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I get the error "Unable to start virtual device" when using QEMU hypervisor on Windows.

  • Updated

QEMU support is still experimental and unstable on Windows systems!

On Windows, this problem occurs when using QEMU hypervisor, but no hardware-assisted virtualization engine is available.

Windows Pro/Enterprise

QEMU requires Hyper-V. While it is included with Windows Pro and Entreprise editions, it is not enabled by default.

Follow these steps to enable Hyper-V:

  1. Search for "Turn Windows Features on or off" using Windows Search or Cortana and pick same from search results.

  2. In the Turn Windows Features on or off window, verify that all the Hyper-V options - Hyper-V Management Tools and Hyper-V Platform - are enabled. If not, check them all and click OK to apply the changes:

    enable_role_upd.png

  3. Reboot your PC when prompted.

Windows Home

QEMU requires Hyper-V, but it is not available with Windows Home edition by default. We recommend using VirtualBox hypervisor with this version.

However, it is possible to install and activate Hyper-V if you wish. To do so, you can follow the instructions from this article: How to install Hyper-V on Windows 11 Home edition?

Please note that doing so will modify the system files, which Microsoft doesn’t support. We strongly recommended making a backup of your system before attempting to install Hyper-V!

Windows firewall

You may get a popup from Windows firewall at first run to authorize QEMU. If so, you need to grant access to QEMU. If not, verify your Windows firewall rules and make sure that qemu.exe has access.

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