How to enable virtual technology. What is Intel Virtualization Technology? How to enable hardware virtualization in BIOS

How to enable virtualization in BIOS - you've probably already asked this question. Other users may have heard about virtualization technology, but do not know what benefits it provides and what it involves. We will try to consider these questions in this article.

First of all, what does the concept of virtualization mean? Virtualization in computer technology means modeling hardware using software methods. With the help of virtualization technology, you can create several virtual, that is, computers simulated by software, using only one, sufficiently powerful physical computer.

Key benefits of virtualization:

  • Improving hardware efficiency
  • Reducing material costs
  • Optimizing resource allocation
  • Increased work safety
  • Simplified administration
  • Increased reliability

To create virtual systems, special software called a hypervisor is used. However, due to a number of features of older Intel architecture processors, the hypervisor was not able to make the most efficient use of their computing power to create virtual machines.

Therefore, leading PC processor developers, Intel and AMD, have developed so-called hardware virtualization technology, which optimizes the performance of processors in such a way as to significantly improve the efficiency of virtualization software. Intel's version of hardware virtualization support technology is called Intel-VT, and AMD's version is called AMD-V.

Virtualization support

Since hardware virtualization technology is embedded in the central processor, in order for a user to maximize the benefits provided by virtualization, it is necessary that his computer supports this technology at the processor level. In addition, technology support from the BIOS and operating system is also required. In BIOSes that support hardware virtualization, the user has the ability to enable or disable virtualization support in BIOS Setup. Please note that there are chipsets for motherboards based on AMD processors in which virtualization support cannot be disabled.

Enabling virtualization in BIOS

So, how to enable virtualization in BIOS? To enable or disable virtualization in the BIOS, there is a special option Virtualization Technology. Typically you can find this option in the BIOS Chipset or Processor sections.

Typically, setting the value to Enabled allows you to enable hardware virtualization, and setting the value to Disabled turns it off. It should be kept in mind that enabling the option only affects the performance of virtual machines running within the hypervisor and does not in any way affect the performance of regular operating system programs. We discussed this option in more detail in the corresponding article.

Conclusion

Virtualization is a powerful tool that allows you to expand the capabilities of computer systems and make the most efficient use of existing hardware. Most modern computers have solutions built into the processor that can improve their performance when using virtual machines. In addition, most computers based on Intel and AMD processors can be configured to support hardware virtualization.

Virtualization technology can improve your computer's performance and make Nox App Player run smoother and faster.

1. Does your computer support virtualization technology (VT)?

To check if your computer can support VT, simply download LeoMoon CPU-V. This will not only detect whether your processor can support hardware virtualization, but will also detect whether Hardware Virtualization is enabled in the BIOS or not.

If the scan result shows a green check mark under VT-x Supported, it means your computer supports virtualization. If it is a red X, then your computer does not support VT, but you can still install Nox under the installation requirements.

1.If the test result shows a green checkmark under VT-x enabled, then this means that VT is already enabled in your BIOS. If it is a red X, then follow these steps to enable it.

2. Determine your BIOS type: Press Win + R to open the “Run” window, type “DXDiag” and click the “OK” button. After this, you will see the BIOS information as shown in the image below.

3.Then find on Google what exactly needs to be done to enable VT for this specific BIOS. Typically, to enter the BIOS you have to press a certain key several times when your computer boots. The assigned key can be any function key or ESC key based on the brand of your computer. After entering BIOS mode, look for VT-x, Intel Virtual Technology or something similar that says "Virtual" and enable it. After that, turn off your computer, then turn it on again. Now virtualization is enabled and Nox App Player performance has become even better.

Attention!!!

  1. If you are running Windows 8 or Windows 10, there may be a conflict between VT and Microsoft Hyper-V technology. Please disable Hyper-V by following these steps: Go to Control Panel->Programs and Features->Turn Windows features on or off>uncheck Hyper-V.

  • 2.If VT is enabled in the BIOS, but the LeMoon scan result still shows a red cross under VT-x Enabled, then there is a high possibility that your antivirus is blocking this function. For example, let's take Avast antivirus! What you need to do to solve this problem:

1) Open Avast antivirus >> Settings >> Troubleshooting

2)Uncheck Enable virtualization with hardware, then restart your computer.

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The rapid development of the virtualization technology market over the past few years has been largely due to the increase in hardware capacity, which has made it possible to create truly effective virtualization platforms for both server systems and desktop computers. Virtualization technologies allow you to run several virtual instances of operating systems (guest OS) on one physical computer (host) in order to ensure their independence from the hardware platform and concentrate several virtual machines on one physical one. Virtualization provides many benefits for both enterprise infrastructure and end users. Virtualization provides significant savings on hardware and maintenance, increases the flexibility of the IT infrastructure, and simplifies the procedure for backup and recovery after failures. Virtual machines, being hardware-independent units, can be distributed as pre-installed templates that can be run on any hardware platform of a supported architecture.

Until recently, efforts in operating system virtualization were concentrated primarily in software development. In 1998, VMware for the first time seriously outlined the prospects for the development of virtual systems by patenting virtualization software techniques. Thanks to the efforts of VMware, as well as other manufacturers of virtual platforms, and the increasing pace of improvement in computer technology, corporate and home users saw the advantages and prospects of the new technology, and the market for virtualization tools began to grow at a rapid pace. Of course, such large companies as Intel and AMD, which control most of the processor market, could not ignore this promising technology. Intel was the first to see in the new technology a source of technological superiority over competitors and began work on improving the x86 processor architecture to support virtualization platforms. Following Intel, AMD has also joined the development of hardware virtualization support in processors in order not to lose its position in the market. Currently, both companies offer processor models that have an expanded set of instructions and allow direct use of hardware resources in virtual machines.

Development of hardware virtualization techniques

The idea of ​​hardware virtualization is not new: it was first implemented in 386 processors and was called V86 mode. This mode of operation of the 8086 processor made it possible to run several DOS applications in parallel. Now hardware virtualization allows you to run several independent virtual machines in the corresponding sections of the computer hardware space. Hardware virtualization is a logical continuation of the evolution of abstraction levels of software platforms - from multitasking to the virtualization level:

Advantages of hardware virtualization over software

Software virtualization currently prevails over hardware in the virtualization technology market due to the fact that for a long time processor manufacturers could not properly implement virtualization support. The process of introducing new technology into processors required a major change in their architecture, the introduction of additional instructions and processor operating modes. This gave rise to problems of ensuring compatibility and stability, which were completely resolved in 2005-2006 in new processor models. Despite the fact that software platforms have greatly advanced in terms of performance and provision of virtual machine management tools, hardware virtualization technology has some undeniable advantages over software:

  • Simplify the development of virtualization platforms by providing hardware management interfaces and support for virtual guests. This contributes to the emergence and development of new virtualization platforms and management tools, due to the reduction in labor intensity and time of their development.
  • The ability to increase the performance of virtualization platforms. Because virtual guests are managed directly by a small middleware layer (the hypervisor), hardware-based virtualization platforms are expected to become faster in the future.
  • The ability to independently launch several virtual platforms with the ability to switch between them at the hardware level. Several virtual machines can operate independently, each in its own space of hardware resources, which will eliminate performance losses associated with maintaining the host platform, as well as increase the security of virtual machines due to their complete isolation.
  • Decoupling the guest system from the host platform architecture and virtualization platform implementation. Using hardware virtualization technologies, it is possible to launch 64-bit guest systems from 32-bit host systems running 32-bit virtualization environments.

How hardware virtualization works

The need to support hardware virtualization forced processor manufacturers to slightly change their architecture by introducing additional instructions to provide direct access to processor resources from guest systems. This set of additional instructions is called Virtual Machine Extensions (VMX). VMX provides the following instructions: VMPTRLD, VMPTRST, VMCLEAR, VMREAD, VMREAD, VMWRITE, VMCALL, VMLAUNCH, VMRESUME, VMXON, and VMXOFF.

A processor with virtualization support can operate in two modes: root operation and non-root operation. In root operation mode, special software runs, which is a “lightweight” layer between guest operating systems and hardware - a virtual machine monitor (VMM), also called a hypervisor. The word “hypervisor” appeared in an interesting way: once upon a time, a very long time ago, the operating system was called “supervisor”, and the software that was “under supervision” was called “hypervisor”.

To put the processor into virtualization mode, the virtualization platform must call the VMXON instruction and transfer control to the hypervisor, which launches the virtual guest system with the VMLAUNCH and VMRESUME instructions (the entry points to the virtual machine). Virtual Machine Monitor can exit processor virtualization mode by calling the VMXOFF instruction.

Each guest operating system runs and operates independently of the others and is isolated in terms of hardware resources and security.

The difference between hardware virtualization and software

The classic architecture of software virtualization involves the presence of a host operating system, on top of which a virtualization platform runs, emulating the operation of hardware components and managing hardware resources in relation to the guest operating system. The implementation of such a platform is quite complex and time-consuming; there are performance losses due to the fact that virtualization is performed on top of the host system. The security of virtual machines is also at risk because taking control of the host operating system automatically means taking control of all guest systems.

Unlike software technology, with the help of hardware virtualization it is possible to obtain isolated guest systems controlled directly by the hypervisor. This approach can provide ease of implementation of a virtualization platform and increase the reliability of a platform with multiple simultaneously running guest systems, while there is no performance penalty for servicing the host system. This model will bring the performance of guest systems closer to real ones and reduce the performance costs of maintaining the host platform.

Disadvantages of Hardware Virtualization

It is also worth noting that hardware virtualization potentially brings more than just positive aspects. The ability to manage guest systems through a hypervisor and the ease of writing a virtualization platform using hardware techniques make it possible to develop malicious software that, after gaining control of the host operating system, virtualizes it and performs all actions outside of it.

In early 2006, Microsoft Research laboratories created a rootkit codenamed SubVirt, which infects Windows and Linux host systems and makes its presence virtually undetectable. The operating principle of this rootkit was as follows:

  1. Through one of the vulnerabilities in the computer's operating system, malicious software gains administrative access.
  2. After this, the rootkit begins the procedure of migrating the physical platform to the virtual one, after which the virtualized platform is launched via the hypervisor. At the same time, nothing changes for the user, everything continues to work as before, and all the tools and services necessary to access the hypervisor from the outside (for example, terminal access) are located outside the virtualized system.
  3. Antivirus software cannot detect malicious code after the migration procedure because it is located outside the virtualized system.

Visually, this procedure looks like this:

However, the danger should not be exaggerated. It is still much more difficult to develop a malicious program using virtualization technologies than using “traditional” tools that exploit various vulnerabilities in operating systems. At the same time, the main assumption made by those who claim that such malware is more difficult to detect and, moreover, may not exploit “holes” in the OS, acting exclusively “within the rules”, is that the supposedly virtualized operating system does not is able to detect that it is running on a virtual machine, that there is an initially incorrect message. Accordingly, anti-virus software has every opportunity to detect the fact of infection. And, therefore, there is no point in developing such a resource-intensive and complex Trojan, given the availability of much simpler methods of intrusion.

Virtualization technologies from Intel and AMD

Intel and AMD, as leading manufacturers of processors for server and desktop platforms, have developed hardware virtualization techniques for use in virtualization platforms. These techniques are not directly compatible, but perform essentially similar functions. Both of them assume a hypervisor that controls unmodified guest systems, and have the ability to develop virtualization platforms without the need for hardware emulation. Both companies' processors that support virtualization include additional instructions for the hypervisor to call to manage virtual systems. The group currently researching the capabilities of hardware virtualization techniques includes AMD, Intel, Dell, Fujitsu Siemens, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Sun Microsystems and VMware.

Intel Virtualization

Intel officially announced the launch of virtualization technology in early 2005 at the Intel Developer Forum Spring 2005 conference. The new technology was codenamed Vanderpool and officially Intel Virtualization Technology (abbreviated as Intel VT). Intel VT technology contains a number of technologies of various classes that have version numbers VT-x, where x is a letter indicating a subtype of hardware technology. Support for the new technology was announced in Pentium 4, Pentium D, Xeon, Core Duo and Core 2 Duo processors. Intel also published specifications for Intel VT for Itanium-based processors, where the virtualization technology appeared under the code name "Silvervale" and version VT-i. However, since 2005, new Itanium processor models do not support x86 instructions in hardware, and x86 virtualization can only be used on the IA-64 architecture through emulation.

To enable Intel VT technology in computer systems, Intel has worked with motherboard, BIOS, and peripheral manufacturers to ensure Intel VT is compatible with existing systems. On many computer systems, hardware virtualization technology can be disabled in the BIOS. Specifications for Intel VT say that to support this technology, it is not enough just to have a processor that supports it; you also need to have the appropriate motherboard chipsets, BIOS and software that uses Intel VT. The list of supported Intel VT processors is given below:

  • Intel® 2 Core™ Duo Extreme processor X6800
  • Intel® 2 Core™ Duo processor E6700
  • Intel® 2 Core™ Duo processor E6600
  • Intel® 2 Core™ Duo processor E6400 (E6420)
  • Intel® 2 Core™ Duo processor E6300 (E6320)
  • Intel® Core™ Duo processor T2600
  • Intel® Core™ Duo processor T2500
  • Intel® Core™ Duo processor T2400
  • Intel® Core™ Duo processor L2300
  • Intel® Pentium® processor Extreme Edition 965
  • Intel® Pentium® processor Extreme Edition 955
  • Intel® Pentium® D processor 960
  • Intel® Pentium® D processor 950
  • Intel® Pentium® D processor 940
  • Intel® Pentium® D processor 930
  • Intel® Pentium® D processor 920
  • Intel® Pentium® 4 processor 672
  • Intel® Pentium® 4 processor 662

Laptop processors:

  • Intel® 2 Core™ Duo processor T7600
  • Intel® 2 Core™ Duo processor T7400
  • Intel® 2 Core™ Duo processor T7200
  • Intel® 2 Core™ Duo processor T5600
  • Intel® 2 Core™ Duo processor L7400
  • Intel® 2 Core™ Duo processor L7200
  • Intel® 2 Core™ Duo processor L7600
  • Intel® 2 Core™ Duo processor L7500

Processors for server platforms:

  • Intel® Xeon® processor 7041
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 7040
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 7030
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 7020
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 5080
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 5063
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 5060
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 5050
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 5030
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 5110
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 5120
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 5130
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 5140
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 5148
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 5150
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 5160
  • Intel® Xeon® processor E5310
  • Intel® Xeon® processor E5320
  • Intel® Xeon® processor E5335
  • Intel® Xeon® processor E5345
  • Intel® Xeon® processor X5355
  • Intel® Xeon® processor L5310
  • Intel® Xeon® processor L5320
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 7140M
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 7140N
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 7130M
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 7130N
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 7120M
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 7120N
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 7110M
  • Intel® Xeon® processor 7110N
  • Intel® Xeon® processor X3220
  • Intel® Xeon® processor X3210

It should be noted that the following four processors do not support Intel VT technology:

  • Intel® 2 Core™ Duo processor E4300
  • Intel® 2 Core™ Duo processor E4400
  • Intel® 2 Core™ Duo processor T5500
  • Intel® Pentium® D processor 9x5 (D945)

Intel also plans to develop a technology called Virtualization for Directed I/O for Intel VT, which has a VT-d version. At the moment, it is known that these are significant changes in the I/O architecture, which will improve the security, robustness and performance of virtual platforms using hardware virtualization techniques.

AMD Virtualization

AMD, like Intel, recently began refining processor architecture to support virtualization. In May 2005, AMD announced the start of introducing virtualization support into processors. The official name given to the new technology is AMD Virtualization (abbreviated as AMD-V), and its internal code name is AMD Pacifica. AMD-V technology is a logical continuation of Direct Connect technology for AMD64 processors, aimed at increasing the performance of computer systems through tight, direct integration of the processor with other hardware components.

The following list shows processors that support AMD-V hardware virtualization features. Support for these features should work on all AMD-V series desktop processors running Socket AM2 starting with stepping F. It should also be noted that Sempron processors do not support hardware virtualization.

Desktop processors:

  • Athlon™ 64 3800+
  • Athlon™ 64 3500+
  • Athlon™ 64 3200+
  • Athlon™ 64 3000+
  • Athlon™ 64 FX FX-62
  • Athlon™ 64 FX FX-72
  • Athlon™ 64 FX FX-74
  • Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 6000+
  • Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 5600+
  • Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 5400+
  • Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 5200+
  • Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 5000+
  • Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 4800+
  • Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 4600+
  • Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 4400+
  • Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 4200+
  • Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 4000+
  • Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 3800+

For laptops, processors with the Turion 64 X2 brand are supported:

  • Turion™ 64 X2 TL-60
  • Turion™ 64 X2 TL-56
  • Turion™ 64 X2 TL-52
  • Turion™ 64 X2 TL-50

The following Opteron processors are supported for server platforms:

  • Opteron 1000 Series
  • Opteron 2000 Series
  • Opteron 8000 Series

Software that supports hardware virtualization

At the moment, the vast majority of virtualization software platform vendors have announced support for Intel and AMD hardware virtualization technologies. Virtual machines on these platforms can be run with hardware virtualization support. Additionally, on many operating systems that include paravirtualization software platforms such as Xen or Virtual Iron, hardware virtualization will allow unmodified guest operating systems to run. Since paravirtualization is one of the types of virtualization that requires modification of the guest operating system, the implementation of hardware virtualization support in paravirtualization platforms is a very acceptable solution for these platforms, from the point of view of the ability to run unmodified versions of guest systems. The following table lists the main popular virtualization platforms and software that support hardware virtualization technologies:

Virtualization platform or softwareWhat technologies does it support?Note
Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)Intel VT, AMD-VVirtualization of the instance level of operating systems under Linux.
Microsoft Virtual PCIntel VT, AMD-VDesktop virtualization platform for Windows host platforms.
Microsoft Virtual ServerIntel VT, AMD-VServer virtualization platform for Windows. The version that supports hardware virtualization, Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1, is in beta. Expected in the second quarter of 2007.
Parallels WorkstationIntel VT, AMD-VVirtualization platform for Windows and Linux hosts.
VirtualBoxIntel VT, AMD-VOpen source desktop virtualization platform for Windows, Linux and Mac OS. By default, support for hardware virtualization is disabled, since according to expert research, hardware virtualization is currently slower than software
Virtual IronIntel VT, AMD-VVirtual Iron 3.5 is the first hardware-based virtualization platform that allows you to run 32-bit and 64-bit unmodified guests with virtually no performance loss.
VMware Workstation and VMware ServerIntel VT, AMD-VTo run 64-bit guest systems, support for Intel VT is required (as well as for VMware ESX Server); for 32-bit guest OSes, IntelVT support is disabled by default for the same reasons as for VirtualBox.
XenIntel VT, AMD-VThe open source Xen virtualization platform allows you to run unmodified guests using hardware virtualization techniques.

Hardware virtualization today

VMware, part of the Hardware Virtualization Research Group, conducted a study in late 2006 of its own software virtualization compared to Intel's hardware virtualization technologies. The document "A Comparison of Software and Hardware Techniques for x86 Virtualization" documented the results of this study (on a 3.8 GHz Intel Pentium 4 672 processor with Hyper-Threading technology disabled). One of the experiments was carried out using the SPECint2000 and SPECjbb2005 test systems, which are the de facto standard for assessing the performance of computer systems. The Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 OS, controlled by a software and hardware hypervisor, was used as a guest system. Hardware virtualization was expected to provide a performance ratio of around one hundred percent relative to running the operating system natively. However, the results were quite surprising: while a software hypervisor without hardware virtualization techniques suffered a 4 percent performance loss relative to native running, a hardware hypervisor overall suffered a 5 percent performance loss. The results of this test are shown in the figure below:

conclusions

Support for hardware virtualization technologies in processors opens up broad prospects for using virtual machines as reliable, secure and flexible tools for increasing the efficiency of virtual infrastructures. The presence of support for hardware virtualization techniques in processors of not only server but also desktop systems indicates the seriousness of the intentions of processor manufacturers in relation to all segments of the computer system user market. The use of hardware virtualization in the future should reduce performance losses when running several virtual machines on one physical server. Of course, hardware virtualization will increase the security of virtual systems in corporate environments. Nowadays, the ease of developing virtualization platforms using hardware techniques has led to the emergence of new players in the virtualization market. Vendors of paravirtualization systems widely use hardware virtualization to run unmodified guest systems. An additional benefit of hardware-based virtualization techniques is the ability to run 64-bit guests on 32-bit versions of virtualization platforms (for example, VMware ESX Server).

You should not take performance results as the only true ones. Objectively assessing the performance of various hardware and software platforms for virtualization is a non-trivial task, the mentioned working group within SPEC is working to create a set of standard methods for evaluating such systems. Today it can be noted that virtualization tools from AMD are technically more advanced than those implemented by Intel. Much depends on the software used, for example, unlike VMWare, there are environments that are much more “responsive” to hardware support, for example, Xen 3.0.

Hardware virtualization provides the performance of a virtual machine almost identical to that of a non-virtualized machine, this technology is necessary in order to be able to work with virtual machines on your computer. By default, virtualization may be disabled on some. In this article I will tell you how to find out whether your processor supports Intel VT-X technology (Intel processors) or AMD-V technology (AMD processors). Also from this article you will learn how to enable Intel VT-X and AMD-V technology.

Intel VT-x This is hardware virtualization from Intel. To find out if your processor supports the technology Intel VT-X download the CPU-Z program . . After launching, in the program window we look at the technologies that your processor supports:

If there is VT-X in the “Instruction” column, then your processor supports virtualization.

AMD-V

AMD-V is a hardware virtualization technology from AMD. To check whether your processor supports this technology, we also need the CPU-Z program, run it and look at the “instruction” item. If there is AMD-V there, then your processor supports virtualization:

Enabling VT-X/AMD-V in Bios

Boot into Bios. In Bios, the picture may be different for everyone, we need to find a mention of virtualization (intel virtualization technology or virtualization) and enable this function. In my case it was like this:


Save the Bios settings and reboot. That's it, virtualization is enabled and enabled!

Enabling VT-X/AMD-V in UEFI

In the case of UEFI, I had to go to the Advanced > CPU configuration tab and enable virtualization there:

After enabling VT-X and AMD-V, you have the ability to create virtual machines on your computer

We enable hardware virtualization of central processors, AMD - AMD-V and Intel - VT-X technologies. Learn more about how to check whether virtualization is supported by the processor and how to enable virtualization in the BIOS. The technology is checked and activated simply….

Virtualization is - virtualization means a processor architecture with the ability to simulate hardware (virtual guest systems) using software methods. Virtualization technology makes it possible to run several operating systems (virtual OS) on one real physical computer, with isolated, separated computing processes, with dedicated logical resources, some of which include processor power, RAM, and a file subsystem from a common pool.

In simple words, virtualization allows the user to run diverse virtual machines with different types of operating systems (Windows, Android, Linux, MacOS X) or the same ones with any set of programs on one physical personal computer. Most in demand at the moment among gamers, it allows you to launch and speed up .

How to check whether virtualization is supported and enabled.

For those who are afraid to enter the BIOS, you can check whether the processor supports virtualization technology or not and whether it is enabled in the BIOS, you can use the SecurAble program. The utility is free, does not require installation - the portable version, literally in two clicks - launched, found out the result, closed. You can download the program by going to SecurAble official website or download via direct link from - office. site.


Securable parameters:
1. Parameter value Maximum Bit Length indicates the maximum available bit depth of the system, 32-bit or 64-bit.

2. Values Hardware D.E.P.- technology responsible for security, introduced to counter the launch of malicious code.

3. Option Hardware Virtualization- the parameter can produce four values:
Yes- virtualization technology is supported by the processor - enabled;
No- virtualization is not supported by the processor;
Locked On- enabled and supported, but cannot be disabled in the BIOS;
Locked Off- the technology is supported, but it is disabled and cannot be enabled in the BIOS.

The Locked Off message is not always a death sentence - flashing the BIOS can correct the situation.

How to enable virtualization in BIOS.

Virtualization Technology is responsible for enabling hardware virtualization in the BIOS. To disable the option or enable virtualization in the BIOS, we send the PC to reboot. When the first signs of loading appear, click on the keyboard key “F2” or “Delete” (different BIOS versions), look for a hint at the bottom of the screen at the start.

Go to the “Advanced BIOS - Features” section, find the “Virtualization” or “Advanced” → “CPU Configuration” option, “Intel Virtualization Technology” option.


We move using the keyboard arrows (in BIOS UEFI with the mouse), press “Enter”, change the “Virtualization” parameter from “Disabled” to “Enabled” (enabled). Virtualization has been enabled in the BIOS, all you have to do is not miss one important click - don’t forget to press the “F10” button, which corresponds to the value - save settings (Save).

And most importantly, remember - Virtualization Technology only creates an environment for Android emulators and operating systems and does not affect the actual performance of the hardware in any way (it does not make the computer powerful). Work hard first , choosing components wisely and only then demand something from him.

Today it is known that support for hardware virtualization Intel VT-x/VT-d and AMD-V necessary for the operation of virtual machines, such as VirtualBox And VMware Workstation, as well as for the operation of so-called emulator programs for mobile operating systems, for example for Android OS.

Nowadays, almost all modern computers support this technology, but of course there are those that do not. And in order to find out whether our processor supports this technology, we will first go to BIOS our computer and see if the setting we are interested in is there. I have added to the article several examples of what the virtualization enable item looks like in different BIOS versions. Basically enabling this option is in the tab advanced further, as can be seen in the picture below, under the name there is hidden evidence that this computer supports this technology.

In this version BIOS go to the tab advanced BIOS features where we also see in the paragraph virtualization support for this technology.


And here at the point advanced BIOS features It can be seen that hardware virtualization is supported by the processor.


Well, the last option, where in the tab advanced in point secure virtual machine mode, we can also enable this technology.

But there are also cases when our computer’s BIOS does not have an option to enable hardware virtualization secure virtual machine mode or intel virtualization technology, although they say that the processor that is in your computer supports this technology. To make sure of this, a small utility called Securable which will accurately show whether our processor supports hardware virtualization. We go to the official website of the manufacturer using the link https://www.grc.com/securable.htm, where we click on the item below Download Now. The download will begin, then we launch the program, there is no need to install it, since this is a portable version.


After launch, the program will immediately show information about whether your processor supports or does not support virtualization technology. You can see this in the third block. As you may have guessed, if there is an inscription yes it means there is support.


If it is written Locked OFF, this means that there is support for this technology, but it must be turned on. And it turns on, as we already know, in BIOS-e of our computer.


Well, if the block has the inscription NO, This means that hardware virtualization technology is not supported by your processor.


ABOUT Give your opinion about this article, and of course, ask your questions if something suddenly goes wrong for you.

Thank you for your attention!

In general, the other day I encountered a problem such as the inability to run guest operating systems on a virtual machine. More precisely, I could not run 64-bit systems, although my processor fully supports such systems. Also, there was a problem with launching a Linux distribution from a flash drive, the same problem appeared.

After searching the Internet one night, I discovered a certain parameter called Virtualization Technology, which turns on virtualization technology. It is activated in the BIOS. Thus, if you activate it, you can easily use guest systems on such virtual machines as, for example, others. Basically, this function does not affect the operation of the system; by default, it is disabled (Disabled).

In different BIOS systems it may have different names, for example, Virtualization, Vanderpool Technology, VT Technology.

So, hardware virtualization, we realized that it provides support with special features. Processor architecture. There are two virtualization technologies: AMD-V and Intel-VT.

AMD-V– this technology also has the abbreviation SVM (Secure Virtual Machines). IOMMU input/output technology. It turns out that it is even more efficient than Intel-VT.

Intel-VT (Intel Virtualization Technology)– this technology implements virtualization of real addressing. May be abbreviated VMX (Virtual Machine eXtension).

I will not describe in detail what these technologies mean, since a lot of information has been written about this on the Internet.

How to enable Virtualization Technology?

Well, actually, everything is very simple here. First you need, and then find the item Virtualization Technology, it may be called a little differently, as I wrote above, for example.

In different types of BIOS, the item may be located in different places, for example, in the BIOS from AWARD and Gigabyte motherboards you will see it as soon as you get into the BIOS, to enable it, you just need to move the parameter to the position "Enabled".


In the BIOS of American Megatrends Inc, this technology is enabled by default and is located in the "Advanced". There you can enable or disable it.


In the BIOS of some HP (Hewlett-Packard Company) laptops and the BIOS InsydeH20 Setup Utility, the virtualization feature is disabled. To activate it you need to go to the tab "System Configuration".


http://site/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/virtualization-technology.jpghttp://site/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/virtualization-technology-150x150.jpg 2017-04-21T11:45:19+00:00 EvilSin225 Windows AMD-V,intel virtualization technology what is it,Intel-VT,virtualization technology,virtualization technology in BIOS what is itIn general, the other day I encountered such a problem as the inability to run guest operating systems on a virtual machine. More precisely, I could not run 64-bit systems, although my processor fully supports such systems. Also, there was a problem with launching the Linux distribution from a flash drive, the same thing appeared...EvilSin225 Andrey Terekhov Administrator Computer techologies

When working with the virtualization software product VirtualBox, problems and malfunctions often arise related to the installation of a particular operating system on a virtual machine. The reasons for errors in operation may be different and with one of them, which states that "hardware acceleration (VT-x AMD-V) is not available on your system", we will understand in this article.

In this case, such a problem arose when installing the Windows 8 operating system, although when installing the Windows 7 OS, such an error did not occur. How can we solve this problem? Let's find out below.

So, first of all we need to make sure that the processor supports the function VT-x/AMD-V, for this read the article How to check if your processor supports hardware virtualization Intel VT-x/VT-d and AMD-V. And to enable it, you need to go to the motherboard BIOS. To do this, reboot the computer and go to the BIOS of our system.

In order to go to BIOS, we need to press a key when turning on the computer Delete on keyboard. (If it does not enter using the key delete try it F1, F2) When you turn on the computer, you can usually see on the start screen which key leads to BIOS.

As a result, we get into the BIOS of our computer. Next, select the tab " Advanced". There we see the tab " CPU Configuration" select it and press " Enter"

We get to the configuration menu, where we see the tab "Secure Virtual Machine Mode" opposite is the value "Disabled" what does disabled mean, we just need to enable it, to do this, click on the tab and select the value "Enabled".

As we see in the figure, the value has changed, now we need to save the changes made.

To save the changes made, go to the tab "Exit" then select the tab "Exit & Save Changes". In the window that opens where we are asked to save the changes made, click "OK" and wait until the computer reboots.

Next, open the VirtualBox program, go to " settings" the system that you wanted to install, in my case it is Windows 8.1. Click on the tab " system", Further "acceleration", check the boxes next to the items indicated in the picture and click "OK."

All! The error no longer appears, you can begin the installation.

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