WSA System Requirements, Explained
The Minimum Bar
- Windows 11 (build 22000+) for official support; Windows 10 (19041+) with WSAPatch
- An x86-64 or ARM64 CPU with hardware virtualization
- Intel VT-x or AMD-V enabled in BIOS/UEFI
- 8 GB RAM minimum (16 GB recommended)
- About 10 GB free disk (20 GB on SSD recommended)
- Administrator privileges for enabling Windows features
Virtualization Is Non-Negotiable
WSA's VM cannot start without hardware-assisted virtualization. If your BIOS has VT-x/AMD-V disabled, the subsystem fails to launch. WSA Installer detects this with five independent methods (CPUID, wmic, systeminfo, PowerShell, registry) before attempting install.
(Get-CimInstance Win32_Processor).VirtualizationFirmwareEnabledThe Windows Features
WSA requires Virtual Machine Platform and (recommended) Hyper-V. WSA Installer enables these automatically with administrator rights — no manual 'Windows Features' dialog hunting required.
dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestartRAM and Disk Reality
The AOSP VM reserves a chunk of RAM at boot. On 8 GB machines you'll feel the pinch when running a game alongside Chrome. A solid-state drive also dramatically improves app launch times because the VM image is large.
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How Windows Subsystem for Android Actually Works
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