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I am trying to enable Hyper-V on a windows 7 installation. I followed the instructions on MSDN without luck. There is no "Hyper-V" setting under my Windows Features.

enter image description here

I do have all BIOS features enabled, and I can confirm this using the "coreutils" tool as described on the linked documentation.

coreinfo output

Furthermore Data Execution Prevention is supported by my system (as reported by Windows in the system performance dialogue), I have a legal version of Windows 7 Home Premium, I am on the first service pack and have a 64 bit installation.

Is there something I am doing wrong? Does my Windows simply not support Hyper-V?

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3 Answers 3

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You can only install Hyper-V manager in Win 7 Pro or above version.

Edit: Someone mentioned this is incorrect. However, based on my experience, the option of installing Hyper-V is missing on Win7 Home so I can't install it (I can only install it onon Win7 Pro). So please also check out others answer too.

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    This is incorrect and should not be marked as the answer. Hyper-V is a server AND client architecture, it just doesn't come with Windows 7..
    – Dimesio
    Feb 17, 2016 at 15:04
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    "Can't install Hyper-V in win7" ... "you must use Win7 pro"... Those statements are contradictory. In spite of the fact that we understand, this is a low-quality answer. Even worse, most of the meet of setting it up on Windows 7 is buried in a link that leads to a 3rd link, instead of reproducing the useful information here. -1
    – jpmc26
    Feb 23, 2016 at 3:02
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    @Dimesio Hyper-V manager is a client utility and it can be installed in Win7 to manage VMs that reside on another machine. Mar 5, 2017 at 15:00
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    @jj_ flag it for moderation and go about your business.
    – Gusdor
    May 31, 2017 at 10:27
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Hyper-V is a server-side application up to Windows 8.1 and upcoming version of Windows 10, which include it in the client, too (as the update of Virtual PC).

Therefore you won't find it under Windows 7. In Windows 7 the optional virtualisation software is Virtual PC (Windows XP mode). You can download it in the download base on the Microsoft pages.

Under Windows 7, you can install the optional Hyper-V Management client, though you will need Windows 7 Pro. With this management tool you will be able to control/administer Hyper-V installed on a server system, from your client.

So the question is: Do you want to run a virtual system on your Windows 7 or do you want to administrate Hyper-V, running on a server system, from your Windows 7 client?!

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Install the "Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 (SP1)" and you will be able to select Hyper-V from Turn Windows features on or off.

See more here

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    Please quote the essential parts of the answer from the reference link(s), as the answer can become invalid if the linked page(s) change.
    – DavidPostill
    Mar 4, 2016 at 22:48
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    That's Hyper-V Manager ONLY (aka ' Hyper-V Tools ' in the Windows Features you mention) as noted above. This does not allow for hosting virtual machines - only management via connected server.
    – B. Shea
    Jan 5, 2017 at 20:06

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