Android phones are the most popular in the world (yes, more than iOS mounted only on iPhone) and it is also a Linux-based operating system. Technically therefore, you can also install Android on a computer even if there is no official version. To use Android on a PC, for fun or to see how it works before buying a new smartphone or tablet, in other articles we have seen programs to install Android on a Windows PC and how to install Android x86 on a laptop like the eeepc.
This time we see a fourth mode: install Android, the latest version, as a virtual machine on VirtualBox .
The installation procedure of Android as a virtual PC on VirtualBox is really simple because you can directly download the virtual machine file to be loaded directly into the VirtualBox program, free of charge. The virtual image of Android is therefore pre-configured and just activate it to make it work. Just like any other operating system, you can use all the features and options of Android ICS, without affecting or making changes to Windows.
To install Android on a virtual machine you must first download and install VirtualBox for Windows.
Below, download the ISO file of the latest version of Android-X86 .
In VirtualBox, create a new virtual machine using the wizard, with these parameters:
Operating system : Linux 2.6 / 3.x / 4.x (32-bit)
Memory : at least 2048 MB of memory.
Dynamic VDI disk with maximum 8 GB.
After starting it, indicate the location of the Android ISO and choose the installation or immediate start as a live operating system.
In the installation, create the partition using the 8 GB space configured before, saying NO to the GPT option.
Use the New option to create the 8 GB primary partition.
Press Enter on the keyboard to the Bootable option, then press on Write and finally on Yes and Quit .
Once back to the installation screen, install Android X86 in the sda1 partition formatting it as EXT4 (don't worry, it's all in the virtual machine), press Yes and yes again.
Finally, start Android x-86.
From Android X-86, from the Devices menu, you can enable the mouse on Android. To exit, you can press the F4 key.
