How to Install Android on Virtualbox

Google Android has been termed as a revolutionary OS by many. Still, most people believe that there are further horizons which are yet to be explored for truly revealing the potential and the actual usage of the Android OS of Google. Many handheld gadgets which you find today in the markets and use daily have this software successfully installed and implemented in them Android provides for faster working on any mobile, PC or tablet. There are various applications for android smart-phones and net-books which are available free of cost in the Android market on internet. The Android OS is one of the most modern operating systems and is preferred by many people over other mobile OS like Symbian etc as it is faster and several applications can be run on it at a given time.
The credit for development of android goes to Google which led the Open Handset Alliance that developed Android. Initially the Android codes were released under the Apache Licences by Google. It is a kind of free software license. Android is based on the ARM architecture hardware program. There are various languages in which applications and games for Android are developed which include java, the native development kit which is used to develop applications in C and C++ and the Google App Inventor.The software can also be run on any PC whether it has Android already installed or not, by using a live CD. This live CD was unveiled recently by Google. The Android software program can be run on your PC as well, by following the below given guidelines.

Difficulty level: Moderate
Time required: A few minutes
Resources required:
1. The live Android CD from Google
2. HJSplit
3. Virtualization software
4. Windows PC
5. CD/DVD emulator

Instructions for burning the Android OS on the live CD:

1. You can visit the live Android web page. You will find two sections of the ISO files which are to be downloaded to the PC.
2. You can use the HJSplit software and integrate the two ISO files into a single file.
3. In the next step, you need to use your favorite disc burning application for burning the ISO image on a blank CD.
4. In the boot devices, place the CD ROM drive ahead of the HDD and then reboot the PC.
5. You can now upload the live CD which contains the Android OS. The Google Android operating system will now run successfully on your PC.

Instructions for running the Android OS through the virtual machine

1. The method can be a bit more tedious in comparison to the first step. Here the Android OS is to be run on the PC’s virtual machine.
2. You need to download the two ISO files from the live Android webpage available on the internet.
3. Use HJSplit and combine the two sections of the ISO files to form a single section file. 
4. The virtualization software can be installed on the PC after downloading it from the internet, 
5. In this step, you need to download the DVD/CD emulator and install it on the computer.
6. The live CD image can be then mounted on the DVD/CD emulator.
7. You can use the virtualization software and develop a new virtual machine. As per available recommendations you should allocate a couple of hundreds of MB for the HDD space and 256MB of RAM for this machine. 
8. you can select the virtual drive which has the live CD image mounted in its boot drive while you are inside the virtualization software.
9. You can now get the Android OS by initiating the virtual machine.

Quick tips:

1. Follow the instructions to their minutest detail for successfully running the Android OS on the PC.
2. Do not visit unauthenticated websites and only download the live CD from the live Android webpage.

Things to watch out for:

1. Ensure that 256 MB of RAM is allocated for this machine and a few hundreds for the HDD space.
2. Visiting unauthenticated websites for Android OS download can harm the PC by infecting it with malicious software.

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