Virtual machines in general

jimbo45 · Friday at 12:32 PM

@MisterEd

The real question here is what do you actually want your Virtual Machines to do -- Run different Windows Builds, Linux systems etc etc.

The big problem with HYPER-V - although not a performance one is that it really doesn't have any mechanism for attaching / running non USB / other hardware type devices to it -- might not be a problem for Windows systems if you only want to connect HDD's and USB attached HDD's / SSD's but if you are running say Linux VM's and you want to attach say an old 35 MM agfa film scanner - you will then get a problem !!!

I LIKE HYPER-V but it doesn't have what it should really have is "Dynamic re-direct" - which means even on the limited set of external devices that you can attach to a HYPER-V VM these have to be specified at boot time -- probably not a problem in a corporate environment but could be limiting in a Home Environment.

I think as the Brits say .. "Horses for Courses"

@LeLibran

I think if you use Parallels on an Apple / Mac computer you can run Windows in a VM -- not sure though the OTHER way around -- running Native Windows on this type of hardware -- might have been OK a few years ago when Apple were using INTEL chips - but latest systems !!!!! -- Can't afford them especially when on Amazon Prime days you can pick up an extremely capable Beelink mini PC's for around €100 - €150 including W11 PRO and not that pathetic excuse for an OS called "Windows HOME".

Cheers
jimbo

Kees · Friday at 12:34 PM

jimbo45 said:
Note if you have VM's set up this way then you will only be able to have 1 VM running concurrently with your HOST OS.

On my VirtualBox system I often run two virtual machines at the same time, for instance to compare their functioning.
But I don't load those 'subsystems' very heavily, because in that case they might stop or become very slow.
Normally I indeed kust run one at a time.
But it is possible (depending on how many processors were reserved for the virtual machine in question).

pseymour · Friday at 12:38 PM

Jimbo wasn't saying you can only run one VM at a time; he was talking about the specific use case of running VMs that are themselves doing VHD(X) boot.

jimbo45 · Friday at 12:41 PM

pseymour said:
Jimbo wasn't saying you can only run one VM at a time; he was talking about the specific use case of running VMs that are themselves doing VHD(X) boot.

Cheers
You've got it !!!

Jimbo

Kees · Friday at 12:47 PM

pseymour said:
...he was talking about the specific use case of running VMs that are themselves doing VHD(X) boot.

Sorry, I did not understand that from what he wrote the and as a matter of fact I would not know for what purpose I could use it like that..

LeLibran · Friday at 1:15 PM

jimbo45 said:
@LeLibran

I think if you use Parallels on an Apple / Mac computer you can run Windows in a VM -- not sure though the OTHER way around -- running Native Windows on this type of hardware -- might have been OK a few years ago when Apple were using INTEL chips - but latest systems !!!!! -- Can't afford them especially when on Amazon Prime days you can pick up an extremely capable Beelink mini PC's for around €100 - €150 including W11 PRO and not that pathetic excuse for an OS called "Windows HOME".

Yes you can run Windows VM's on macOS/ARM64, but only Windows 11 for ARM with usable performance. Apple itself doesn't offer support Windows virtualisation, but Windows ARM support is available via Parallels (commercial), and through freeware options: Broadcom VMware Fusion and UTM. VirtualBox support is currently at the BETA testing stage. Parallels and UTM both offer limited x32_64 cpu emulation support on ARM64, but performance is, as should be expected, pretty awful. VirtualBox initially started with testing x86_64 emulation, but found the same insurmountable performance issues and now seems solely focussed on native ARM64 support for both macOS/Arm64 on their 'M' series CPUs; and also Windows ARM64 on Snapdragon CPU systems where the only other current option is Hyper-V on Windows 11 Pro for ARM64.

hdmi · Friday at 4:37 PM

Kees said:
On my VirtualBox system I often run two virtual machines at the same time, for instance to compare their functioning.
But I don't load those 'subsystems' very heavily, because in that case they might stop or become very slow.
Normally I indeed kust run one at a time.
But it is possible (depending on how many processors were reserved for the virtual machine in question).

The limitation with Hyper-V that he refers to will typically (though not necessarily always will) apply to a VM that boots from a VHDX file using a native boot-like configuration—meaning the VM itself presents a boot menu and loads different OSes from separate VHDXs. The concern is that this setup may restrict you to running only one VM at a time, due to:

Bootloader entanglement
Disk access conflicts
Lack of isolation between OS environments

To sidestep this restriction:

1. Use Differencing Disks for Each VM

Create a base VHDX with the OS installed.
For each VM, create a differencing disk that links to the base.
This allows multiple VMs to boot from the same OS image without duplicating the full disk.

Powershell:

New-VHD -Path "C:\VMs\VM1_diff.vhdx" -ParentPath "C:\VMs\BaseOS.vhdx" -Differencing

2. Avoid Shared Write Access

Never mount the same VHDX in multiple VMs simultaneously unless it's read-only or using guest clustering with shared VHDX.
If you need concurrent access, clone the VHDX or use differencing disks.

3. Skip Native Boot Inside the VM

Instead of configuring a boot menu inside the VM, use Hyper-V checkpoints or multiple VMs, each with its own boot target.
This avoids the complexity of bootloader juggling and keeps each VM isolated.

4. Use Generation 2 VMs with Proper EFI Setup

Ensure each VM has its own EFI partition and bootloader.
Avoid sharing EFI partitions between VMs—this is where boot conflicts often arise.

5. Automate VHDX Replication with Deduplication

Pre-stage VHDXs using deduplication to save space.
Replicate only when needed, and store them on non-dedup volumes for performance.

Alternative: Use a Boot Manager Outside the VM

If you still want a boot menu-like experience:

Create a host-side boot manager that launches different VMs based on user input.
Use PowerShell or a GUI launcher to start the desired VM with its own VHDX.

Summary

To avoid the limitation:

Don’t use native boot logic inside the VM.
Isolate boot environments per VM.
Use differencing disks or clones.
Avoid shared EFI or simultaneous VHDX mounting.
Leverage deduplication and automation for space efficiency.

This way, you get flexibility, performance, and scalability—without the bootloader gymnastics.

Tasmania Green · Friday at 9:25 PM

LeLibran said:
You can't (legitimately) run macOS on anything other than genuine Apple hardware. That would be a breach of Apple's Terms and Conditions of use.

You're right, LeLibran. I completely forgot about that restriction. Thanks for the reminder!

Tasmania Green · Friday at 9:34 PM

Now that we've gotten this far, which virtual machine software should I load? I'll check out online reviews, but I'd like your recommendations since you have them on your machines.

I'm going to look through a computer dictionary to familiarise myself with all of the terms in these posts. I've got a lot of catching-up to do! lol.

Bree · Friday at 10:44 PM

Tasmania Green said:
Why would you need to use a virtual machine?

To run multiple other versions of Windows simultaneously. That could be anything from old versions like Windows XP, 7, 8, 10, up to the latest Insider Canary builds.

Bree said:
My host machine has 32GB RAM. My Hyper-V VMs are all assigned dynamic memory, so they get what they ask for - usually less than 2GB when not busy. For a laugh I thought I'd see just how many I could run at once. I got up to 10 before I ran out of RAM. Typically I'll work with 3 or 4 running at once.

Will W11 run on Hypervisor by default? - post #12

(that was on my old Hyper-V Host machine, I now have a new one with 64GB RAM

)

Tasmania Green said:
Now that we've gotten this far, which virtual machine software should I load? I'll check out online reviews, but I'd like your recommendations since you have them on your machines.

I'm going to look through a computer dictionary to familiarise myself with all of the terms in these posts. I've got a lot of catching-up to do! lol.

Your profile specs say you have W11 Pro. Hyper-V would be the easiest choice as you already have it installed, you'd just need to enable it in Windows Features. That would suit running Windows Guest VMs (preferably Pro if you need to use sound).

I also have VirtualBox on another PC so that I can run some really old Windows that Hyper-V doesn't support, Windows for Workgroups 3.11, and Windows '95.

BobOmb · Friday at 10:58 PM

VMs are a lot easier to back up, and you can run multiple on a single system simultaneously with hypervisor and RDP into them, I perfer NOT to use checkpoints as it complicates things

antspants · Friday at 11:10 PM

Tasmania Green said:
I'm going to look through a computer dictionary to familiarise myself with all of the terms in these posts.

Highlight word > Search Web

Tasmania Green · Saturday at 1:36 AM

antspants said:
Highlight word > Search Web

Already doing that.

Tasmania Green · Saturday at 1:37 AM

Given that I am learning about Microsoft Azure, which virtual machine do you recommend I install?

antspants · Saturday at 1:57 AM

Tasmania Green said:
Given that I am learning about Microsoft Azure, which virtual machine do you recommend I install?

Well, if it were me I’d probably use the Windows included VM which is Hyper-V. See tutorials I posted up top of page 1.. (Post 5)
I could only assume you may start seing mention of Hyper-V in your learnings.
Keep it all in the family?

Tasmania Green · Saturday at 1:57 AM

antspants said:
Well, if it were me I’d probably use the Windows included VM which is Hyper-V. See tutorials I posted up top of page 1.. (Post 5)
I could only assume you may start seing mention of Hyper-V in your learnings.
Keep it all in the family?

I'll go back and re-read that post. What is the difference between Hyper-V in Windows vs. Hyper-V for Standard Users in Windows? I take it I would qualify as a Standard user?

Tasmania Green · Saturday at 1:59 AM

antspants said:
Well, if it were me I’d probably use the Windows included VM which is Hyper-V. See tutorials I posted up top of page 1.. (Post 5)
I could only assume you may start seing mention of Hyper-V in your learnings.
Keep it all in the family?

antspants said:

Well, if it were me I’d probably use the Windows included VM which is Hyper-V. See tutorials I posted up top of page 1.. (Post 5)
I could only assume you may start seing mention of Hyper-V in your learnings.
Keep it all in the family?

Click to expand...

Oh Sinto. We need to get you some help. Quickly! lol.

pseymour · Saturday at 2:01 AM

Tasmania Green said:
I'll go back and re-read that post. What is the difference between Hyper-V in Windows vs. Hyper-V for Standard Users in Windows? I take it I would qualify as a Standard user?

The standard user part is because, by default, standard user accounts cannot manage Hyper-V. You have to fiddle with permissions. If you run with an admin account, you don’t have to do anything extra.

antspants · Saturday at 2:02 AM

Tasmania Green said:
I take it I would qualify as a Standard user?

It’s a good question. I’d guess reading both tutorials would give you an indication. But here is a cheat sheet.

Hyper-V in Windows (Standard Hyper-V)

Requires Administrator rights.
Full-featured Hyper-V manager.
Allows creation, management, and configuration of virtual machines (VMs), virtual switches, checkpoints, etc.
Used primarily by IT professionals, developers, and system administrators.
Can run complex virtualized environments, including nested virtualization.
Accessible through Hyper-V Manager or PowerShell.

Use Case: Setting up virtualized environments on a PC/server with full control and isolation.

Hyper-V for Standard Users

A limited-access version of Hyper-V introduced with newer Windows builds (like Windows 10 22H2+ and Windows 11).
Does not require Administrator rights for certain tasks.
Standard (non-admin) users can run and manage virtual machines assigned to them by an administrator.
Primarily managed using PowerShell or Windows Admin Center.
Virtual machines run under the standard user's context and permissions.
Helps support scenarios like developer sandboxing or school/lab environments where full admin access is not allowed.

Use Case: Giving non-admin users controlled access to run VMs, for example in:

Corporate laptops (without giving admin access).
Training or lab environments for students.
Developer sandbox environments.

Feature | Hyper-V (Full) | Hyper-V for Standard Users

Feature	Hyper-V (Full)	Hyper-V for Standard Users
Admin rights required	Yes	No
Create/manage VMs	Full control	Limited to assigned VMs
Access to Hyper-V Manager	Yes	No
Isolation from host system	Strong	User-level isolation
Typical use	IT/Dev/Admin	Developers, learners, non-admin users

antspants · Saturday at 2:07 AM

Looking at the comparison table above and knowing nobody else will be using your PC, or accessing the VM? I’d say FULL?
I love guessing

Virtual machines in general

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Jack of all trades – master of none

1. Use Differencing Disks for Each VM​

2. Avoid Shared Write Access​

3. Skip Native Boot Inside the VM​

4. Use Generation 2 VMs with Proper EFI Setup​

5. Automate VHDX Replication with Deduplication​

Alternative: Use a Boot Manager Outside the VM​

Summary​

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Like a rolling drone.

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Like a rolling drone.

My Computers

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who wants pizza?

My Computer

Like a rolling drone.

Hyper-V in Windows (Standard Hyper-V)​

Hyper-V for Standard Users​

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Like a rolling drone.

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Similar threads

1. Use Differencing Disks for Each VM

2. Avoid Shared Write Access

3. Skip Native Boot Inside the VM

4. Use Generation 2 VMs with Proper EFI Setup

5. Automate VHDX Replication with Deduplication

Alternative: Use a Boot Manager Outside the VM

Summary

Hyper-V in Windows (Standard Hyper-V)

Hyper-V for Standard Users