Windows 8: How to Emulate Android

Android is an open-source mobile operating system, and you don't need to purchase a phone to run the OS. You can run the latest version of Android, or any version of Android, from your computer. This tutorial describes how to download and run the official emulator.

1. Visit https://developer.android.com
2. Click on the Develop link.
3. Click on Tools.
4. On the left sidebar, click on Download.
5. Use the link on the page to download the Software Development Kit, or SDK, which contains the emulator.
6. Follow the instructions on the page to download the SDK for your specific operating system.
7. After downloading, extract the folder to somewhere safe.
8. Locate the folder.
9. Open the folder.
10. Open the eclipse folder.
11. Inside the folder, run the application called eclipse.
12. After launching, go to File, New, Android Application Project.
13. Enter all the basic information, such as name and Android version.
14. Press next as much as possible to finish. Don't worry about the other settings. You won't use them for the emulation.
15. In the toolbar, locate Android Virtual Device Manager by hovering over the icons. It is an icon of a phone.
16. Open that, and press New on the right side.
17. Enter a name, phone preset (such as Nexus 4), Android version, and memory amount.
18. Make sure to keep the RAM low to avoid overloading the computer.
19. Press OK, close the window, and press the green play button in the toolbar.
20. Select Android Application if another window pops up.
21. The emulator might take a while to open and boot up.
22. After it's open, you can use the Android emulation for many purposes.