposition them without forcing them off the screen.  You could probably use this to rip gethit/thrown sprites.
- The one I originally posted worked in mame-rr-0144-test0 but not mame0152b until I changed gtmr to maincpu.  Mentioning this in case it doesn't work for you.

- There's more I need to find to this, but what I found might possibly be of use.
- This music disabler disables some sounds as a side effect.  I'll have to find something better at some point.
- I suggest Satan Volte's stage for ripping the sprites.  Aside from no special lighting affecting the characters, setting the outfit color to 1 with the color mod codes on will make them sorta invisible.  The invisibility works in Sakamoto, and Cupe's stages as well.
- The frame cycle isn't very useful.  You can still trigger the super moves, and miss the first frames of a move.  There's also the risk of crashing the game/slowing it to a crawl if you force them into a frame that doesn't exist.
- The state cycle might be useful if you know how to use Artmoney (so you don't have to guess the values).  It comes with the same risk as using the frame cycle.
- I'm not entirely sure how useful these x/y mods are.  I kept finding multiple addresses that could mod the characters position.
- The BG color mods work to varying degrees of success with the other stages, but I had Satan Volte's stage in mind when I made it.

- My codes start at "Hide Almost Everything" downwards.
- I'm not sure if I should break up my "Hide Almost Everything" code to make it easier to rip the BG.  Because one of these don't consistently affect the same BG element.

- My codes are at "P1 X Position" and downwards.
- The frame/state cycle are there so you can find an equivalent in Artmoney, but you might be better off not using them.
- The camera x position mod is not as useful than the y position (it's affected by where both characters are on the screen).
- The 1st 5 hide stuff codes should consistently hide the BG.  The rest will affect other things inconsistently.  Aside from that, you can use them to hide things (Leo's sword/shield, hitsparks, etc.) offscreen.
- P1 ??/P2 ??'s usefulness is kinda dicey.  On Leo, it works ok until he goes into a nonexistent state and the game crashes, but on Kenji, it's useless.  This also applies to the press start to reset P1/P2's animation cheats.