Windows 8.1 and Virtual Machines

Thanks Chris Upjohn. I thought my version did not have it. I need to figure out how to enter my ASUS BIOS. I haven't used a Windows computer in over a decade, lol.

No problem, typically it's just F12 =)

Chris Upjohn apparently there is nothing in my BIOS to turn Hyper-V on. Perhaps my version of Windows 8.1 doesn't have it?

In your BIOS you're looking for a setting called virtualization technologies or VT-x as it's known, Hyper-V is just software that you can enable within windows, depending on whether you have an Intel or AMD chipset this may appear as a different name.

Hi Chris. Can't seem to figure this out. I did find the BIOS settings and enabled them. When I go to the Windows Features section like the link you recommended suggests, there is no HYPER-V. This is a brand new Asus H97-Plus with an Intel i5. Everything is brand new, so it should support it right?

Edit: I have checked all of my Hardware, my Windows 8.1 says just that...not Pro. Perhaps this is the issue?

When I go to the Windows Features section like the link you recommended suggests, there is no HYPER-V.

If you're not running under an x86-64 version of windows (64bit as it's know) or if you aren't running Pro/Enterprise Hyper-V won't be an option, if this is the case you will need to use something else such as VirtualBox or VMWare.

This is a brand new Asus H97-Plus with an Intel i5. Everything is brand new, so it should support it right?

All boards and Intel chipsets past 2008 support this feature, see the below link which has some additional tools you can use to determine the status of VT-x and whether or not your board and chipset does support it but it should as I have an Asus Z97 and Intel 4770k which works perfectly fine.

http://yoyoclouds.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/how-to-check-whether-your-pc-has-virtualization-enabled-or-not/

Good to hear, sorry it became such a hassle to setup something so simple, in my personal opinion I've found VirtualBox to be faster but I tend to just use Vagrant boxes instead.

Yeah I hear you. Interesting program that you have there. Right now with VirtualBox my issue is getting the resolution to my 4k resolution. When I had Ubuntu installed on here before Win8.1 it had no issues. How should I allocate resources? I plan to use Ubuntu for my development platform.

Thanks Chris!

Chris Upjohn

I just built my first Windows computer. It's running Windows 8.1. Here are my specifications.

• GPU: GeForce GTX 770
• CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4430 CPU @ 3.00GHz
• Memory: 16GB RAM
• Current Resolution: 3840 x 2160, 60Hz
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1

Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager

• Ubuntu 64bit
• Base Memory: 512mb
• Acceleration: VT-x/AMD-V, Nested Paging, PAE/NX
• Video Memory: 128mb
• Acceleration: 3D
• Remote Desktop Server: Disabled
• Video Capture: Disabled
• Controller: IDE, IDE
• Secondary Master: CD/DVD VBoxGuestAdditions.iso (55.54mb)
• Controller: SATA, SATA
• Port 0: U.vdi (Normal, 8.00 GB)
• Host Driver: Windows DirectSound Controller: ICH AC97
• Network 1: Intel PRO/1000 MT Desktop (NAT)
• Device Filters: 0 (0 active)
• Processors: 1 CPU / 8 CPU's
• Execution Cap: 100%
• Extended Features: Enabled PAE/NX
• Hardware Virtualization: Enabled VT-x/AMD-v, Enabled Nested Paging

Those are my settings.

I downloaded the Ubuntu Unity Tweak tool and made some changes. All and all the experience is extremely clunky. I have been a Mac user most of my life and running VMWARE was a much smoother experience. I am sure I have done something incorrectly.

If anyone can help me to get this machine running smoothly that would be great. My intended uses are for development.

Do you think I should give Vagrant Boxes a try instead or perhaps there is just something done incorrectly with my setup?

Thanks!

The two factors that are letting you down currently is the low memory assignment and the video ram, running Ubuntu visually require a lot more ram compared to just running it through a command line only interface which works off 512MB/s of ram with ease.

Typically you would need about 2GB/s of ram or 2048MB and around 256MB/s of video memory otherwise you can turn off the fancy UI features but that's outside thescope of the question.

Personally switching to Vagrant is a better option but it does require command line experience but nothing advanced thankfully, currently I use Laravel's Homestead box both at home and work for everything as I've found it has the best LAMP stack built in the some nicer mapping features.

There are a lot more boxes out there on Vagrant's cloud website but you need to be careful as some have requirements on 3rd party plugins which don't come pre-installed with Vagrant.