VMware & Hyper-V Errors: Virtualization Troubleshooting
Start with the symptom and exact error message. This hub routes VMware and Windows Hyper-V problems by what failed—guest boot, Workstation crash, hypervisor detection, persistent VBS/Hyper-V state, or nested virtualization power-on—so you can check evidence before changing firmware, security, or virtualization settings.
Choose the path that matches what you see.
Do not disable Hyper-V, VBS, Memory Integrity, or firmware virtualization just because a generic fix mentions them. First identify which layer is actually failing.
VMware says nested virtualization is not supported / Module HV power on failed
Decide whether the guest actually needs nested virtualization, then verify the host virtualization and Windows hypervisor/VBS path before changing security features.
VM starts, but no operating system is found
Check whether the virtual disk is attached and bootable, then verify boot order, installation media, and BIOS/UEFI firmware match.
VMware crashes with an unrecoverable vcpu-0 error
Capture the exact exception and vmware.log first, then separate VM/storage, CPU virtualization, and Hyper-V/VBS causes.
Windows says a hypervisor has been detected
The message is usually informational. Check whether the Microsoft hypervisor is expected before changing Hyper-V or security features.
Hypervisor is still detected after disabling Hyper-V
Trace VBS, Memory Integrity, Credential Guard and remaining virtualization dependencies before changing boot configuration.
VMware troubleshooting: separate boot failures from host crashes
A VM that powers on but cannot find an operating system is a different problem from VMware Workstation itself crashing. For boot failures, start with the virtual disk, boot device, installation media, and firmware mode. For an unrecoverable Workstation crash, preserve the exact exception and relevant vmware.log lines before changing host settings.
Hyper-V and the Windows hypervisor: confirm a conflict first
Hyper-V, Windows Hypervisor Platform, Virtual Machine Platform, VBS, and security features can change how virtualization software uses hardware virtualization. Their presence is not automatically an error. If Windows reports that a hypervisor has been detected, decide whether that state is expected and whether your VMware or other virtualization workload has a documented compatibility problem.
Before changing virtualization settings
vmware.log lines around the failure.Note recent Windows, VMware, driver, BIOS/UEFI, storage, or security changes.Prefer reversible checks before disabling Hyper-V, VBS, Memory Integrity, or deleting VM state.Official troubleshooting references
What to collect if the problem remains
For escalation or community help, bring the smallest useful evidence set: exact error text, host OS/build, virtualization product/version, CPU model when relevant, whether hardware virtualization is enabled, whether the failure affects one or all VMs, and the first relevant log or event around the failure. Avoid posting passwords, keys, tokens, private URLs, or confidential logs.