Installing Android OS to PC [Full Tut/N00b Friendly]

Installing Android OS to PC : A complete guide

READ FAQ po muna before asking. I'm pretty sure all your questions have been answered already.


Table of Contents :
(use ctrl+f to navigate through chapters)

I. Introduction
II. Disclaimer
III. What you need to know

About Android
System Requirements

IV. Preparation
V. Installation
VI. Tweaking Android
VII. Frequently Asked Questions
VIII. More from the OP, tested apps and games



I. Introduction

Ever wanted to experience android but don't have any android device?
Well here's a solution : Install Android on your PC!
Wait.. is that even possible? Well apparently it is!
Thanks to Android x86.org for making it possible by porting Android OS for PC use!

II. Disclaimer

This guide is one of many guides out there for installing Android OS to PC.
You can find the official guide here, but mines a little-bit easier to follow, with most technical stuff
remove for non-techies to follow, BUT! I would not take responsibility for any data loss, misconfiguration,
alteration, or any damage done by this tutorial to your PC! This tutorial is marked as : Do At Your Own Risk!

III. What you need to know

About Android

Android is an operating system based on the Linux kernel with a user interface based on direct manipulation, designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices ... [read more]

System Requirements (Unofficial, assessed by me for this tutorial)

A PC with :
1ghz Dual Core Processor
512mb RAM (1GB for Android 4.4 or higher OS)
GPU that supports OpenGL 2.0*
Other optional hardwares**

*it can still run under below specification, however no support for opengl 2.0 means you can't use some features that needed it.)
**Some features that may not be available for PC use : Bluetooth, SMS, Data Connection, Gsensor, GPS, etc.

IV. Preparation

- You need a flashdrive with atleast 512mb free space.
- Choose your android version here. (Latest is Android 4.4 Kitkat RC2, direct download here.)
Note : I highly recommended that you search for an Android Version that is specifically for your PC Unit or anything that match the description. See the website above.
- Download UnetBootIn here.

Instructions :
This instruction is created especially for installing Android alongside windows. No need to reformat.

1. In windows, Look for Disk Management.



Alternatively, If you can't see disk management. Download this instead :
http://www.mediafire.com/download/bc...deusGL.rar.zip

2. Let's say you have 2 partitions, Drive C and D. Select D
and right click on it then select "Shrink Partition".



3. Enter amount of space you wish to allocate for your Android OS Internal Storage
then click "Shrink".



See to it that there's a new hidden partition that is currently unused.



4. Open Unetbootin and prepare your OS. (.iso file)
Select Disk Image -> ISO ( As seen on image below )




5. Select USB Drive and locate your flash drive then hit ok.
Leave other configurations as is.





Let it do its stuff. Please wait.



After this, save whatever you are doing and hit reboot.


V. Installation

Make sure you set your flashdrive as your primary boot device .

Select "Install Android-x86 to harddisk"


Select "Create/Modify Partitions"



Select sda, assumming that it is your HDD.




Locate the partition you created then select "new"






Make it "Logical"




If you did everything correctly, you should see it marked as "linux", if you did, toggle "bootable"



Select "write"




Select "quit" to go back then select the partition you created.



Select ext3.




If asked to install GRUB, click yes.



If asked to create a boot item for Windows, click yes.



Reboot, and congratulations, you installed android to your PC!








VII. Frequently Asked Questions [ FAQ ]

Q : TS, Stable ba to?
A : I woudn't say it is, this is still experimental, but I can assure you that It does run smoothly.

Q : TS, gagana ba to sa netbook o laptop?
A : Yes, much better to install android OS to portable PC such as netbooks and laptops.

Q : TS, rooted ba to?
A : Yes, rooted siya.

Q : Bakit pagkainstall ko, 2GB rom lang ang pwede, may limit ba space nito?
A : You propably didn't format your logical drive to EXT3, like I said above, it must be EXT3.
However, if you want to install it inside windows os partitioned logical drive, choose FAT32, or NTFS.

Q : Gagana ba dito Mouse, Keyboard, Flashdrive ko. etc?
A : Yes, even joysticks, I use Joystick to play Modern Combat 4 and Dead Trigger 2.
As for external drives such as flashdrives, it depends on which android version you are going to install,
In the latest version (4.4 RC2) flashdrives automatically mounts as External Sdcard.

Q : Nagccrash yung games at apps ko.
A : Like I said, di siya stable, maraming possibleng dahilan.
- You installed unsupported version of Android for a particular app.
- App/Game probably needed OpenGL 2.0 but you don't have that.
- App/Game probably needed ARMvX Structure, which x86 isn't.

Q : Gumagana naman yung apps ko pero di ko mapindot gamit ang mouse.
A : Again with the compatibility issues .
- App/Game probably doesn't support mouse input.
- App/Game doesn't support OpenGL Overlay (games such as farmville 2 or some games developed using unity engine.)
- App/Game probably uses GSensor.

Q : Naghahang ang PC ko once I boot android, meron lang underscore pero di nagbblink.
A : Wait patiently for atleast 5 minutes.
If it doesn't boot follow these steps.
- Restart Your PC.
- Choose the 3rd Option (yung may debug mode, videotest)
- May lalabas na mga salita, pag blinking underscore na nakikita mo, type "Exit"
- Hit enter twice and type "Exit" again.
- Android will now open.

Q : Na-stuck ako sa Android Logo.
A : Allow atleast 5 mins. to boot.
If ayaw, reinstall mo ulit ang Android OS.

Q : May lumalabas na "UID" related Error.
A : Download This to fix the error.

Q : Nastuck sa portrait oriientation ang Screen ko.
A : Download this and use persistent mode -> landscape.

Q : Pwede ba ko magfreenet dito?
A : Yes?

Q : Bakit ayaw gumana ng touchscreen sa monitor ko?
A : Baka naman.

Q : Pano ko po aalisin yung android OS?
A :

Originally Posted by prince143

1: Download Rufus CLICK
2: Connect your USB flash drive if you have not already
3: Run the rufus_v###.exe file, and click/tap on Yes if prompted by UAC
4: Set Rufus with the settings below: (see screenshot below step 5)

Under Device, select the USB flash drive you want to format and use.
Under Partition scheme and target system type, select GPT partition scheme for UEFI computer.
Under File system, select FAT32 (Default).
Under Cluster size, select the (Default) (ex: 16 kilobytes or 4096 bytes) it has listed.
Under Format Options, check Quick format.
Under Format Options, check Create a bootable disk using, click/tap on the browse icon Name:
Views: 446988
Size: 1.2 KB to navigate to and select your 64-bit Windows 7 or Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 ISO file.
Under Format Options, check Create extended label and icon files.
Under New volume label, you can enter any name you like for the USB flash drive, or leave the default name.

Q : Ts, may android Emulator naman for windows katulad ng bluestacks, bakit kailangan pa nito?
A : Di maganda ang android emulators for these several reasons :
- Apps are emulated, not a full android experience, it lets you run an android app, but has limited compatibility. This is much faster than emulation.
- Requires high-end hardware, Emulators such as bluestacks requires atleast 2GB RAM to work, this however only requires atleast 512mb RAM and still run on full speed.
- Emulators need net framework to run.
- Expect lag or framerate drop on Emulators, which is non-existent on real android os.
- No real android experience.

All these installed apps are guaranteed working :



Some game screenshots :

Clash of Clans :







Dead Trigger 2 :








The Walking Dead :





Heroes of Order and Chaos :







Peko :



Some people can't get it work despite of a written tutorial, I might add a video tutorial later.

android 4.4 on PC test