The “ARM EABI v7a System Image” must be available. Install it via the Android SDK manager:
Another hint (see here) – with
- Android SDK Tools rev 17 or higher
- Android 4.0.3 (API Level 15)
- using SDK rev 3 and System Image rev 2 (or higher)
you are able to turn on GPU emulation to get a faster emulator:
Note : As per you786 comment if you have previously created emulator then you need to recreate it, otherwise this will not work.
Alternative 1
Intel provides the “Intel hardware accelerated execution manager“, which is a VM based emulator for executing X86 images and which is also served by the Android SDK Manager. See a tutorial for the Intel emulator here: HAXM Speeds Up the Android Emulator. Roman Nurik posts here that the Intel emulator with Android 4.3 is “blazing fast”.
Alternative 2
In the comments of the post above you can find a reference to Genymotion which claims to be the “fastest Android emulator for app testing and presentation”. Genymotion runs on VirtualBox. See also their site on Google+, this post from Cyril Mottier and this guide on reddit.
Alternative 3
In XDA-Forums I read about MEmu – Most Powerful Android Emulator for PC, Better Than Bluestacks. You can find the emulator here. This brings me to …
Alternative 4
… this XDA-Forum entry: How to use THE FAST! BlueStack as your alternate Android development emulator. You can find the emulator here.