How to install Android Emulator on Windows XP

Read this article for steps and requirements to install and run an Android Emulator on your Windows XP computer. Read how to run a virtual Android platform on your Windows XP computer and what prerequisites and post requisites are needed to successfully run an Android Emulator on your computer.

After being a Google plus and Facebook game reviewer for sometime, I found myself to be limited by the number of new games on these platforms. So, I my next plan was to start reviewing Android games, but for that I needed an Android tablet or smartphone which I had no plans to buy just to play a few games!
So, after discussing this problem with a friend I was suggested the idea of installing Android Emulator on my PC. Well, this was just what I needed, a virtual Android platform right on my laptop.

But on doing a search I found that the steps to install Android Emulator were nowhere explained in detail. I found that installation process of Android Emulator on Windows Vista and Windows 7 were explained in detail but not for Windows XP (which I am using) because this OS is now outdated. However, to be honest, many people still use Windows XP for its simplicity and low level hardware configuration requirement. So, I went ahead and started taking my snapshots and recording my experience installing the Windows XP Android Emulator which I will describe now:

How to install BlueStacks Android Emulator on your Windows XP computer

The software which you need is called BlueStacks Android Emulator and is available for free. You can download it from the website.

The download file (3.6 MB) in not the set up file, instead the set up files are downloaded on the fly while the set up runs.

Well, yeah, that's the only steps in the installation like a simple software, however, if you have the basic Windows XP then you need to go through many more set ups which added with the BlueStacks setup require nearly 700MB of download.
BlueStacks Installation

Pre-requisites to install BlueStacks Android Emulator

BlueStacks Android Emulator installs on Windows XP SP3. So, you need to download the SP3 package which is about 316 MB in size. I suggest you install the Service Pack not only for the Android Emulator but also for other performance and security related updates.

The next thing you need to install is the Microsoft Developer tool, .NET 3.5 SP. This is also available for free but is about 231MB is size.

System hardware requirements for Bluestacks Android Emulator

You need to have a graphic card of at least Intel 4 Chipset family with video memory of 1GB otherwise you will have to do with a lower graphic power installation of BlueStacks and as a result many of the gaming apps won't run on your PC

1GB of RAM is also required.

If you have the above two installations then you can simply run the installation of BlueStacks which is itself of nearly 226MB. I can't tell the exact size because it had installed on the fly and I did not track my data usage during the process but the uninstall file size is about that much.
BlueStacks welcome screen

Post-requisites for BlueStacks Android Emulator

Though you installation will run successfully after you have satisfied the pre-requisites and installed BlueStacks Android Emulator, but to run some apps and most of the games you also need to have Adobe AIR installed on the BlueStacks platform. It won't do it you have Adobe AIR installed on the computer; the Android installation of Adobe AIR is different.

When you are informed about the Adobe AIR requirement through a dialogue box, select the option to install Adobe AIR, select the option to buy it from the Android Market (Google Play) and not the website because to install Adobe AIR in BlueStacks Android Emulator you need to have a Google Play account. This way you will also be able to open a Google Play account which will be useful in future too.

After you have installed Adobe AIR you will be able to enjoy all the apps on Google Play right on your desktop.

Read Bluestacks Android Emulator App review

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Comments

Guest Author: Arpit20 Dec 2012

it sys that it only works on windows installer version 4.5 or higher

Author: Ankit20 Dec 2012 Member Level: Platinum Points : 0

Arpit,
Download it from here
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/942288

Guest Author: ayushmathur481@gmail21 Jan 2013

how to do installetion.with Lower graphic power ?

Author: Ankit23 Jan 2013 Member Level: Platinum Points : 0

@Ayush,
It is not possible to do the installation with lower graphic power.

Guest Author: Steff03 Mar 2013

it's really weird, because, when i install this on my Windows 7 installation, it works good, with some lag, but good, and if i install windows xp it says i need to update my Graphics card.

I have an Acer Aspire 3680
Intel GMA 945

Author: Ankit03 Mar 2013 Member Level: Platinum Points : 3

@Steff,
Actually I am too facing similar problem. I had installed in on XP when I wrote this tutorial. Now I have Windows 8 and it is asking me to updated my graphic card driver.
As Windows 8 has no need for external driver softwares so I am not sure what to do right now. However, if you have XP then you can try to update your graphic driver, that might solve the problem.

Guest Author: gesman13 Jul 2013

when i tried to install bluestacks, it said it needs at least 2 GB of physical memory and you said that it only needs 1 GB, what gives??

Author: Ankit15 Jul 2013 Member Level: Platinum Points : 0

@Gesman,
The article is quite old now, Bluestacks has gone multiple upgrades and therefore might be requiring higher memory. Try extending your memory using Virtual memory and see if it runs.

Guest Author: KRIPAL SINGH BEDI19 Oct 2013

I was not able to download the .NET 3.5 SP. Not sure why it would give an error message just before completion of downloading. Also the bluestacks is not getting loaded. It just keeps on loading and loading...

Please advise what could be going wrong.

Author: Ankit20 Oct 2013 Member Level: Platinum Points : 2

Are you having a stable internet connection? When you run the set up the installation is completely on the fly and if you have an unstable or slow internet connection the set up might not be downloaded properly.
You should try downloading .NET 3.5 SP using a download manager but for Bluestack installation you would require a proper net connection.

Guest Author: Maunty15 Jan 2014

I am having WOndows XP professional,
Version : 5.1.2600 Build 2600
Processor : x86 family 15 Model 1 stepping 2 Genuine Intel 2019Mhz.

I want to install Bluestacks application.
Please help me.

Guest Author: bili05 Feb 2014

You only tell about downloading and installing. But some people don't even know about configuring bluestacks. So who have problem in configuring can read this.
http://howhut.com/how-to-download-install-and-configure-bluestacks/

Author: nagabhyru revanth17 Mar 2014 Member Level: Silver Points : 0

I do not have any graphic card in my PC. Can I still install Android Emulator? My PC has Windows Vista(service pack two)

Guest Author: Ramesh16 Aug 2014

I installed BlueStacks successfully.

OS: Windows Vista SP 2
.Net 4.5 installed

But when I m opening BlueStacks I am only getting a blank black color screen. How to solve it?

Author: Ankit16 Aug 2014 Member Level: Platinum Points : 2

Try closing Bluestacks from Taskbar or through Task Manager, right click on Bluestacks icon and select the option to run it with Integrated Intel graphics. Also, it is preferable to run Bluestacks on Windows XP3 rather than XP2.

Guest Author: Muskaan Garg24 Nov 2014

I've got a single core processor. Is there any way bluestacks could be downloaded? Or, is there any similar software which is compatible?

Guest Author: aniket17 May 2015

While I am installing bluestack, it says "failed to install". Why am I facing this problem? Pleas guide me. I have Lenovo XP.

Guest Author: pasindu yasanga09 Dec 2015

It failed to install for me.

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