The emulator is only a black box and wont load any further, what should I do?

Hey Nicholas!

First things first, I think I speak for the Android Dev community as a whole when I say the stock emulator included in the ADT bundle (and Android Studio) is a pain in the rear end, and is the least effective way to test apps. Now, that being said, not all emulators are bad! There's a wonderful third-party emulator named Genymotion that runs a lot smoother, more like an Android phone than a clunky emulator! Check it out here!

Also on your list of substitutes for the stock emulator is the ability to test and debug on a real Android device! There are pros and cons, but it is my preferred way of testing! If you have family and friends willing to help you test more complex apps that require user interaction testing, you can send them the .apk file to install on their devices, and test that way as well, so you cover a wide range of users and devices! It always helps to have an extra set of eyes.

Good luck on your Android Development adventure!

I too am having this issue...I started the track on one laptop then upgraded to a new laptop installed the tools (Android Studio & SDKs) and now only get the animated android logo.

old laptop: Win 8 / 4g / Dell E5500 new laptop: Win 7 / 16g / Dell M4800

so resources isn't the issue.. I have deleted and rebuilt the AVD .... next I will try deleting the AVD and uninstall the SDKs...then reinstalling the SDKs and creating a new AVD...

I will post my results...

***Wish for Android Studio....Sync to google drive.... My employer allows personal development time...saving to a flash drive and working on 2 computers (work desktop and person laptop) did not work...

Even though nothing was referencing it....I deleted Android L preview SDK....deleted all AVDs....recreated the AVD and it is now working....