How To Install Windows On Android Tablet Pc

Windows 8's bold grab for tablet relevance may snatch headlines, but it isn't the only operating organization looking to extend its established supremacy over a whole new class of devices. As the PC market hemorrhages, more and more manufacturers are turning to Google'due south Android Bone to power PCs that one time carried Windows lone. From hybrids to all-in-ones to an Intel-promised overflowing of incredibly cheap "Droidbooks," Android cometh.

Simply look! Isn't Android made for smartphones? And weren't the get-go Android-powered laptops a bit … disappointing? And aren't at that place some lingering questions about how Android performs in a PC-type environment?

Yup.

Fearfulness not, all ye curious. The intriguing Android-x86 project has ported Google'southward open-source OS from the ARM processors common in smartphones and tablets over to the x86 chips found in everyday computers, and then you tin can take Android for a spin on your PC before plunking cash down on one of the latest examples of computing convergence. And even if you accept no plans to buy an Android PC, playing with Android on your current PC is just manifestlyfun.

How does Google's mobile-focused operating organisation stack upward on a full-size, not-so-mobile computer? You lot'll know firsthand after giving Android a test drive in a virtual machine.

Why a virtual car?

Absolutely, virtual machines aren't as peppy equally physical ones unless you accept a bunch of organization resources to toss around. And yep, you can install Android on your computer'south hard drive—but I don't recommend even dual-booting this particular OS.

Hardware back up for the operating arrangement can be hitting-and-miss, though the Android-x86 project mitigates that somewhat by providing several ISO files built around specific hardware, such equally Asus and Lenovo ThinkPad laptops. Even so, running Android in a virtual machine is more consistently headache-gratuitous than dual-booting information technology. (Trust me—I tried information technology on three dissimilar machines.)

If you lot want to dual-kick Android regardless, the steps for doing then are basically the aforementioned every bit dual-booting Windows 8, at to the lowest degree up until the point of actually installing Android. From in that location, you'll want to pick up from the "Install Android on your PC" segment below.

No matter how y'all make up one's mind to roll, you'll demand to take hold of some virtual automobile software—nosotros're using Oracle'due south first-class (and costless) VirtualBox for this article—and the latest version of the Android-x86 port available. If an ISO for your specific laptop model is available, grab information technology.

Before we begin, note that you tin can click any image in this article to expand it to total size.

Go VirtualBox up and running

Once you've downloaded all the software, open VirtualBox and click the big blue Open button in the toolbar to begin. A Create Virtual Machine window will announced. Name your digital Android PC anything you like, just be sure to select Linux as the type of operating system, and Linux 2.half-dozen equally the version. Click Next.

In the selection screens that follow, you accept to configure your VM's hardware allocation. Give information technology at to the lowest degree 512MB of RAM if you tin can, though Android-x86 can run on 256MB of RAM if you're using a resource-strapped PC. The more retention y'all can spare, the smoother the results will be, though y'all don't want to allocate so much to Android that your native experience suffers while the VM is active.

Create a virtual difficult drive using the default options, adding more than storage if y'all wish. (Recall: Android was made for phones, so it doesn't take much space, even with multiple apps installed.)

Boom! The VM appears in the VirtualBox manager.

Next, you lot need to point the VM at your Android-x86 ISO. Click the Storage button in the VM manager and, in the window that appears, select the Empty option underneath 'Controller: IDE' to bring up diverse 'Attributes' options to the right. In that location, click the disc icon to the correct of 'CD/DVD Drive' and select Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file from the drop-down carte that appears. Simply scan your hard drive and select the Android-x86 ISO to load information technology in the virtual machine, and then click OK when you're done.

Y'all're not quite finished yet, though. Click the Audio option, and in the window that appears, click the drop-down 'Audio controller' box and select ICH AC97. If you go out information technology on the default Soundblaster xvi setting, your Android VM's audio won't work properly.

Got it? Great! Now you're prepare to install Android on your PC. The process is a bit trickier than your standard Windows installation.

Install Android on your PC

Click the name of your Android-x86 VM in VirtualBox'south left pane, and and so click the big green Outset arrow. Afterward clicking OK on any dialog boxes that pop up—exist sure to read them!—y'all'll quickly notice that you tin can't use your mouse during installation. Use the arrow keys to scroll downward to Installation, and and so press Enter. Printing Enter to select Create/Modify partitions on the side by side screen as well.

If you usually stick to graphical interfaces, the next carte may throw you for a loop, but it's nothing to be scared of. But navigate to New and press Enter over again. Select Primary as the partition type, and then printing Enter once more to set the partition to the default size. You'll see the following screen.

Printing Enter on the Bootable option, which should add 'Boot' under the 'Flags' list, adjacent to the computer proper noun. With that done, select the Write option. A warning appears, threatening that writing to disk will wipe any data already on the disk. Who cares? This is a virtual machine, you silly installation software. Type yeah, and then press Enter yet again.

Highlight the Quit option and press Enter to render to the Cull Partition screen, which now lists the 'sda1' segmentation you created on the virtual hard drive. Press Enter once more. You'll run into a list of formatting options. Select ext3, press Enter, and select Yeah when asked if yous actually want to format the disk.

Do you want to install boot loader Grub? Yup! You also desire to install the /system directory as read/write when asked.

Aaaaand there's the screen we've been waiting for. Run Android-x86.

Assess Android

Y'all're going to set up the operating organisation the mode you would on a new Android telephone or tablet. It's pretty straightforward, and you lot can even connect the Android-x86 VM to your Google account. But before y'all do that, yous need to coax a mouse cursor on screen, because trying to navigate a touchscreen-optimized OS past keyboard is maddening.

Click Auto in VirtualBox's toolbar, and select Disable Mouse Integration. Dialog boxes may appear; if so, click through them and continue. Disabling mouse integration allows you to manually control whether your mouse is controlling your primary Os or Android-x86. Pressing the right Ctrl button on your keyboard switches between the two operating systems. To swipe, click and hold the mouse push, and so move the mouse.

With that taken care of, you're gratis to explore Android on your PC!

Don't wait a flawless experience with Android-x86. You can't sync your Google account's apps to the VM, despite what the setup process implies—at to the lowest degree not yet. (Fortunately, Android-x86 ships with Google Play installed, and most apps I've tried work merely fine, though you might notice the occasional wonkiness.) Nor does the virtualized OS work with any of the touchscreen displays I've tried. And yep, performance can be kind of poky, no affair how much RAM you toss at Android-x86.

That being said, giving Android a whirl on your PC will nevertheless requite you a proficient feel for what's possible on an Android-powered laptop. The event isn't perfect, only if you requite it a shot, I recollect you'll wind up pleasantly surprised. Android wasn't made for big screens, but all those smartphone-optimized apps concur up okay, and a ton of them are completely costless, completely awesome, and can't be found on proper PCs.

And hey—for what information technology's worth, the Android Gmail interface blows away the ugly webmail UI.