[Solved] AMD-V Is Disabled In The BIOS Error

AMD-V, also known as SVM (Secure Virtual Machine), is AMD’s virtualization technology. If this setting is disabled in the BIOS, you’ll encounter the AMD-V Is Disabled in the BIOS error when you fire up a VM.

It’s possible to use VMs even if AMD-V is disabled. However, there are some major limitations if you choose to do so. You won’t be able to run 64-bit guest operating systems, and you won’t be able to assign multiple CPU cores to the VM, meaning performance will inevitably suffer.

Most modern motherboards and CPUs support AMD-V anyway, so it’s best to just enable this setting via the BIOS. We’ve detailed how you can do so in the sections below.

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What causes the AMD-V Is Disabled in the BIOS Error?

As the error message itself states, this error mostly occurs because AMD-V is disabled in the BIOS. Even if you enable AMD-V, it won’t work if Windows’ native hypervisor (Hyper-V) is enabled as well. And when AMD-V can’t make use of hardware virtualization, you won’t be able to boot a VM with multiple CPU cores either.

How to Fix the AMD-V Is Disabled in the BIOS Error?

The best way to resolve this error is to enable the AMD-V setting via the BIOS. If the error persists despite doing so, the other solutions will be helpful.

Enable AMD-V from the BIOS

Here are the steps to access the BIOS Setup utility and enable AMD-V:

Restart your PC and press the BIOS Setup key shown on the screen (Del or Fn keys).
The BIOS interface varies according to the motherboard manufacturer. Generally, you’ll find the AMD-V or SVM setting under the Overclock or Advanced tab. We also have a detailed guide on enabling virtualization on various motherboards if you require it.
Once AMD-V or SVM is enabled, press the Save and Exit key as shown on the screen (usually F10).
After restarting, try booting up the VM. It should proceed without any issues now.

Note: In the case of old CPUs and motherboards, hardware virtualization may not be supported. This is rarely an issue these days, but if you can’t find the virtualization option in the BIOS, it’s best to check the manual or contact the CPU/motherboard manufacturer.

Disable Hyper-V

As stated, AMD-V can’t make use of hardware virtualization if Hyper-V is enabled. As such, you’ll want to turn off Hyper-V to resolve the issue. An easy way to do so is by executing the following command in an elevated Command Prompt or PowerShell window:

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

Alternatively, you can also do it via the Control Panel. Here are the steps to do so:

Press Win + R, type appwiz.cpl, and press Enter.
Click on Turn Windows features on or off from the left pane.
Uncheck Hyper-V and press OK to apply the changes.
Check if the VM boots properly now.

Reduce VM Cores to 1

If your device doesn’t support hardware virtualization, the hypervisors will make use of software virtualization instead. With software virtualization, you can’t allocate as much resources to the VM, or you will encounter this error. As such, we recommend assigning only 1 core to your VM and checking if that fixes the issue.

Here’s how you can modify the CPU cores on Oracle VirtualBox:

Select the VM from the left pane and click on Settings.
Switch to the System tab and click on Processor.
Change the no. of CPU cores assigned to 1 here and press OK.
Close the Settings window. On the home page, press Start to launch the VM.

While the AMD-V Is Disabled In The BIOS error message occurs on VirtualBox, the same issue with a slightly different prompt is present in the case of VMWare Workstation as well. Here’s how you can change the CPU cores on VMWare Workstation:

Select the VM from the left pane and click on Edit Virtual Machine Settings.
In the Hardware tab, click on Processors. Assign a single core to the VM and press OK.
On the home page, select the VM and press Power on this virtual machine.

Configure PAE/NX Setting (VirtualBox)

The Physical Address Extension (PAE) feature needs to be enabled if you want to assign more than 4 GB of RAM to a 32-bit VM. Otherwise, you’ll face the AMD-V Is Disabled In The BIOS error on VirtualBox. Here are the steps to enable this feature:

Press Win + R, type cmd, and press CTRL + Shift + Enter.
Enter bcdedit and note the identifier for your current boot loader.
Execute the following commands:
bcdedit /set [{identifier}] pae ForceEnable bcdedit /set [{identifier}] nx AlwaysOff
Now, launch VirtualBox and select your VM. Click on Settings > System > Processor.
Enable PAE/NX and click OK. Do note that in the case of a 64-bit guest OS, you should disable this option in VirtualBox.