What is Hyper V and How to Enable Hyper V in Windows 10

Hyper V Windows 10: Hardware virtualization assistance was first introduced by Windows 8 OS. With the help of similar technology present in Windows Server 12 R2, the integrated Hyper V feature helped many software professionals to shift VMs (Virtual Machine) from their server to the client without the knowledge of using Hyper V windows 10 tools and features. Later the enhancements were incorporated in Windows 8.1 like Enhanced Session Mode

Requirements for Hyper V windows 10

• 4GB memory- Minimum
• Windows 10 Pro/Enterprise/Education
• 64-bit Processor with SLAT
• CPU support for – VT-c on Intel CPUs

How to Enable Hyper V in Windows 10

Let us learn the steps that enable the feature Hyper V and utilize it on your Windows 10.

1. Using Control panel

• Go to Control Panel
• Click- Programs and Features
• Click- Turn Windows features on or off
• Check the option- Hyper V
• Check if the components are checked and hit – OK

You can reboot your PC after the feature Hyper V is added

Open Hyper V Manager

• Click the button- Start
• All Apps where you will find Hyper V Manage tools underneath H section.
• Expand the same to view Hyper V Manager

2. Using Powershell

• Open Powershell console as an administrator
• Run the commanded mentioned below

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

• After the installation is completed you can reboot your system.

3. Enable Hyper V Using CMD & DISM

DISM lets you configure the Windows and its images. DISM can help you enable different Windows features when the operating system is in use.

Use DISM to enable Hyper V feature

• Open Powershell/CMD as administrator
• Type the command as shown below

DISM /Online /Enable-Feature /All /FeatureName:Microsoft-Hyper-V

First Thing to be Done After You Enable Hyper V

The very first thing you should do after enabling Hyper V windows 10 feature is to build network switch

• Open – Hyper V Manger and right click on it.
• Select – Virtual Switch Manger

You can select out of any 3 different switch and hit – Click the button Create Virtual Switch

• External

In case the virtual machine needs direct access to any physical network

• Internal

If you don’t need to access any physical network directly

• Private

Only if the virtual machine operates on this specific host

You can also configure the settings for Hyper V feature on this specific host to allocate default folder in order to store virtual machines and disks configuration files.

Conclusion

Hyper-V helps you control virtual machines and enables virtualization of hardware. It directly implies that every machine operates with the help of virtual hardware. Hyper V helps you build virtual switches, virtual hard drives and a range of virtual devices which can be added to your virtual machines.

Hyper V feature is available on Windows Pro/Enterprise and education 64 bit versions and is not available for Home edition.

Most of the computers have Hyper-V feature but every system has a different OS. With a minimum of 4GB RAM you can easily run more than one virtual machines on a single computer. For all IT professionals out their Hyper V is certainly useful.

Ajit Yadav

Author Bio: Ajit yadav is a professional blogger and co-founder of WindowsClassroom. He is a software engineer by education and blogger & writer by profession.