No option to enable Hyper-V in my BIOS settings

Question

I am new to Windows Phone 8 application development. I installed SDK 8.0. When I run my application, it shows an error telling me to enable Hyper-V. While searching, I found this MSDN documentation with a solution in the BIOS. But when go to my BIOS settings, then there are no such options available .

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Step 1: Enable Virtualization in BIOS

You need to enable Virtualization Technology (VTx) under the System Security option in the Security tab of your BIOS management menu.

The option may not be called Virtualization Technology or have the term VTx or VT-x in it. It may be called Hardware Virtualization or Virtualization, etc. Also, the option may not be under the Security tab. Since virtualization is hardware-dependent and BIOS interfaces can differ wildly, you may have to do some digging.

Step 2: Enable Hyper-V

You will also need to turn the Hyper-V feature on (it's not enabled in Windows 8 by default).

From Programs and Features Menu:

1. Go to: Control Panel >> Programs and Features >> click “Turn Windows features on or off” (should be on the left panel).
2. Check the “Hyper-V” checkbox in that list, then click OK.
3. Wait for the installation to finish, then reboot.

OR

In Powershell

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature –FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V -All

You should then be able to use Hyper-V.

See this step by step guide for screenshots.

Notes

1. You must be running Windows 8 Pro or Windows 8 Enterprise. Hyper-V is not available in basic Windows 8. Same applies to Windows 8.1.
2. Your CPU may not support VTx. Use CPU-Z to find out. Run CPU-Z, then click the 'CPU' tab at the top. There should be a label called Instructions on the left, about halfway down the window. If you do not see VT-x listed there, your CPU doesn't support it, and you're out of luck, I'm afraid.