Recycle an aging computer by installing a perfectly suitable version of Android.
Rather than letting your old laptop collect dust in the back of a closet, why not give it a second life by installing another operating system?
While it is commonly suggested to use Linux distributions, not everyone is comfortable with the idea of having to use a new desktop OS. However, there is a much more attractive alternative and which for the most part will not require any training: Android.
A team of developers have been working for a few years on the Android-x86 project, a modified version of Android that can be installed on computers with x86 and x64 processors. The installation process is not very complicated, but requires a little planning.
By opting for this solution you make sure you have a simple system that you probably already know. You will also be able to easily install applications and find all those you may already be using on your smartphone or tablet. Android-x86 works great with keyboard and mouse, and obviously supports touch screens.
1. Download Android-x86
First, download the Android-x86 disk image that you are going to install. The latest version is based on Android Oreo 8.1. Note, however, that this is a Release Candidate and that it may in certain cases present some instabilities.
- Download Android-x86 (Free)
- Download Android-x86 64-bit (Free)
2. Create the bootable installation key
To install Android on your PC, you will first need to create a bootable installation USB stick with the Android-x86 disk image you just downloaded.
- How to create a bootable installation key?
3. Prepare your PC
The computer you plan to use may still have a version of Windows. If you want to keep it, you can partition your hard drive and create a new partition that will be entirely dedicated to your Android installation. It should be able to reach at least 50 GB.
Note that it is also possible to install Android on an external hard drive (or USB key) connected to the computer.
- How to partition your hard drive?
4. Start the PC on the USB stick
Now that you have downloaded the Android-x86 disk image and created your bootable installation USB drive, you can use it to boot your computer. If your PC is natively configured to boot from USB media, you don’t need to do anything. The PC boots on the stick and should immediately display the Android installation window. If so, you can go to the next step.
If your computer does not boot from the USB drive, you need to enter the BIOS of the device to change it. To enter the BIOS of a PC, the handling differs from one machine to another.
When your PC starts up, if no indication is displayed, press one of the following keys: Esc, F1, F2, F8 or F10.
Then access the Boot Options to modify the boot order of your machine, and choose the USB devices first. Refer to your computer support for the exact procedure.
5. Start the installation
When your PC has booted from the installation USB key, you should see a screen with several options. Choose the line indicating Installation then validate your choice by pressing Enter.
After displaying several scrolling lines on a black screen, a window showing the partitions appears. Select your installation partition, then validate by selecting OK.
You must then select the file system. If your partition is already in ntfs, choose Do not format and validate. Otherwise, select ntfs then validate.
You are then asked if you want to install EFI GRUB2. It is a bootloader, a program allowing to start several operating systems installed on a machine. Choose Yes.
The next window asks you to choose if you want to install a system directory with read-write permissions. Select Yes.
Finally, the installation of Android-x86 asks you to create a disk image which will be used to save your user data in Android. This space, which should be seen as if it were a memory card installed in an Android device, is configured by default at 2048 MB, the equivalent of 2 GB. Choose Yes.
When the Congratulations, Android-X86 is installed successfully window appears, remove the USB drive from the computer, and choose Reboot. The machine restarts, and the multiboot system should give you a list of the different systems that can be run.
6. Install a dualboot
During the installation of Android-x86, it is possible that the installation of GRUB2 EFI, which is supposed to handle multi-OS boot, was not done correctly. Your PC leaves you with no choice but to boot into Windows.
If you are in this case, you can manually install and configure a dual boot system by installing the Grub2Win application on Windows.
- Download Grub2Win for Windows (Free)
7. Add Android to the multiboot
When you get to the main program window, click on the Manage Boot Menu button at the bottom of the window.
The list of items offered at startup is displayed. Click Add A New Entry at the top right to add Android at startup.
In the new window, pull down the Type menu, then choose Android. The Search By Boot Directory field, selected by default, indicates an incorrect system name. Modify /android-7.1-r1 by /android-8.1-rc1 (or the name of your version of Android-x86), then validate by clicking on Apply then on OK.
You can modify the order of appearance of the different elements of the list by clicking on the arrows displayed on the right. Click Apply to apply your changes and close the window.
8. Configure Grub2Win as the default boot manager
You must now configure Grub2Win so that your PC uses it as the default boot manager. To do this, click on Set EFI Firmware Boot Order in the main Grub2win window.
In the list of slots offered, identify the slot corresponding to Grub2win then, using the right arrows, click on the up arrow of the Grub2Win line to move it up to first position.
Validate your modifications by clicking on Apply Updates then Return To The Main Menu. You can close Grub2Win.
9. Start on Android
Restart your computer. The Grub2Win boot manager is displayed. You have 30 seconds to select the OS you want to boot, before Grub2Win chooses the first system from the list (these settings can be customized from the Grub2win configuration window).
The boot sequence starts and Android loads, ready to be configured on your machine. Enjoy it !
