How to install Android on a smartphone without turning it into a brick. How to install Android OS on your PC

Thanks to the rapid development of software for the Android OS, many desktop PC users are turning their attention to this platform, and therefore ask the logical question: “How to install Android on a computer”?

Initially, Android was not created for use on PCs with x86 architecture, and versions of this OS up to 3.0 were intended exclusively for phones.

Despite this, a group of enthusiasts has created and regularly creates updated Android distributions for installation on a personal computer.

How to install this “mobile” operating system on your PC will be discussed in this publication.

Steps to install Android OS on PC

All work on installing Android OS on a PC can be divided into several stages:

• Downloading the distribution kit to your computer.
• Creating bootable media.
• Preparing the HDD for Android installation.
• Installation of a new operating system and its configuration.

Now about each stage in more detail.

In order to make your computer a full-fledged Android device, you should select and download the OS distribution. It is better to do this from the developers’ website by going to: http://www.android-x86.org/download.

At the time of writing, the Android x86 OS distribution kit version 5.1 is available to everyone, but you can use another, more “tested” version of the program.

Screenshot of the page with the distribution kit Android-x86-5.1-rc1.iso

This ISO image must be downloaded to your PC and created bootable media.

Create bootable media

You can install Android OS on your computer using optical media or a bootable flash drive. Since most laptop PCs are not equipped with a DVD drive, we will use a regular 2 GB flash drive as a boot disk.

In order to write the distribution image to a USB flash drive, you must use third-party software. The developers recommend the UNetbootin or UltraISO utilities.

Let's look at the process of writing a distribution onto a flesh card using the UNetbootin program:

1. Insert the formatted USB flash drive into the PC.
2. Download and run the UNetbootin program.
3. In the utility window, click “Disk Image”, click on the button with the ellipsis and select the downloaded distribution, by clicking the “Media” button, select your flesh card, then click “OK”.
4. When the bootable media creation procedure is complete, click “Exit”

Bootable media has been created. If you expect to have only Android OS on your PC, then in the BIOS you just need to make your USB flash drive a priority at startup and you can begin the installation process.

If Android is the second operating system on your computer, you should prepare an additional partition on the HDD for its installation.

Creating a partition on a hard drive for Android OS

You can create a partition on the HDD using Windows 7. To do this:

• Press win+R.
• Enter diskmgmt.msc into the dialog box and then press Enter.
• In the utility window, find the unallocated space, select “Create a simple volume” from the drop-down list.

• In the Partition Wizard, click Next.
• Enter the partition size. To install Android on your computer, you must allocate at least 10 GB of your HDD for this partition. Click Next.

• Set a letter for the new disk partition and click “Next”.
• In the formatting options window, you can leave everything as default. "Next."
• In the window for completing the partition creation procedure, click “Finish”.

BIOS setup

In order to install a “mobile” OS, you need to start the PC from a bootable USB Flash card. To do this, immediately before turning on the computer, you need to install a USB flash card into the PC connector and enter the BIOS by pressing the F12 or DEL key immediately after starting the PC.

In some laptop models, you need to press the F2 or Esc key to enter the BIOS.

Important! The BIOS entry key may vary depending on the motherboard manufacturer and theBIOS. You can find out exactly the login button from the documentation for your computer.

After entering the BIOS, enter the Boot section where you can use the arrows to set the boot priority from a USB device, then confirm the settings by pressing F10 and exit the BIOS by pressing Esc.

Installing Android OS on PC

After starting the computer from the bootable USB flash drive, a window will open where you will need to select the last line from the entire list.

To install Android on your computer, you need to select the desired HDD partition to install the distribution. In the next window, the available partitions are identified as sda1, sda2, sda3. Select the one you want and click OK.

Android setup

Almost any user can handle setting up Android OS. The first thing that appears on the PC screen after installing the system is the language setting screen. Choose the one that interests you.

Next, the system will prompt you to select a Wi-Fi network, account, and geopositioning. In principle, these settings can be skipped initially. Next, you should set the time and date on your Android computer, enter the owner’s name and give permission for software updates.

This completes the initial system setup process. In the window that opens, click OK. Next, everything is the same as in a regular smartphone: go to the settings, where in the “language and input” menu item you need to configure the keyboard layout, etc.

Advice! If you don’t know how the “mobile system” will behave on your PC, then after starting the computer from the flash drive, in the window that opens, select the first menu item Live CD – Run Android without installation. The system will not be installed on the computer, but will be launched from the media. In this mode, you can always test the selected version of Android before installing it completely.

There are several popular ways to install Android OS on smartphones and tablets, namely: using CWM Recovery, via TWRP Recovery, through the ROM Manager program and using. Using these methods, you can install not only official, but also custom firmware from third-party developers. After this you will need.

Installing Android via CWM Recovery

CWM Recovery is a multifunctional menu, one of the features of which is the installation of new firmware. The menu only works with ZIP archives, so be sure to check the extension of the downloaded file.

Installing new firmware occurs in several stages:

1. Because CWM Recovery is custom, it must first be downloaded and installed on the device.
2. Log in to the Recovery Menu using the method described below.
3. In the menu itself, navigation is carried out using the volume up/down buttons, and selection is carried out using the power key. Installing a new system assumes the previous OS. Find the “Wipe Data/Factory Reset” section and select it.
4. Confirm your choice by clicking “Yes – Wipe all user data”.
   
5. Next, return to the main Recovery menu and select the “Install ZIP” section.
   
6. In the list that opens, select the “Choose ZIP from /sdcard” option.
   
7. Specify the directory where you previously downloaded the new firmware.
   
8. Confirm your choice. Click “Yes – Install”.
   
9. The Android OS will start downloading to your phone. At the end of the process, a notification “Install from sdcard complete” will appear.

To activate the Recovery menu, turn off the phone and press the button combination that corresponds to your phone model. Below are the most popular combinations:

• Volume up + power button;
• Volume down + power button;
• Volume up/down + power button + “Home”;
• Volume up + volume down + power button.

If you are unable to get to the Recovery Menu, then use the search to find the desired key combination.

The installation is now considered complete. Return to the main menu and reboot the system. The first launch of a new version can be unusually long. This is worth taking into account and not giving in to unnecessary panic.

Installing Android OS via TWRP Recovery

TWRP is another custom Recovery that works with installation files in ZIP format. The flashing process begins with installing this menu on your phone. Next, follow the algorithm:

1. Download the desired version of Android, and then upload it to a random directory on your smartphone or tablet PC in ZIP format.
2. Go to TWRP Recovery. The login method is no different from getting into other Recovery Menus, so study the key combinations at the beginning of the article or find the combinations for your phone model in Google.
3. Perform a factory reset. Click "Wipe" in the main menu of the program.
   
4. If you just want to restore the factory (native) settings, then move the highlighted slider to the right side.
   
5. If you want to completely clear the memory for further installation of a new system, then click “Advanced Wipe”. At the end of the cleaning process, simply click on the “Back” button.
   
6. Now you need to install a new operating system. In the main menu, click on the “Install” section.
   
7. Select the path where the program will find the firmware you saved.
   
8. Confirm the start of flashing by moving the slider to the right. The process usually does not take more than 2-3 minutes.
   
9. Upon completion of all manipulations, the program will issue a notification about the successful completion of the installation. Select "Reboot System" to reboot and start the new version.

The installation is now considered complete.

Flashing via ROM Manager

How to install Android on your phone using specialized software? Previously, the methods were described exclusively for working in the Recovery Menu, but if you prefer utilities with a user-friendly interface, then the program of choice is ROM Manager.

Before starting work, the following conditions must be met:

• To work with the application, you must obtain Root rights (this can be done through Unlock Root, Vroot and other programs);
• You must install any custom Recovery. The program performs all operations using it, but saves you from a primitive interface and inconvenient navigation;
• The OS version you want to install must be saved on your smartphone in ZIP format.

When all these points are completed, launch ROM Manager and follow the step-by-step algorithm:

The program also allows you to download ready-made firmware for your smartphone or tablet model. Select the operating system in the “Download Firmware” section.

Is it possible to install Android on a netbook? Yes, it's possible. Moreover, this mobile operating system works amazingly well on any Windows device, including desktop computers. It's free, unlike Windows or Mac, and it's sleeker and easier to use than Linux.

Android is an OS aimed at smartphones and tablets and is a mobile operating system par excellence. Therefore, it may seem strange to have it on a laptop or netbook, but this does not mean that it is impossible. The main reason why Android often does not work on such devices is related to the hardware. Most netbooks and mini-laptops are powered by Intel or AMD processors, which are designed specifically to run on the x86 instruction set. Android, on the other hand, was designed with mobile device processors in mind using

However, recently devices with ports running on x86 have appeared, and some users can use Android OS as a secondary operating system on laptops. This is mainly done in order to have access to thousands of Android applications available only in the Android Market.

Android OS on a netbook or smartbook

There is a class of devices (very rarely used these days) called smartbooks. They were designed to run Android and other open source software and featured features associated with mobile devices: excellent connectivity, portability, long battery life. All this was housed in one device, which cost much less than a netbook or laptop.

Smartbooks have been pushed out of the market by netbooks and tablets, but some models are still in use. In fact, they are and mainly contain applications specifically designed for smartphones and tablets. But, since they are quite rare today, you should figure out how to install Android on a netbook or laptop.

Convenience in functionality

It's worth noting that Android is designed to use less power than Windows. For this reason, it offers rather mediocre performance. The power of this shell is not designed for playing HD videos or games, but it is quite suitable for browsing the web and working with entertainment applications. According to user reviews, this operating system is very convenient for solving simple tasks.

Ready netbook on the Android system

As already mentioned, the era of smartbooks is coming to an end. The most famous gadget with a mobile OS can be called Toshiba AC100 - a 10-inch netbook running on Android 2.2 and a Tegra-class processor. It is currently on sale and comes with 32 GB of internal memory and 512 MB of RAM. In principle, with such indicators it can be used for simple work and entertainment. Its significant advantage is that it can last about 8 hours on a single charge and also comes with an HDMI port. You shouldn't try to use it for productive work, but for simple surfing the Internet and light games it is quite suitable.

Other manufacturers also released a range of smartbooks at one time. At the same time, the developers went a little aside and began making new generation devices. Yes, today you can find a Samsung netbook on Android, but this is already a transformer. At its core, it is a tablet that comes with a docking station and a keyboard. This device looks and works just like a netbook, which has received rave reviews from users.

Modern models even allow you to connect a mouse to a tablet, thereby creating an almost identical user experience.

However, to find such a Samsung or Asus netbook on Android, you will have to search for a very long time. As the reviews suggest, most people prefer to purchase either a tablet (which will have light touch input) or a netbook (which comes with a full-sized keyboard and will run a full-fledged “desktop” OS). However, given that Android OS is now adapted to work with Intel or AMD processors, it can offer a worthy alternative to Windows.

Can I install it myself?

Currently, you can install Android on a netbook by downloading and installing it as a second additional OS on your computer. This can be done using tools like unetbootin, which allow you to

To do this, take a 10-inch netbook (Asus Eee PC is the most popular among them) and download any version of Android onto it yourself.

As noted above, the Android market is very large these days, and most of the applications that you prefer to use on mobile devices will work exactly the same on your netbook. Of course, you'll lose touchscreen capabilities, but you do get a keyboard, touchpad, plenty of USB ports, and a micro-SD card slot. This sounds very attractive, so if you have a netbook, it's definitely worth trying to install Android on it. How to do this?

Download "Android" to your main computer

The first thing you need to do is visit the Android x86 download page and select the correct ISO file to download. New versions are at the bottom of the list. This article provides an example with version 4.0. It can be found in the section called “Android platforms x86-4.0-RC1”. You will be offered several different options, so try to choose the one that suits you best. For example, there is the “ASUS Eee PC family netbook” option, which will be recommended for netbooks of this brand. The installation process is easy and not very lengthy, so don't be afraid to try installing a different ISO later if the first one doesn't work. Just download the file on whatever computer you're using - the device doesn't have to be the same one you want to install Android on.

Copy ISO file to USB drive

Once you have the downloaded ISO image, you will need to transfer it to your netbook. Since most gadgets do not support CDs, the best way is to download a tool called Unetbootin Help. After downloading it, simply run the file and you will see a screen with the program's interface.

Click on the three dots button on the right side of the window and select the ISO file you downloaded. Then select the drive you want to copy the ISO to. Wait for all the information to download to the USB drive you selected. Make sure you copy everything you want to keep!

Once the download is complete, click OK. A pop-up window will appear briefly showing a horizontal bar of the file being downloaded, and then once the operation is complete you will be informed and asked if you want to restart your computer. Click "no" and remove the USB drive.

Prepare the netbook for installation

Now that you have saved the ISO file to USB, you are almost ready for the process of installing Android on your netbook. If you have any files on your hard drive that you would hate to lose (such as photos, documents or videos), be sure to save them on a flash drive. Even though data other than boot disks should be saved, there is always a risk that something will go wrong, so it is better to take all safety precautions.

Connect the USB drive to your netbook. You will need to press one key (most likely Delete or one of the F keys, i.e. F1) to select the device from which to boot. Here you need to select a USB drive from the list. If you are unable to get to the boot menu, you will need to go into the BIOS and change the boot order - set it to one in which the USB drive will be displayed before any other device. After this, you can directly proceed with the steps of how to install Android.

Set boot process

Once you have set your boot order and inserted the USB, you can download the Android GUI installer for x86. This menu will give you the option to download Android 4.0 directly without installation, and you can try using this OS right away. However, if you want to install the mobile operating system permanently, this step is optional.

At this stage, you will have to select the disk where Android will be installed on the netbook - you can select any partition in ext3/ext2 (Linux) or NTFS/FAT32 (for Windows). You shouldn't format (or even wipe) the drive you install the shell on, but it's still worth keeping backup copies of your files.

Once you have selected the drive, you will be asked to select the partition size to install. Move forward through the menu and select the maximum size (which is usually 2048 MB). This will take some time, depending on the speed of your hard drive. You will also be able to create a virtual SD card at this time, and after that you will be prompted to restart your computer. Do this, and don't forget to remove the USB drive when the netbook turns off.

Direct installation process

Now you should download the installed Android OS onto your netbook. Select the first option in the boot menu and your netbook will start running Android. Initially, you'll see white text on a black background followed by a glowing Android logo, and then finally the OS itself will load and display a screen that says "Welcome." You'll be prompted to connect to your wireless network, sign in to your Google account, and some other basic questions (about the current time, etc.) will also be available. After entering these options, the download is complete and you finally get to your Android desktop. The model of your gadget does not matter at all - Android is installed on an Asus netbook in the same way as on a Samsung, Acer, and so on.

Settings and options "Android"

Once the shell is downloaded and functioning on your device, you should understand it and install several unique useful applications. Such services are constantly updated and supplemented, so stay tuned for news.

Of course, the netbook doesn't have a touchscreen, but Android still supports touchpads, keyboards, and USB connections. Once you install Android on your netbook, you can use docking stations and add-ons at your own discretion - restrictions may be imposed solely by the features of your device. What other benefits can you find?

Financial benefits and no licenses

Everyone knows that Microsoft requires hefty licensing fees to use its Windows operating system, while Google does not expect any fees for Android. Operating on Android will help you save on both your own maintenance and the downloading of various programs.

Screen appearance and interface

Getting used to the interface may take some time for those who are used to working on Windows all the time. We can say that this is one of the main reasons why many are in no hurry to change the OS on their device. Currently, Android is actively developing, and each new version looks more beautiful and pleasant, which cannot go unnoticed. Google is trying to withstand competition and therefore is constantly looking for new advantages over Microsoft. Of course, today it is too early to talk about complete victory in this fight, but some prerequisites for success are evident.

Easy to use

Netbooks are intended primarily for small and short-term work, so a simple OS is much better and more harmonious. Windows can be difficult to use, require constant updates, and some features are completely useless for users who just want to surf the web and write emails. As a rule, high functionality and great capabilities are required for the operation of large stationary devices.

In turn, the Android OS on a netbook, reviews of which talk about its convenience, can simplify the computing process thanks to a simple user interface and online applications (for example, Google documents). Google services were practically created in order to be simple working tools and gain popularity among ordinary users. An additional bonus is the large number of games available completely free of charge.

The other day my old netbook came back to me, small, weak, I bought it back in 2010. And I thought: both Linux and Windows will slow down on it, I don’t want to install old versions, so how about installing Android on a laptop? Said and done, especially the other day I I saw a description on the HACKER website some kind of assembly based on Android, just for a computer.

I went again to the HACKER website and found an article about this distribution for Android, which was called Remix Mini. You can download it from this page - android for laptop.

I downloaded the archive from the site (why an archive if you can just give an ISO file?) and began to unpack it. I don’t have a completely dead laptop, icore 3, 8 gigabytes on board, but the archive took an TERRIBLY long time to unpack!

Okay, unpacked. I started installing it on a flash drive. Everything took a VERY long time to install, I don’t even know why that is? Maybe there is such a sophisticated distribution kit with a million programs? Let's see...

I installed and launched this Remix Mini on my work laptop; I haven’t touched the small one yet. This Remix Mini took a VERY long time to load, but I still waited and this is what I saw:

A beautiful distribution, maybe all this pain and slowdown was worth it? Let's see what programs are on board, there should be a lot of them, since the distribution itself takes up a lot of space?

But there turned out to be... almost nothing at all, a couple of standard ones, I didn’t even find the Play Market! Maybe I was looking wrong? So what takes up 7+ gigabytes on the disk?

There was a standard set of settings, nothing unusual. In general, to be honest, the distribution turned out to be nothing! Apart from the beautiful shell, I didn’t find anything interesting. But there are many more disadvantages:

1. Gromozky
2. Inhibited
3. Not functional

And this begs the question: why is it needed? One thing is reassuring that Remix Mini is still in the BETA stage, maybe later it will be brought into divine form?

Is it possible to install Android on a laptop?

Here I mean a NORMAL android, and not this craft. It is possible, since a normal project has existed for a very long time, the assemblies of which I have used more than once and often described them on this site.

Let's go to the site android-x86.org and find on it a normal assembly of Android, which can be easily installed on a laptop.

Wow! And then this Remix Mini apparently bought advertising space from android-x86.org. Well, okay, let's go to the downloads section and download the image we need. How to install Android on your computer. As a result, we get a normal laptop on Android:

Let's imagine that you have come to the conclusion: you simply need the Android operating system on your computer, be it a desktop PC, laptop or netbook. I think you understand that today we will discuss how to install Android on a computer. The need for Android on, say, devices not intended for it, can be due to many factors:

• The "bank" of applications on Android contains an incredible number of programs for any area of ​​life and activity, be it business, sports, hobby for electronic cigarettes or jogging - for everything there are a dozen or even a hundred applications of varying degrees of convenience. And despite the fact that the most popular Windows OS is older and has already acquired a sufficient amount of software, in some aspects Android wins. In addition, for the latest OS there are more offers in the free software niche, which cannot but please users.
• You have an insufficiently powerful netbook that is pointless to sell, it would be a pity to send it to scrap, and it is useless to install Windows, since it will work very slowly. Moreover, programs are now being developed that are simply not suitable for weak computers. The Android system is less demanding on device resources. Even the simplest smartphones work very well with the Android system.
• There is an application (most often a game) on Android, which has no analogue for Windows, why not install Android on your PC as a second OS. By the way, it is not necessary to install the OS; you can run it on your computer in Live mode. I will talk about this below.
• The level of data synchronization in Android OS is excellent. Contacts, calendar data, tasks and much more - it will be very easy to “make friends” with your Android PC.
• There are no viruses or malware on Android OS. All the “malware” that exists for Android can only do the most it can do - send a paid SMS message. But we install the OS on a PC, which means that the ability for scammers to steal money from us via SMS is simply physically absent, since very rarely a PC is equipped with a GSM module.

Should I choose an emulator, installation or LiveCD?

1. Android emulator. The most “safe” if you look at it from the perspective of the average user. There is no need to go into the BIOS and shake for fear of accidentally destroying the system. Everything is quite simple: install the application, launch it, and you’re done. Disadvantages of this solution: all currently available and more or less passable emulators are demanding on computer resources; you will need to allocate the resources of your computer for everything to work as it should. After all, running another operating system inside Windows OS means an additional load on the RAM and processor. You should also take into account that you must allocate space on your hard drive for the new system. Suitable for powerful PCs.
2. Running Android in LiveCD mode. Something in between the first and third options, does not require installation. A fairly simple launch algorithm. The PC is not demanding on resources, as I mentioned earlier. The negative side: every time you start you get a “disposable” operating system, all data and settings of which are erased when you reboot. Therefore, this option is suitable, for example, for a one-time check of an application. For regular use, the third option is suitable.
3. Installation of a full Android OS. The leader of all three options in terms of reliability. It doesn't require much in terms of resources, but the only thing additionally required is some hard drive space for installation. You are not picky about the performance of a computer or laptop - the device must be no weaker than a regular smartphone (that is, any weak netbook will do). An excellent solution for permanent use of the Android OS as the main or additional operating system (for example, along with Windows).

Android emulator

Installing Android emulators will not be discussed in detail in this article. Firstly, due to some inferiority of each of them (somewhere there may be problems in setting up manipulators, in others there may be “jambs” in the operation of graphics in applications). Secondly, if you really want to try this option, installing the emulator should not be any difficulties - it is no more difficult than installing any other application under Windows.

I can only list some emulators that you can pay attention to due to their fairly simple installation and relatively decent performance: Droid4x, Bluestacks and Genymotion. From my own experience, I can also say that the first one was suitable for my purposes, but I will make a reservation that I had specific goals.

To help users who decide to use emulators a little, I decided to add a video that will help you understand the installation principles:

How to download Android installation file

You can download different versions of Android here, for example, version 5.1 or 6. Here I cannot tell you which version is better to choose, since I don’t know why it is needed. Of course, you can test 2 versions and then make a decision. The site presents images (archives) of two types - .iso and .img; I will explain their differences a little later. To download a particular file from the site, click on “View”. After this, the file will begin downloading. I recommend downloading versions in iso files.

By the way, at the end of the article I will tell you about another version of Android that may suit your needs.

Creating a Bootable Android USB Flash Drive

In order to run Android on a PC, we need a boot disk. The era of CDs is ending, so I’ll tell you how to make a bootable flash drive. To create a bootable USB flash drive from an iso image (file), you can use the Rufus program. If you do not have this program, here is a link to the official website where you can download it.

The program is simple, download it, run it, and see the program window. In the window we enter the following parameters (the picture with the settings is below):

• “Device” - select our flash drive, which will act as a boot drive.

• “Partition scheme and system interface type” - leave it as is.
• "File system" - FAT
• "Cluster size" - default.
• “New volume label” - it doesn’t matter what you name your disk.

Specify the remaining parameters as in the screenshot above. And of course, you need to indicate the image that you will download from the site, the link to it was given above. To do this, click on the disk icon, which is located to the right of the inscription “Creating a bootable USB flash drive.” Now click on the “Start” button to start creating the flash drive.

After that, select “Burn in ISO image mode (Recommended).” Next, the program will remind you that all files will be deleted from the flash drive, but you already know this and so just click “OK”.

Now we just have to wait for the final result.

Another option for creating a bootable USB flash drive is using the UNetbootin program. Download the program and run it (the flash drive must already be connected to the PC). Select “Disk Image”, click on “…” and indicate the downloaded distribution. In the “Media” drop-down list, you need to select your flash drive. Click “OK”, and when finished click “Exit”.

Well, I’m sure you didn’t have any difficulties, and now the bootable flash drive is ready.

A little about the image with the img extension. In the case of EFI boot, use the Win32 Disk Imager program to create a bootable USB flash drive. Its interface is no more complicated than Rufus's, so you can handle it.

Booting Android OS from a USB flash drive

First, you need to set the BIOS to boot from a flash drive. This is done simply - just go to the BIOS (when turning on the PC at the very beginning, press the "Del", "F2" or "Esc" key) - after which the BIOS will open with settings. BIOS versions may vary, we need to find the “Boot” - “Boot Device Priority” section at the top (can be on the left or right), and select a flash drive as the value of the “First boot device” parameter (the device from which to boot first) .

Typically, moving to Bios is done with the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys. The mouse rarely works in Bios, so all actions there must be performed using keys. In one of my articles, I talked about how to set the BIOS to boot from disk. This information will be very useful to you if you have not previously configured the BIOS. I’ll note that I’m talking there about how to set up booting from a disk, but you need to select a flash drive instead of a disk.

Then exit the BIOS and save the changes (“Save and exit” - “Yes”). In almost all BIOS versions, the F10 button is used to save settings. We reboot the PC, the bootable flash drive should be in one of the USB ports of the laptop or computer.

Download Android without installation

After a few seconds of loading we will see the following menu:

Attention: If the boot does not occur, it means that you have not configured the settings in the BIOS so that you can boot from a flash drive. I will now describe everything step by step, but you should understand that at the moment the installation is what it is, but after, for example, 6 months, it may be slightly different. In any case, the steps that I will describe will be useful to you so that you understand what needs to be done and where.

As you can see, you can either install the OS or run it in LiveCD mode. We are now interested in the last option, select the appropriate line - “Run Android-x86 without installation”.

As a result of the download, a language selection will first appear (the choice of language is done using the arrows on the keyboard, after selecting, click on the yellow arrow to go to the next menu):

And then there will be the initial settings of the Android OS. There is no point in going into too much detail and setting it up, since, let me remind you, starting the OS in LiveCD mode stores all the settings until a reboot.

Then you will be asked to connect to Wi-Fi:

You can specify your Google account if required, or click “Skip”:

Then they will write to you what this account is for:

You can set the date and time or click “Next”:

In the next window you can enter your data, I click “Next”:

After specifying all the settings, you will have a completely real Android OS in your hands, with which you can do whatever you want. Experiment and check functionality, install applications. By the way, it is worth noting that Google Play services are not installed by default.

Preparing a disk partition for Android

If you need to install Android on your computer, you will first need to partition your disk to make room for the new system. Windows has a built-in tool for managing disk partitions. To launch it, press “Win” + “R”, write “diskmgmt.msc” and click “OK”.

In the window you need to select the drive from which you want to take space for the Android system. In other words, you need to create a disk on which you want to install the system. There is an article on the site that describes in detail how to do this in Windows 7: "". But this article is also relevant for other versions of Windows: 10 and 8.1. Therefore, follow the link and study the article. Now I will describe this procedure for Windows 10. Select the disk that you want to split into parts and right-click on it. After this, select “Shrink volume” (you will have to wait a little while the system performs the analysis):

In the next window, in the “MB compressible space size” field, you must indicate the size that you are allocating for your new disk. For example, you can specify "10000". Now click "Compress".

After a while, on the right side you will see an area of ​​the disk that is not allocated. Right-click on this part and select “Create a simple volume...”. Then a window will open where you need to specify the disk parameters and then click “Next”. And in just a couple of minutes you will have a disk ready on which you can install the necessary system.

IMPORTANT: to install Android OS you will need a partition of approximately 10 GB in size. If you have a disk that does not have the necessary information or is empty, right-click on it and select the “Delete volume” line. After this, the entire volume of the disk will become unsold, from which you can make a partition for the Android OS - an alternative option with which you can create a disk for Android. But I recommend using another method, which is described just above. Let me remind you that I provided a link to an article where I described this process in detail.

You can also use programs for working with hard drives, for example, Acronis Disk Director and others.

Installing Android OS from a USB flash drive

If, when starting the PC, you select “Install Android-x86 to harddisk” in the bootable flash drive menu, a full installation of the operating system will start.

IMPORTANT: if the PC is “clean”, all the necessary files are saved, and Android will act as the main operating system, then you can continue with a clear conscience. If you plan to install Android as an additional OS, then you first need to allocate a disk partition for it. How to do this is described above. If the partition for Android has been created, we can now continue the installation from the flash drive.

Next we will see a suggestion for installing the GRUB boot loader. You will need it if, in addition to Android, other operating systems are installed on your PC, for example, Windows. We answer (“YES” - “Yes”, “Skip” - “Skip”) and move on.

If other OSes are installed, the program will notify us about this in the next step, and will also clarify whether to add them to the boot menu. We select “Yes” if we need the ability to launch them from time to time, and “No” if we plan to use only Android and do not want to clutter the boot menu with unnecessary OSes.

After this, the long-awaited installation of Android-x86 will finally begin. When it is finished, you will see the Android OS launch menu, in which you can immediately select to start the OS or restart the computer or select the operating system from the list.

Congratulations, a full-fledged Android OS is installed on your PC. I am sure that you will cope with the initial system settings without any problems.

Advanced version of Android – Remix OS for PC

There is another option for using Android on your computer - Remix OS. This operating system is based on Android OS, but is more advanced. It was released at the beginning of 2016, and is a kind of Android OS with aspirations for Windows functionality: a multi-window interface with the ability to minimize windows, a taskbar and Start menu, as well as a notification area similar to Windows. In addition, it is more adapted for use on PC compared to Android-x86.

The process of creating a bootable flash drive with Remix OS on board is no different from writing an Android-x86 image to a flash drive. After booting from the newly created flash drive, we will be greeted by a similar menu, where we can choose to install the OS on the hard drive (“Resident mode”) or boot in LiveCD mode (“Guest mode”).

You can download the distribution kit for creating a bootable USB flash drive for Remix OS using the link: . By the way, a utility for creating bootable disks is also available there.

To summarize, I will say that installing Android on a PC is not difficult, you just need to follow the instructions outlined above. Easy installation and pleasant use of the new operating system.

Video that will show how to install Android on a computer or laptop: