Solved Impossible to virtualize latest Windows 11 24H2 (KVM, Virtualbox, AWS)

cereberus said:

If host pc, does not have sse4.2 functionality, neither will any vms - there is no emulation of sse4.2 functionality. Key point is core code running in a vm is exactly the same code as on the host.

The parts that are emulated in vms are primarily the I/O drivers. This is why pcs that cannot run W7 due to lack of hardware drivers can (in most cases) run in a virtual machine due to the vm emulated I/O drivers. The vm interfaces its vm emulated drivers via the host (W10/W11) hardware drivers i.e. no need for host W7 drivers.

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SSE4.2 has been around "Since Pontious was a Pilot" !! so I doubt whether it's even worth thinking of getting a PC without that feature to run any sensible (?? contradiction in terms perhaps when discussing Windows ) Windows system - even if it could - and certainly not run any VM's -- the graphics system is also is likely to be limited to 640 X 480 VGA in any case and the whole thing if it runs at all will be as slow as molasses.

It's been around since 2006 !!! for those interested BTW.

SSE4 - Wikipedia.

There are times when people like a challenge -- but I'd seriously in this case just "give it up" -- those old machines wouldn't even be much use even running minimal Linux systems as file servers as their I/O bus would just about handle old IDE disks - error correction / retry and caching would be virtually unknown. Apart from Debian the main major (decent) Linux distros are all dropping 32 bit CPU and even the X11 video support too switching increasingly to Wayland which has implications for connecting via RDP to Windows systems whether virtual or physical.

If you want to play with eseoteric hardware which can give a decent Windows performance try a cheap raspberry ARM box - these can be had at reasonable prices and are quite fun to play with. !!! Getting Windows to run on them is quite do-able but it's usually a bit more effort than straight OOTB. !! There are some Windows ARM iso's on UUPDUMP though which work after a fashion.

Cheers
jimbo

My test laptop has Intel Mobile 4 family graphics (aka Intel GMA 4500M) which does have Windows 7 drivers (WDDM), so it is not that slow. Windows 10/11 will install Microsoft WDDM 1.0 for Intel Mobile 4 family (generic driver without Intel Control Panel) from Windows Update. If I want Intel Control Panel to adjust performance, I have to install a third-party hacked version of the Windows 7 driver (the official driver is locked to Windows 7 and refuses to install in higher versions). So if I install Windows 10 or 11 23H2, there is hardware acceleration, close to Windows 7 performance, not "molasses". However, I agree, emulating SSE4.2 to install 24H2 would be VERY slow and not worth the effort. All of this analysis I did, proves that is worth to keep Windows 10 or install Windows 11 23H2 to old computers without SSE4.2 This way you get as modern OS as it gets, maximum compatibility with current hardware and applications, maximum convenience because most of us are familiar with Windows but not with other OSes. I consider it as much better solution than throwing it away or installing Linux, unless of course you are accepting the challenge of using Linux everyday (please don't start a new Windows vs Linux war here, admit it Linux is an advanced OS).

PS: Older Intel Core Duo CPUs were 32-bit, but Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad are all 64-bit with SSE4.1 support and run Windows 10 64-bit or Windows 11 up to 23H2 decently. It is much preferable to run the x64 version of Windows since the ARM64 version has many limitations. Performance is not everything, I value backwards compatibility more, let alone the whole point is to keep your old computer as long as possible, not replace it (please resist the urge to suggest the "L" word, this is a Windows forum).