Sometimes a user of the Android operating system needs to install Windows on a device. The reason may be a program distributed only on Windows, a desire to use Windows in mobile mode, or install games on your tablet that are not supported by a regular Android system. One way or another, demolishing one system and installing another is not an easy task and is only suitable for those who are well versed in computers and confident in their abilities.
The essence and features of installing Windows on an Android tablet
Installing Windows on an Android device is justified in the following cases:
- the most compelling reason is your job. For example, you are engaged in website design and you need the Adobe Dreamweaver application, which is most convenient to work with on Windows. The specifics of the work also suggest the use of programs with Windows, which have no analogues for Android. And labor productivity suffers: for example, you write articles for your website or to order, you are tired of switching layouts - but there is no Punto Switcher program for Android and is not expected;
- The tablet is quite productive: it makes sense to test Windows and compare which is better. Familiar programs that work on your home or office PC (for example, Microsoft Office, which you will never exchange for OpenOffice) can be taken with you on any trip;
- The Windows platform has been intensively developed for 3D games since Windows 9x, while iOS and Android came out much later. Controlling the same Grand Turismo, World of Tanks or Warcraft, GTA and Call of Duty with a keyboard and mouse is a pleasure; gamers have become accustomed to this from an early age and now, two decades later, they are happy to “drive” these same series of games and on an Android tablet, without limiting yourself to this operating system.
If you are not an adventure seeker on your own, but, on the contrary, have good reasons to run Windows on a smartphone or tablet, use the tips below.
To use Windows on a tablet, it is not necessary to have a pre-installed version of it.
Video: Android tablet as a replacement for Windows
Windows gadget requirements
From ordinary PCs, Windows 8 and higher requires quite strong characteristics: RAM from 2 GB, a processor no worse than a dual-core one (core frequency no lower than 3 GHz), a video adapter with DirectX graphics acceleration version no lower than 9.1.x.
And tablets and smartphones with Android, in addition, are subject to additional requirements:
- support for I386/ARM hardware and software architecture;
- processor released by Transmeta, VIA, IDT, AMD. These companies are seriously developing in terms of cross-platform components;
- the presence of a flash drive or at least an SD card of 16 GB with an already recorded version of Windows 8 or 10;
- the presence of a USB-hub device with external power, a keyboard and a mouse (the Windows installation program is controlled using a mouse and keyboard: it is not a fact that the sensor will work immediately).
For example, the ZTE Racer smartphone (in Russia it was known as the branded “MTS-916”) had an ARM-11 processor. Considering its low performance (600 MHz processor, 256 MB of internal and RAM, support for SD cards up to 8 GB), it could run Windows 3.1, any version of MS-DOS with Norton Commander or Menuet OS (the latter takes very little space and is used more for demonstration purposes, has a minimum of primitive pre-installed programs). The peak of sales of this smartphone in mobile phone stores was in 2012.
Practical ways to run Windows 8 platform and above on Android devices
There are three ways to run Windows on Android gadgets:
- via emulator;
- installing Windows as a second, non-primary OS;
- replacing Android with Windows.
Not all of them will give results: porting third-party systems is a very troublesome task. Do not forget about the hardware and software design - for example, installing Windows on an iPhone will definitely not work. Unfortunately, in the world of gadgets, situations without options happen.
Windows emulation using Android
In order to run Windows on Android, the QEMU emulator is suitable (it is also used to check installation flash drives - it allows you to check whether the launch will work without restarting Windows on the PC), aDOSbox or Bochs:
- QEMU has been discontinued - it only supports older versions of Windows (9x/2000). This application is also used in Windows on a PC to emulate the operation of an installation flash drive - this allows you to verify its functionality;
- aDOSbox also works with older versions of Windows and MS-DOS, but you definitely won’t have sound and internet;
- Bochs is the most universal, not tied to Windows versions. Running Windows 7 and higher on Bochs is almost the same - thanks to the similarities of the latter.
Windows 8 or 10 can also be installed by converting the ISO image to IMG format
Practical work with Windows 8 and higher on the Bochs emulator
To install Windows 8 or 10 on your tablet, do the following:
Remember - only expensive and high-performance tablets will work with Windows 8 and 10 without noticeable stutters.
To run Windows 8 and higher from an ISO image, you may need to convert it to an image in .img format. There are a lot of programs for this:
- MagicISO;
- familiar to many “installers” of UltraISO;
- PowerISO;
- AnyToolISO;
- IsoBuster;
- gBurner;
- MagicDisc, etc.
To convert .iso to .img and run Windows from an emulator, follow these steps:
If you are disappointed with the low performance of Windows from an emulator, it's time to try changing Android to Windows on your gadget.
Video: launching Windows via Bochs using Windows 7 as an example
Installing Windows 10 as a second OS
And yet, emulation cannot be compared with a full-fledged porting of a “foreign” OS; a more complete launch is needed - so that Windows is on the gadget “like at home.” The operation of two or three operating systems on the same mobile device is ensured by Dual-/MultiBoot technology. This is controlling the loading of any of several software kernels - in this case, Windows and Android. The point is that by installing a second OS (Windows), you will not disrupt the operation of the first (Android). But, unlike emulation, this method is more risky - it is necessary to replace the standard Android Recovery with some kind of Dual-Bootloader (MultiLoader) by flashing it. Naturally, a smartphone or tablet must meet the above hardware conditions.
In case of incompatibility or the slightest failure when replacing the Android Recovery console with Bootloader, you can damage the gadget, and only the Android Shop (Windows Store) service center will be able to restore it for you. After all, this is not just downloading the “wrong” version of Android into the device, but replacing the kernel preloader, which requires the user to be extremely careful and confident in their knowledge.
Some tablets have already implemented DualBoot technology, Windows, Android (and sometimes Ubuntu) are installed - there is no need to reflash the Bootloader. These gadgets are equipped with an Intel processor. These are, for example, tablets from the brands Onda, Teclast and Cube (there are more than a dozen models on sale today).
If you are confident in your abilities (and your device) and still decide to replace the tablet operating system with Windows, follow the instructions.
But if the UEFI firmware includes booting from external media (flash drive, card reader with SD card, HDD/SSD drive with external power, USB-microSD adapter with microSD memory card), then in Recovery it’s not so simple. Even if you connect an external keyboard using a microUSB/USB-Hub device with external power to simultaneously charge the tablet, the Recovery console is unlikely to promptly respond to pressing the Del/F2/F4/F7 key.
After all, Recovery was originally made to reinstall firmware and kernels within Android (replacing a “branded” version from a cellular operator, for example, MTS or Beeline, with a custom one like CyanogenMod), and not Windows. The most painless solution is to buy a tablet with two or three operating systems “on board” (or allowing this), for example, 3Q Qoo, Archos 9 or Chuwi HiBook. They already have the processor needed for this.
To install Windows paired with Android, use a tablet with UEFI firmware, not Recovery. Otherwise, you simply won’t be able to install Windows on top of Android. Barbaric ways to get a working Windows of any version “next to” Android will lead to nothing - the tablet will simply refuse to work until you return Android back. You should also not hope that you can easily replace Android Recovery with the Award/AMI/Phoenix BIOS that is on your old laptop - you cannot do this without professional hackers, and this is a barbaric method.
It doesn’t matter who promised you that Windows will work on all gadgets - mostly such advice is given by amateurs. For it to work, Microsoft, Google and manufacturers of tablets and smartphones must cooperate closely and help each other in everything, and not fight in the market, as they do now, delimiting each other in software. For example, Windows is opposed to Android at the level of compatibility of kernels and other software.
Attempts to “entirely” install Windows on an Android gadget are fragile and isolated attempts by enthusiasts that do not work on every instance and model of gadget. It is unlikely that they should be taken as an immediate call to action on your part.
Video: how to install Windows on a tablet
Installing Windows 8 or 10 instead of Android
Completely replacing Android with Windows is an even more serious task than simply “placing” them side by side.
At the end of the installation, you will have a working Windows system - as the only one, without choosing from the OS boot list.
If, however, drive D: of the media remains free - this happens when everything personal is copied to an SD card - you can try the opposite task: return Android, but as a second system, not the first. But this is an option for experienced users and programmers.
Replacing Android with Windows is not an easy task. This work is greatly facilitated by manufacturer support at the processor level. If it is not there, it will take a lot of time and the help of specialists to install a correctly working version.
