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Error message about hardware-assisted virtualization for Windows XP Mode in Windows Virtual PC on a computer that is running Windows 7

Article ID: 977206 - View products that this article applies to.

SYMPTOMS

You install Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode on a computer that is running Windows 7. When you try to start or configure Windows XP Mode in Windows Virtual PC, you receive one of the following error messages.

Note You may also receive one of the following error messages when you try to start or configure any other virtual machine in Windows Virtual PC.

Unable to start Windows Virtual PC because hardware-assisted virtualization is disabled
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This error message indicates that the hardware-assisted virtualization (HAV) feature is not enabled on your computer.
Cannot start Windows Virtual PC Host Process. Check the System event log for more details
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This error message indicates that your processor does not support the HAV feature.
Windows Virtual PC cannot start because this computer does not support hardware-assisted virtualization
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You receive this error message when you try to start or configure a virtual machine that is not running Windows XP Mode. This error message indicates that your processor does not support the HAV feature.

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CAUSE

Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode are supported only on computers whose processors have the HAV feature enabled. Therefore, if your processor does not support the HAV feature or if this feature is disabled, you cannot start any virtual machines in Windows Virtual PC.

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RESOLUTION

Important This update supports only Windows XP Service Pack 3 virtual machines.

Note This update is included in the Windows Virtual PC package for Windows 7 Service Pack 1 systems: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=3702

(http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=3702)

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

Use the Microsoft hardware-assisted virtualization detection tool to determine whether your processor supports the HAV feature. To download this tool, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
Download the Microsoft hardware-assisted virtualization detection tool
(http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=163321)
If your processor supports HAV but this feature is not enabled, the Microsoft hardware-assisted virtualization detection tool shows the following error message:

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To enable this feature in BIOS, follow the instruction in the following Microsoft Web site:
How to enable the HAV feature in BIOS
(http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=160097)
If your processor does not support the HAV feature, the Microsoft hardware-assisted virtualization detection tool shows the following error message:

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Important We recommend that you install this update only if your processor does not support the HAV feature.

Known issue

After you install this update, you may be unable to copy and paste files between Windows 7 and Windows XP Mode (or any other virtual machine). To work around this problem, copy and paste through the shared Windows 7 drives that you can access from the virtual machine. To do this, follow these steps:

Make sure that you enable the Integration Features in the virtual machine. For more information about how to enable these features, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://technet.microsoft.com/library/ee449412(WS.10).aspx
(http://technet.microsoft.com/library/ee449412(WS.10).aspx)
In the virtual machine, open Windows Explorer and then copy or paste files between a drive of the virtual machine and the shared Windows 7 drive.

Note A shared Windows 7 drive is displayed as <host drive letter> on <host computer name>.

Update information

How to obtain this update

The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

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Operating system	Update
All supported x86-based versions of Windows 7	Collapse this imageExpand this image Download the update package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=837f12aa-1d37-464e-ae59-20c9ecbebaf6)
All supported x64-based versions of Windows 7	Collapse this imageExpand this image Download the update package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e70dd043-e262-43c0-a002-446567f1e2b4)

For more information about how to download Microsoft support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

119591

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/119591/ )

How to obtain Microsoft support files from online services

Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

Prerequisites

To apply this update, you must be running Windows 7 along with Windows Virtual PC.

Registry information

To use the update in this package, you do not have to make any changes to the registry.

Restart requirement

You may have to restart the computer after you apply this update.

Update replacement information

This update does not replace a previously released update.

File information

The global version of this hotfix installs files that have the attributes that are listed in the following tables. The dates and the times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The dates and the times for these files on your local computer are displayed in your local time together with your current daylight saving time (DST) bias. Additionally, the dates and the times may change when you perform certain operations on the files.

Windows 7 file information notes

The files that apply to a specific product, milestone (RTM, SPn), and service branch (LDR, GDR) can be identified by examining the file version numbers as shown in the following table:
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Version Product Milestone Service branch
6.1.760 0.16xxx Windows 7 RTM GDR
6.1.760 0.20xxx Windows 7 RTM LDR
GDR service branches contain only those fixes that are widely released to address widespread, extremely important issues. LDR service branches contain hotfixes in addition to widely released fixes.

For all supported x86-based versions of Windows 7

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File name	File version	File size	Date	Time	Platform
Vpc.exe	6.1.7600.16488	3,330,560	17-Dec-2009	07:34	x86
Vpc.exe	6.1.7600.20598	3,330,560	17-Dec-2009	07:26	x86
Vmwindow.exe	6.1.7600.16488	1,003,008	17-Dec-2009	04:48	x86
Vmwindow.exe	6.1.7600.20598	1,003,008	17-Dec-2009	05:06	x86
Vpcwizard.exe	6.1.7600.16488	2,171,392	17-Dec-2009	07:34	x86
Vpcwizard.exe	6.1.7600.20598	2,171,392	17-Dec-2009	07:26	x86
Vpcvmm.sys	6.1.7600.16488	295,896	17-Dec-2009	07:47	Not applicable
Vpcvmm.sys	6.1.7600.20598	295,880	17-Dec-2009	07:33	Not applicable

For all supported x64-based versions of Windows 7

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File name	File version	File size	Date	Time	Platform
Vpc.exe	6.1.7600.16488	4,514,816	17-Dec-2009	09:49	x64
Vpc.exe	6.1.7600.20598	4,514,816	17-Dec-2009	09:43	x64
Vmwindow.exe	6.1.7600.16488	1,210,368	17-Dec-2009	07:05	x64
Vmwindow.exe	6.1.7600.20598	1,210,368	17-Dec-2009	07:03	x64
Vpcwizard.exe	6.1.7600.16488	2,264,064	17-Dec-2009	09:49	x64
Vpcwizard.exe	6.1.7600.20598	2,264,064	17-Dec-2009	09:43	x64
Vpcvmm.sys	6.1.7600.16488	360,792	17-Dec-2009	10:00	x64
Vpcvmm.sys	6.1.7600.20598	360,792	17-Dec-2009	09:55	x64