Those who own a netbook or a mini laptop of the compact ones with a small screen such as the EEEPC or even for those who want to have a fast and easy-to-use PC in order to use the most common apps always keeping them at hand as you would with a tablet, you can simply install Android on your PC or run it as a Live operating system from a USB stick. Not only can Android on PC give new life to the old netbook, but it can also function as an alternative to Windows (without therefore replacing it) for the home laptop.It is truly surprising to see how well Android works on a normal computer with mouse and keyboard, how it opens fast, light and how almost all applications work excellently, as if they were installed on a Samsung Galaxy Tablet or a smartphone. HTC.
The latest version of Android-x86 allows you to access the application store (Google Play), to download apps, install and manage them as if it were a Samsung tablet.
Android X-86 it is a project that has come a long way since a few years ago when it was only compatible with certain models of laptops and could have many defects and stability problems.
Today it can be installed Android X-86 in 32-bit and 64-bit versions and also in version Phoenix OS that works on every PC.
It is not complicated to install, especially if you have some experience with Linux in the past.
In another article it is also explained how to install Android on virtual machine on Virtualbox.
1) The first step in the installation process is the Download on Android-x86making sure to download the latest version, Android 9. You can then download the Phoenix OS version or check if there is an Android system optimized for your laptop in the list.
2) After downloading the ISO, you have to create the USB stick for installation of the Android operating system.
The best program to create a bootable disc Rufus which does not require installation and allows you to burn an ISO on a USB stick, so that it is bootable.
Then just copy the contents of the ISO to a flash drive that has a minimum size of 2GB, using Rufus.
With Rufus, go ahead and choose the USB drive in the drop-down box above, taking into account that all the contents of the pen will be erased.
As the file system, select “FAT32” and then click Create bootable disk using ISOpressing the button next to it to select the Android X-86 ISO file.
Then press the Start button and then OK twice n two warnings that appear on the screen. The creation process will finish successfully and we will then be ready to use Android on PC, run it in live mode (without installation) or install it as the main operating system of the computer.
After creating the USB drive, you can restart your computer by setting the boot from the USB stick.
Then follow the instructions to change the startup of the computer, which can be simple with the F10 or F12 key or which will require you to access the Bios and change the boot order by putting the USB drive first.
Once the PC is started from the USB stick with Android X-86a menu will appear asking how to run Android, whether in Live CD mode or whether to install it on the disc.
The first time is better try it live directly without installationin order to do a functional test and then, if necessary, install it if everything works as we like.
After a few seconds, you should see the Android boot animation and then the configuration menu.
Then follow the instructions, log in with your Google account and proceed as if you were turning on a new Android tablet for the first time.
Keyboard and mouse should work fine with Android, even if it is an operating system designed for the touchscreen and not the mouse (in fact some games may be unplayable with the mouse).
Keep in mind that using the touchpad of the laptop you can move your fingers as you would on the touch screen of a tablet By hovering the mouse over the notification bar you can drag it downwards while long pressing on an element can bring up its menu.
If your notebook has a webcam, it should work with the camera application.
To turn off the computer, simply press the power button. To go back to starting the PC with Windows, just restart the computer and unplug the USB stick.
With the Live operating system, nothing is touched on the laptop and no problems can arise (except that Android may not work). In this case, however, you cannot save the files and applications because the operating system is loaded on the RAM and not on the disk, but it is a good way to see how Android works on your computer.
If you prefer install androidyou can choose the “Install” option from the start menu.
There are no options for dual-booting in the installation program, so you have to be careful because there is a high risk of losing all the contents of your PC (in this case, get the EasyBCD to manage dual booting on your computer).
If, however, there is no interest in keeping the current Windows or Linux installation, then you can go ahead and proceed without problems.
The best option would be to install Android on an SD card because it allows you to keep the current operating system and also to use Android on your computer by saving data and applications on the SD card. In this case you will need to have both the USB pen with the installation file and the SD card in which to install the system.
During installation, choose the SD card instead of the hard disk. After installation there will be no dual-boot problems because you can manage the computer startup differently depending on whether you choose the hard disk or SD card (with Android).
As the project is still in an experimental beta phase, it cannot be ensured that Android-x86 will work properly on every laptop.
As already recommended, to breathe new life into your old laptop the ideal would perhaps be one of the light Linux operating systems, but putting Android on the computer is certainly a more interesting experience, with the integration of Google applications, which transforms the computer into a tablet.
As seen in another post, you can instead run Android apps on PC via programs to install Android and its apps on Windows.
