Last Updated on 2012-07-11.

If you use redirected paths in Windows, e.g. for your user profile or app data, and they point to a network share, this can cause problems when running the AVD device emulator in Eclipse with the Android plugin.

By default, Eclipse always looks for the [virtual device].ini under c:usersusername.android, which is not always useful.

Some web sites mention a way of creating a symbolic link with mklink /J, but this is not possible with network UNC paths.

 

Solution:

Set Windows system variable ANDROID_SDK_HOME, e.g. with value c:program files(86)androidandroid-sdk.

Restart eclipse and have a look at the AVD manager. It should now point to the new directory and you can create your virtual devices again.

Links:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2841766/possible-to-change-where-android-virtual-devices-are-saved

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3109473/moving-default-avd-configuration-folder-android