Virtualization applications don't work together with Hyper-V, Device Guard, and Credential Guard

Many third-party virtualization applications don't work together with Hyper-V. Affected applications include VMware Workstation and VirtualBox. These applications might not start virtual machines, or they may fall back to a slower, emulated mode.

These symptoms are introduced when the Hyper-V Hypervisor is running. Some security solutions are also dependent on the hypervisor, such as:

• Device Guard
• Credential Guard

Applies to:   Windows 10 - all editions
Original KB number:   3204980

To determine whether the Hyper-V hypervisor is running, follow these steps:

1. In the search box, type msinfo32.exe.

2. Select System Information.

3. In the detail window, locate the following entry:

   A hypervisor has been detected. Features required for Hyper-V will not be displayed.

   

This behavior occurs by design.

Many virtualization applications depend on hardware virtualization extensions that are available on most modern processors. It includes Intel VT-x and AMD-V. Only one software component can use this hardware at a time. The hardware cannot be shared between virtualization applications.

To use other virtualization software, you must disable Hyper-V Hypervisor, Device Guard, and Credential Guard. If you want to disable Hyper-V Hypervisor, follow the steps in next two sections.

You can disable Hyper-V Hypervisor either in Control Panel or by using Windows PowerShell.

To disable Hyper-V in Control Panel, follow these steps:

1. In Control Panel, select Programs and Features.

2. Select Turn Windows features on or off.

3. Expand Hyper-V, expand Hyper-V Platform, and then clear the Hyper-V Hypervisor check box.

   

To disable Hyper-V by using Windows PowerShell, follow these steps:

1. Open an elevated PowerShell window.

2. Run the following command:

   Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V-Hypervisor
   

You can disable Device Guard and Credential Guard by using registry keys or group policy. To do it, see Manage Windows Defender Credential Guard.

Third-party information disclaimer

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, about the performance or reliability of these products.