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What is hyper V

What Is Hyper-V & How Do You Use It? A Beginner’s Guide in 2025

Hyper-V creates virtual networks, virtual memory, virtual storage and virtual processors. It then creates virtual machines with these virtual devices. This guide explores how Hyper-V works, how to use it, its key features and much more.

Adeyomola KazeemAleksander HougenSimona Ivanovski

Written by Adeyomola Kazeem (Writer)

Reviewed by Aleksander Hougen (Co-Chief Editor)

Facts checked by Simona Ivanovski (Fact-Checker)

Last Updated: 2025-02-06T14:06:13+00:00

All our content is written fully by humans; we do not publish AI writing. Learn more here.

Key Takeaways: Hyper-V

  • Hyper-V is used to emulate computer hardware by creating virtual forms of hardware resources.
  • As a type 1 hypervisor, Hyper-V interfaces directly with the hardware to allocate resources, making its virtual machines more performant than those of a type 2 hypervisor.
  • Hyper-V Server is a standalone Hyper-V product suitable for virtualization at the enterprise level. In addition, if you have Windows 10 or 11 (Pro or Enterprise), Hyper-V comes pre-installed as an optional feature.

Facts & Expert Analysis About Hyper-V Windows 10 & 11:

  • Better control: As a type 1 hypervisor, Hyper-V offers more control than a type 2 hypervisor since it interfaces directly with the hardware. That aside, Hyper-V comes with fewer software parts, reducing its attack surface and ensuring more security.
  • Enhanced performance: With Hyper-V, resource allocation is more optimized. There’s no need to share resources with an underlying operating system since Hyper-V is in direct contact with the hardware. This optimized resource allocation ensures enhanced virtual machine performance.
  • For development: If you’re looking to run virtual machines for development or non-critical workloads, a type 2 hypervisor is a suitable option.

Considering the “cloud” is a bunch of computer hardware located far away but available to you virtually, you may be wondering how it’s possible to use those physical resources without touching them. The short answer is that hypervisors such as Hyper-V are a crucial aspect of cloud computing.

Hypervisors make it possible to virtualize physical computing devices, making them open to access over virtual environments. In this guide, we talk about what Hyper-V is, how to use it, its features and how it works. We also touch on virtual machines and why you may need to use them.

  • 02/06/2025 Facts checked

    This article was rewritten to include more detailed information about how Hyper-V works, its key features and how to disable it.

What Is Hyper-V?

what is hyper v
Type 1 hypervisors offer more efficiency, security, and performance than type 2 hypervisor

Hyper-V is a hypervisor, which is a type of software that creates virtual forms of computer hardware on the actual hardware. Virtualizing hardware makes it possible to have multiple computers on just one physical computer. It also allows you to access virtual computers remotely.

Though its primary feature is creating virtual computing environments, Hyper-V also offers disaster recovery and backup, streamlined cloud migration and remote connectivity. 

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Hyper-V is a type 1 hypervisor. Unlike type 2 hypervisors, which run on operating systems, type 1 hypervisors run directly on the hardware. Hyper-V generally supports x86 operating systems, including Windows Server and Windows client operating systems.

Hyper-V is owned by Microsoft, and it is the basis on which the Azure Hypervisor (the hypervisor in Microsoft Azure) was built. Before Hyper-V, Microsoft offered other virtualization tools, such as Microsoft Virtual PC and Microsoft Virtual Server, which have been discontinued.

How Does Hyper-V Work?

how does hyper v work
Hyper-V redistributes hardware into multiple virtual computing environments.

Hyper-V sits above the hardware and channels the available pool of hardware resources into creating virtual hardware units. In other words, Hyper-V creates virtual storage, virtual processors, virtual networks, virtual memory and other virtual devices based on the underlying hardware resources. It then uses these virtual hardware units to create a virtual computer.

Besides resource allocation for virtual machine creation, Hyper-V manages how virtual machines interact with the underlying hardware. It ensures that each virtual machine is isolated from the others while allowing them direct access to the underlying hardware.

Apart from virtualization, Hyper-V has a feature called Hyper-V Replica, which replicates virtual machines, allowing for backup and rapid disaster recovery. This feature also streamlines the migration of virtual machines alongside other features like storage migration and live migration.

Key Features of Hyper-V

The key features of Hyper-V include streamlined migration, a computing environment, backup and disaster recovery, remote connectivity and security. 

  • Computing environment: The primary feature of Hyper-V is the creation of computing environments. Hyper-V breaks down whole hardware into smaller virtual units to create virtual computing environments. This helps you maximize hardware, as you can have multiple computers serving various functions without buying extra hardware.
  • Streamlined migration: Hyper-V offers features like live migration, import/export and storage migration, which allow you to readily move virtual machines from one place to another. These migration features coupled with Hyper-V Replica allow you to easily create copies of the same virtual computer in many places.
  • Backup and disaster recovery: Hyper-V Replica creates copies of virtual machines, which you can store on separate hardware as a backup. If the original fails, you can readily restore it. Hyper-V offers two types of backups: saved state and Volume Shadow Copy Service. Saved state backups take place while the virtual machine is offline, whereas Volume Shadow Copy Service creates copies while the machine is online.
  • Security: The virtual machines Hyper-V creates are partitioned into logically isolated environments, so the chances of unauthorized access between them are reduced, ensuring security and data privacy.
  • Remote connectivity: Hyper-V’s virtual machine connection feature grants remote access to virtual machine consoles, allowing you to monitor them.

Why Use a Virtual Machine?

There are many reasons to use a virtual machine, including portability, flexibility, scalability, reliability, reduced environmental impact and cost savings. Let’s review the details of these benefits.

1. Portability

A virtual machine is a software package with its own operating system, tools and applications. Therefore, you can readily move it from one computer hardware to another, whether physically or on the cloud.

2. Flexibility

Unlike physical computers, you can readily provision and deploy virtual machines; you’re not constrained by costs and delivery logistics. If you want a new virtual machine, you can have one up and running in just a few minutes.

3. Scalability

You can readily change a virtual machine’s configuration to match application demands. If your application’s needs exceed the resources allocated to the virtual machine it runs on, you can allocate more resources. On the flip side, if the machine has more resources than the application needs, you can reduce the number of resources allocated to the machine.

4. Reliability

You can readily create multiple copies of the same virtual machine with the same data as backups or failovers. With such an arrangement, if your original machine suddenly goes offline, the backups or failovers will take its place. Virtual machines remain isolated from each other even if they’re identical, so one machine’s failure won’t spill over to another.

5. Reduced Environmental Impact

If you have to order new hardware each time you need an extra computer, you raise the demand for certain raw materials. In addition, if you have multiple physical computing devices, your power consumption and cooling needs will be higher. Of course, those needs can have a detrimental environmental impact if left unchecked.

Thankfully, with Hyper-V, you can create a large virtual desktop infrastructure with multiple operating systems on less physical hardware, limiting the ecological impact.

6. Cost Savings

With more hardware, you’ll spend more on procurement, management, electricity and maintenance. However, with virtual machines, you have multiple computers without a significant change in running costs.

How to Activate Hyper-V on Windows 10 & 11: No Download or Installation Necessary

Hyper-V is a built-in feature on Windows 10 and 11 (Pro and Enterprise) desktop operating systems, so you do not have to download and install it. Instead, all you have to do is activate it. You can do this through PowerShell, Windows Features or the Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool (DISM).

Follow the steps below to activate Hyper-V on your computer.

  1. Confirm Your Computer Meets the Minimum Requirements

    MAGEBefore activating Hyper-V on Windows 10 or 11, ensure you have either the Pro or the Enterprise edition with at least 4GB RAM, a 64-bit processor with second-level address translation (SLAT) and CPU support for VM Monitor Mode Extension or VT-c.

    To confirm your machine meets the minimum requirements, you can run “SYSTEMINFO” in Command Prompt or PowerShell.

    systeminfo
  2. Option A: Activate Hyper-V on PowerShell

    To enable Hyper-V on PowerShell, open PowerShell as an administrator and execute the following command:

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

    enable with powershell
  3. Option B: Enable Hyper-V With DISM

    To activate Hyper-V using DISM, open PowerShell or Command Prompt as an administrator and run the following command:

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

    enable with DISM
  4. Option C: Enabling Hyper-V from Windows Features

    To enable Hyper-V from Windows Features, open a Command Prompt window and run the following command: OptionalFeatures. After running the command, a window with a list of features will pop up. Scroll through the list, tick the checkbox for Hyper-V and click “OK.” Then, reboot your computer.

    enable with Windows Features

How to Use Hyper-V on Windows 10 & 11

To demonstrate how to use Hyper-V on Windows 10 and 11, we’ll create a virtual machine using Hyper-V Manager.

  1. Open Hyper-V Manager

    To open Hyper-V Manager, hit the Windows key + S key and search for “Hyper-V Manager.”

    search Hyper V
  2. Open the Virtual Machine Wizard

    When in Hyper-V Manager, click on the “action” tab, then select “new” > “virtual machine.”

    virtual machine wizard
  3. Name the Virtual Machine

    To name the virtual machine, select “next” at the bottom of the Virtual Machine Wizard window, and on the next page, enter a name for your virtual machine in the “name” text field. Check the “store the virtual machine in a different location” option if you prefer to store your machine in a location different from the one shown in the “location” field. Then, click “next.”

    naming machine
  4. Choose the Virtual Machine’s Generation

    Hyper-V offers two generations of virtual machines: Generation 1 and Generation 2. Generation 2 is newer than Generation 1, so it offers newer features. Choose your preferred generation and click “next.” (Note: You cannot change the virtual machine’s generation after the machine has been created.)

    choose generation
  5. Assign Memory to the Virtual Machine

    On the next page, you can define how much RAM you want for your virtual machine, with 32MB being the minimum amount you can assign.

     

    You may choose to check or uncheck the “use dynamic memory for this virtual machine” option. Dynamic memory is a feature that allows Hyper-V to ensure virtual machines use only the memory they need. Since the virtual machine will share RAM with the host machine, activating dynamic memory optimizes resource usage.

     

    After configuring the virtual machine’s memory, click “next” to configure the network.

    assign memory
  6. Configure the Network

    On the new page, click on the dropdown list to select a virtual switch for the machine or leave the machine disconnected. Then, click “next” to configure the virtual hard disk.

    configure network
  7. Create Virtual Hard Disks

    On the “configure virtual hard disk” page, you’ll see the option to create a new virtual hard disk, use an existing virtual hard disk or attach a hard disk later. If you’re creating a new virtual hard disk, add a name, choose a location and specify the size of the hard disk. After that, click “next.”

    create virutal disk
  8. Install Guest Operating Systems

    In this step, you can choose to install the operating system later or install it from an image file, bootable CD, DVD-ROM or floppy disk. We’ll install it from an image file since we have one ready, but you can work with any option that’s comfortable for you. After choosing the image file, click “next.”

    install OS
  9. Review the Summary

    After choosing how you want to install the operating system, you’ll see a summary of your virtual machine’s specifications. If it all looks good, click “finish” to create the machine.

    review summary
  10. Start the Machine

    Double-click on the virtual machine from the “virtual machines” section of the Hyper-V Manager window. From the ensuing pop-up, click “start” to turn the machine on. After starting the machine, follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation of your chosen operating system.

    start machine

How to Disable Hyper-V

You can disable Hyper-V through Windows Features in the control panel, using DISM or by running a command in PowerShell. We go into the details of how to disable Hyper-V below.

  1. Disable Hyper-V from Windows Features

    To disable Hyper-V from Windows Features, open Command Prompt and run the command “OptionalFeatures” to get the Windows Features list. In the Windows Features window, scroll down to Hyper-V and uncheck it. After that, click “OK” and restart the computer when you see the prompt.

    disable with Windows Features
  2. Disabling Hyper-V from PowerShell

    To disable Hyper-V in PowerShell, open PowerShell as an administrator and run the following command:

    Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V-Hypervisor

    disable with PowerShell
  3. Disabling Hyper-V Using DISM

    To disable Hyper-V using DISM, open Command Prompt or PowerShell as an administrator, and execute the following command:

    DISM /Online /Disable-Feature /FeatureName:Microsoft-Hyper-V

    disable with DISM

Terminologies like Virtualbox, VMware, Hyper-V Manager and Hyper-V Server are often mentioned in relation to Hyper-V. We’ll explore these terminologies below to understand what they mean.

Hyper-V vs Virtualbox

Like Hyper-V, Virtualbox, owned by Oracle Corporation, is a hypervisor. However, while Hyper-V is a type 1 hypervisor (runs directly on the hardware), Virtualbox is a hosted hypervisor (type 2 hypervisor), so it runs on the operating system.

Hyper-V vs VMware

VMware is a virtualization service provider that offers both type 1 (VMware ESXi) and type 2 hypervisors (VMware Fusion and VMware Workstation). Hyper-V is a type 1 hypervisor, so it runs on the hardware and allocates resources directly.

Hyper-V Manager

Hyper-V Manager is a tool that allows for centralized control of virtual machines and their hosts. It is a graphical interface through which you can manage virtual environments created with Hyper-V.

Hyper-V Server

Hyper-V Server is a version of Hyper-V designed for server virtualization on an enterprise scale. It is suitable for on-premises and hybrid cloud deployments.

Final Thoughts

Hyper-V interacts directly with hardware units, virtualizing their computing power and making them remotely accessible. It is a core part of the virtualization technologies from Microsoft and is available on Windows 10 and 11 (Pro and Enterprise editions).

Will you be using Hyper-V anytime soon? If so, let us know which other hypervisors you considered before landing on Hyper-V. Are you familiar with Virtualbox and VMware, the other hypervisors mentioned in this article? Tell us about your experience with them in the comments below. Thank you for reading.

FAQ: Microsoft Hyper-V

  • Hyper-V is a virtualization platform used to create virtual versions of hardware resources to build virtual computers.

  • Hyper-V and VMware are both hypervisors, so they serve the same purpose — creating virtual forms of physical hardware. Depending on your chosen product, VMware can be either a type 1 (ESXi) or a type 2 (fusion and workstation) hypervisor, while Hyper-V is type 1 hypervisor.

  • Hyper-V is free, but you may have to pay for a Windows Server license.

  • Yes, Hyper-V is still being used. It is an integral part of Microsoft products.

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