An Android emulator should be fast. If yours feels like a slideshow or refuses to start, you're likely missing hardware acceleration. On Windows, this usually means HAXM or the Android Hypervisor Driver is missing.

The BIOS check

First, ensure Virtualization is enabled in your BIOS. Without this, no amount of software tuning will help. Check your Task Manager under the CPU tab—it should say "Virtualization: Enabled".

Hyper-V Conflicts

If you have Hyper-V enabled for Docker or WSL2, you MUST use the Windows Hypervisor Platform feature. Enabling this in "Turn Windows features on or off" allows the Android Emulator to share virtualization with other services.

Powershell Command Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName HypervisorPlatform

SDK Tools

Go to SDK Manager > SDK Tools and ensure Android Emulator Hypervisor Driver is installed. This is the modern, fast replacement for HAXM on AMD and Intel systems.

Summary

BIOS first, then Windows features, then SDK drivers. Get that emulator flying!