Properly Install Bluestacks Version 0.8 on PC

Hey Folks

Bluestacks has been a very useful software, right after it came, it got very popular & is still working pretty well, even though it's in Beta. Today we're gonna talk about its latest upgrade, version 0.8.6.3059 (currently), to be exact.

Loading the latest Bluestacks (:P), are you excited, like me:

Also, there will be a little chat about How to properly install it, along with an error's solution, if you're having problems while installing it. You know, sometimes errors occur even before starting Bluestacks. This post would be for Windows users only, not for Macintosh (Mac).


This post is not a promotion, but simply my review of Bluestacks 0.8, along with a method to install it.
If you need there's a previous post, telling about Bluestacks 0.7, you can see that if you want, in the following link:

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THE SOFTWARE

As some of you might already be acquainted to, Bluestacks is a legendary (atleast for me) software, which allows you to run Android Apps on your PC, itself. Android is an open-source operating system, developed by Google, which revolutionized the mobile-world, providing its users the best features.

One of the top specification about Android is the Apps support, in Google Play Store (formerly called Android Market), there is a vast variety of apps in the Google Play Store, many of which are Free. This mammoth collection has been put forward by users themselves, there are users which create these Android Apps & there are others (like me too) who download & use them.

Anyhow, not stretching a lot, there are so many Android Apps that almost Everything (just almost! not everything!) you think about doing on your Android Device (Phone, Tablet , Bluestacks! or some other Android emulator) has an app built for that. Bluestacks will be the software, which'll allow you to use many of these (not all) Android Apps, on your PC itself!

If you have a good PC, to use these Android Apps, you don't require to download anything else. Just use Bluestacks! Now Beta version is what Bluestacks currently is in. It means that there might be bugs & errors too in it. Also, it might not be able to run each & every Android App for you & as it is said, there are limited Android features in it. It's not Android itself, but an Android App Player / Emulator.

Another thing, it has been mentioned by Bluestacks that it's "Free during beta." which means you might need to buy it in future, when the Stable Version is released. But for now, that's not our concern, we'll talk about Present only.

So some people have said that Bluestacks is just an App Player, it does not let you have the full Android Interface, like Web Browser. I respect that but I'd not totally agree. Yes, by default, there's no method to use in-built Browser App in the Bluestacks Android App Player, but there are some side ways like usage of External Android Apps, or some steps to open an in-built app. It's there (I guess), just that's not been provided in the Bluestacks Main Menu.

Now, Bluestacks has upgraded over the years & is currently in Version 0.8.6, the modern attractive version of it, based on Android 4.0+ (Jelly Bean +) Interface rather than the previous 2.2+ (Froyo+). It's really very good to use, providing the user with a beautiful interface, with cool graphics. But whenever there's an update, there are some changes in the usage Options too.

Not only that, there could be transitions in the side ways / tricks (like adding new Contacts to Bluestacks using the contacts app). For these side-ways Bluestacks by default doesn't provide a default way, but users, with some roaming around in Software & usage, figure out a trick to do it.

THE INTERFACE

To explain the interface of the new Android 4.0+ based Bluestacks 0.8.6, after the loading screen, you'll be taken to a Main Menu sort of interface, which will shown you all the apps, you've downloaded, on the top. Then the rest of rows will be related to the apps you haven't yet downloaded, but might be interested to.

On the bottom are some control options, with three buttons on the bottom-left hand side, which can be named: "Back", "Menu" & "Recent", which do the purpose as their names suggest. The "Recent" is quite useful, considering the fact that if you open an app by following a few special steps, like a method to open Google Play Store on Bluestacks, you need not follow the same process again & again, when you minimize / close that app.

Anyhow, if you need, here in the following link, I've given a way to run Google Play Store on Bluestacks Android App Player for PC, which works for latest version too:

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So coming back to the interface, there are a few options on the Bottom-Right too, "Time", Fullscreen", "Share" (I guess!) & "Close". Out of these, the "Time" Button not only shows the time, but when you click it, notifications come up, when you further click the dialogue box, a few options & "Settings" shortcuts is displayed. Watch out! THIS SETTINGS option is very useful!

INSTALLING BLUESTACKS 0.8

Now, the Installation process is like any other installer. But for Users, who had previously installed Bluestacks 0.7, migrating to 0.8 could be messy & full of errors, which was for me too, but a way was figured out (by me :P), I hope your Bluestacks 0.8 also gets installed well.

First of all, here's the Download link from the official website, for Bluestacks:

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FOR FRESH USERS

By Fresh Users, I mean the ones who have not ever installed / used Bluestacks previous version on their Computer. Please note that this heading is NOT for those users, who had downloaded but then uninstalled / deleted Bluestacks 0.7.

1. Simply Download Bluestacks from the link given above.
2. Like, every other installer, run it & install Bluestacks (Downloading could take some time, so be patient!). Then you could run Bluestacks from a shortcut or by Searching it in Start Menu. It should work like a charm!

While installing, I'll recommend you to see the steps carefully, not merely click "Next, Next, ..." I'll especially reckon you check the options "App Store Access" & "App Notifications" options.

FOR USERS WITH PREVIOUS VERSION

Now, this is where Bluestacks causes serious issues when you update from Bluestacks 0.7 (old version) to Bluestacks 0.8. There could be two possibilities here, Install new Bluestacks after completely removing the previous one OR Update Bluestacks, preserving the old data.

Although the latter could work, maybe, but for a good Installation & working of Bluetacks 0.8 I'll not recommend that. In other words, we should first completely erase Bluestacks 0.7 & then Install 0.8, is what I suggest. You may lose your data, so back it up in every possible way you can.

For instance, one could Backup his/her apps, so that there's no need to download again, in the form of apk-s by using an App like "App Backup & Restore", if you need below is the Google Play Store link for the useful App:

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Image By Stuart Miles, freedigitalphotos.net

Now, to completely remove Bluestacks 0.7 from your PC:

Note: 1. The users who had downloaded but then uninstalled / deleted Bluestacks 0.7, should also follow these, commencing from step 2.

2. These removal steps could be useful to completely delete other versions of Bluestacks too.

1. Uninstall it from "Control Panel" & then "Programs & features", by using the default installer. If it asks about deleting the installed Apps or Data, I'd say you Delete them.

2. Now Restart your PC. This is a required step to completely close the ongoing Bluestacks processes.

3. After the PC starts again, reach "C:\Program Files (x86)" or simply "C:\Program Files", if former is not present. Then delete the Folder named, "Bluestacks". Tip: Use "Shift+Delete" to  completely remove it, without it reaching Recycle Bin.

4. Next, enable viewing of "Hidden Files & Folders" on your Computer, by Pressing "Alt" to bring the toolbar & clicking on "Tools", the "Folder Options", further "View" Tab & finally choosing the "Show hidden files, folders & drives" check-circle. Press "Apply" & "OK" afterwards.

5. "C:\ProgramData" Folder has to be visited now. Here the two folders, "BlueStacks" & "BlueStacksSetup" have to be perished (deleted). Again, you can use "Shift+Delete" to remove it forever. Sound very filmy, doesn't it? :P

6. Anyways, Now the last & most important step is to delete Bluestacks 0.7 from the Windows Registry. To do it, start "Run", by Pressing "Windows+R" buttons, type "regedit", press OK & allow Admin privileges, if asked. On the left side of the screen that appears, navigate to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE  > SOFTWARE" & then remove the folder named "Bluestacks".

The above step is very essential to install the latest Bluestacks 0.8 properly, otherwise the latest online installer might not even start, giving the error, "Download is already in progress", or the installer might get stuck while Downloading/ Installing. To all those issues, the solution / troubleshoot is the above step, that is, clearing Bluestacks from Windows Registry.

Now, that we've ultimately removed almost every trace of Bluestacks 0.7 from the PC, it's time to install the latest version. To do it, steps are similar to Fresh Users' Installation, that involve running the online installer, after downloading it, using the download link that I gave earlier in this article, waiting for the Downlaod & then Installation of Bluestacks to finish, which may take quite a lot of time.

Especially make sure, while Installing, you check the options, "App Store Access" & "App Notifications" which'll help you a lot while using Bluestacks.

Note: As a final advice, I'll recommend you to allow Bluestacks some idle time to Download a few default Bluestacks app, like the "Help" App & some other hidden apps for the proper running of other Apps.

So after installing, simply run Bluestacks from its shortcut in Start Menu or even on Desktop, it should work like a charm.

There's way to disable Bluestacks from running on Startup whenever you turn off & on the PC, to see that, look through the article in the following link

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I hope you liked the above method & that your Bluestacks installs & works fine.

You can always comment on this post, to give your review, suggestion, ask a question or even to contact me.
All this can also be done by seeing the "Contact Me" option on the website, which includes some Private options, like maybe Email, too!

Image By Boians Cho Joo Young, freedigitalphotos.net

ENJOY!!!