Hyper-V - Enable and Disable in Windows 8

How to Enable and Disable Hyper-V in Windows 8 and 8.1​

   Information

This tutorial will show you how to enable and disable the built-in Hyper Virtualisation (Hyper-V) feature in Windows 8 Pro or Windows 8 Enterprise.

You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial.

   Note

To support Hyper-V client, you must have a 64-bit version of Windows 8 Pro or Windows 8 Enterprise with a 64-bit CPU that supports SLAT (Second Level Address Translation). You’ll also need at least 4GB of RAM. Hyper-V does support creation of both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems in the VMs.

For more info, see also: Bringing Hyper-V to "Windows 8"

OPTION ONE

To Enable and Disable Hyper-V in Windows Features

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1. Open Windows Features.​

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2. Expand the Hyper-V sub-section, and do step 3 or 4 below for what you want to do.​

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3. To Enable Hyper-V​

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A) Ensure that all Hyper-V options are checked as shown above, click/tap on OK, and go to step 5 below.​

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4. To Disable Hyper-V​

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A) Uncheck Hyper-V, click/tap on OK, and go to step 5 below.​

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5. Restart the computer when prompted.​

OPTION TWO

To Enable and Disable Hyper-V in PowerShell

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1. Open an elevated PowerShell, and do step 2 or 3 below for what you want to do.​

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2. To Enable Hyper-V​

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A) In the elevated PowerShell window, copy and paste the command below, press Enter, and go to step 4 below.​

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   Note

If you do not use the -All switch, then you will not install the Hyper-V GUI Management Tools and Hyper-V Module for Windows PowerShell features.

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

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3. To Disable Hyper-V​

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A) In the elevated PowerShell window, copy and paste the command below, press Enter, and go to step 4 below.​

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Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V-All​

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4. Type Y and press Enter when prompted to restart the computer.​

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OPTION THREE

To Enable and Disable Hyper-V using DISM Command

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1. Open an elevated command prompt.​

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2. To Enable Hyper-V​

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A) In the elevated Command Prompt, copy and paste the command below, press Enter, and go to step 4 below.​

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dism.exe /Online /Enable-Feature:Microsoft-Hyper-V /All​

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3. To Disable Hyper-V​

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A) In the elevated Command Prompt, copy and paste the command below, press Enter, and go to step 4 below.​

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dism.exe /Online /Disable-Feature:Microsoft-Hyper-V-All​

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4. Type Y and press Enter when prompted to restart the computer.​

Related Tutorials

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• How to Create a Virtual Machine with Hyper-V in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Create a Linux Hyper-V Virtual Machine in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Create a Hyper-V "Remote File Browser" Shortcut in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Add or Remove "Hyper-V Manager" to Control Panel in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Change Default Virtual Hard Disk Location in Hyper-V
• How to Convert Hyper-V Virtual Hard Disk to VHD or VHDX
• How to Create and Use Hyper-V Virtual Switches
• How to Turn On or Off Hyper-V Enhanced Session Mode in Windows 8.1
• How to Create a Hyper-V Manager Shortcut in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Export and Import a Hyper-V Virtual Machine in Windows 8 and 8.1

 

[Brink]

I like Hyper-V better since it's already included in Windows 8.1 Pro and Enterprise, and does what I need/want.

 

[TonyB]

yeah it looks like i might have to turn it back on as i keep getting a error installing virtualbox. so think i might turn this back on. so i can play around with that android x86 stuff and ubuntu

 

[TonyB]

hi Brink when i enable this and i setup a network switch why dose it also route my non virtual machine threw the virtual switch?

 

[Brink]

Hey Tony,

They're basically like a bridged connection.

 

[TonyB]

ok so in a since that part won't use any extra ram will it, i know the virtual machine will once i configure it and set it up. but what about that bridge connection? since you can't turn that off like a virtual machine lol.

 

[Brink]

Na, it won't be any different than it was without it.

 

[TonyB]

ok cool thanks so use to virtualbox this is taking a learning curve

 

[TonyB]

welp i turned it back on had it all set to go and found out it would not host the operating system i wanted it to darn it, so my question should i turn it off or is it not hurting anything sitting there?, like will i see any performance degradation with it on. i only had one op i wanted to try out and unfortunately i could not find out how to make it work.

 

[Brink]

Sorry to hear that. It won't hurt anything to leave Hyper-V enabled, but if you're not going to use it, then you could disable it again if you like.

 

[TonyB]

Hi brink had a question how do you delete a virtual machine i can remove it from the hyper-v but its still on the hard drive, do i just delete it from the hard drive?

 

[Brink]

Correct, you would just delete it's folder afterwards.. When you delete the VM in Hyper-V Manager, it only deletes the virtual machine configuration file, and not the actual .vhdx file(s) for it.

 

[TonyB]

Thank you

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome.

 

[TonyB]

Hi brink i tried it again no go i think android x86 has issues with hyper-v , i assume if i delete the files in these default locations it will be gone correct the virtual hard drive i made. i left those folders default is there any other default locations?
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Hyper-V\Virtual Hard Disks C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Hyper-V\

 

[Brink]

Those are the default locations. You can also open the VM's settings to see all locations at the bottom.

Be sure to remove the VM in Hyper-V Manager before deleting the left overs.

 

[TonyB]

awesome i did it right then i though i did thanks brink oh well i tried android just don't like it it's seems it cant find the disk lol. even though it was right in front of it so to speak. thank brink i'm going to turn this feature off now i tried and it failed lol.

 

[Brink]

At least you had some fun playing with it.

 

[TonyB]

i did was a learning curve but not so bad once you get it there was fun yes.

 

[jony]

Hi, I experience problems enabling Hyper-V. First I enabled Virtual Machines in BIOS, then tried to find it in "Turn Windows features on and off"- it didn't appear. Tried also by Windows PowerShell and it says that name is unknown. At the end I tried Cmd : dism.exe /Online /Enable-Feature:Microsoft-Hyper-V /All and I'm getting 0x800f080c error.

I'd like to install Ubuntu on Hyper-V.

Please help!

 

[Brink]

Hello Jony, and welcome to Eight Forums.

Check to see if you meet the requirements in the blue note box at the top of the tutorial.