Windows 10 comes in either 32-bit or 64-bit arch. Whichever version you have, make sure to insert the DVD or copy the ISO image on the host computer running VirtualBox software. Whichever version you have, make sure to insert the DVD or copy the ISO image on the host computer running VirtualBox software. If the host machine is 64-bit and you are using VirtualBox to host and running your virtual machine, don’t be puzzled if your VirtualBox is showing you that it can only support for 32-bit of operating system. This isn’t “normal” and you can fix it to enable VirtualBox to support 64-bit OS. To install a 64-bit version of Windows, you need a CPU that's capable of running a 64-bit version of Windows. The benefits of using a 64-bit operating system are most apparent when you have a large amount of random access memory (RAM) installed on your computer, typically 4 GB of RAM or more.
Do you want to create a Windows 10 virtual machine? This post will tell you how to complete this job step by step. It also gives you some advice on how to run virtual machine safely. In addition, with MiniTool Partition Wizard, you can manage your virtual machine more smoothly.
According to a survey, lots of people are running Windows 10 since this OS has many excellent features (its game mode, the Cortana, and etc.). You can click 18 Tips and Tricks Inside Windows 10 You Should Know to know more Windows 10 features. Then, why need to run it as a virtual machine?
What Is Virtual Machine?
In computing, a virtual machine (VM) is an emulation of a particular computer system. Virtual machines operate based on the computer architecture and functions of a real or hypothetical computer, and their implementations may involve specialized hardware, software, or a combination of both. --- Wikipedia
Broadly speaking, a virtual machine is a piece of software that essentially creates a sandbox into which you can install an operating system without directly affecting the existing one on your PC. Some of you may like to run a virtual machine because you want to isolate some software, test some software, etc.
And, thanks to free virtual machine apps, you can run Windows 10 on your current PC. Now, follow me to see some necessary preparations for using Windows 10 as a VM.
Thankfully, setting up Windows 10 in a virtual machine isn’t particularly difficult. I’ll show you the whole profess from tip to tail.
In the beginning, you need to select a separate partition to install Windows 10 VM as well as related files.
Well, how large should this separate partition be? Generally, creating Windows 10 (32-bit version) virtual machine takes up about 6 GB of space, but you had better allocate the partition with much more space (I allocate it with 30GB space), because VM related files will be increasing continuously as long as you make operations in Windows 10 VM.
Once the partition has little or no free space left, you might have troubles in running Windows 10. If your selected partition does not have enough space to save Windows 10 virtual machine, try enlarging it. For detailed steps, please see Do You Want to Increase Disk Partition Easily? Here's How.
If you Google virtual machine applications, you will find a lot of such programs, among which VirtualBox and VMware Workstation are the two most popular ones.
VirtualBox
VirtualBox is a piece of professional-grade and open-source virtualization software. From Oracle: VirtualBox is a family of x86 virtualization products for enterprise as well as home use.
Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature-rich, high-performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).
VirtualBox may be installed on a number of host operating systems, including: Linux, OS X, Windows OS, Solaris, and OpenSolaris. There are also ports to FreeBSD and Genode.
VMware Workstation
VMware Workstation, a hypervisor that runs on x64 computers (an x86 version of earlier releases was available), enables you to set up one or more VMs on a single physical machine and use them simultaneously along with the actual machine. Each VM can execute its own operating system, including versions of Microsoft Windows, Linux, BSD, and MS-DOS.
Developed and sold by VMware, Inc., a division of EMC Corporation, VMware Workstation can save the state of a virtual machine (a 'snapshot') at any instant. These snapshots can later be restored, effectively returning the VM to the saved state.
Furthermore, VMware Workstation includes the ability to designate multiple virtual machines as a team which can then be powered on, powered off, suspended or resumed as a single object, making it particularly useful for testing client-server environments.
After getting a piece of suitable virtual machine software (VirtualBox or VMware Workstation), you need to download Windows 10 ISO file for installation.
You can download Windows 10 ISO file from the Microsoft's site. An ISO is a package of files that's usually installed from an optical disc, but a virtual machine basically tricks your computer into thinking that the files are on a CD or DVD. The virtual machine will install the ISO's contents much faster than an optical drive can.
After downloading Windows 10 ISO file and installing VirtualBox or VMware Workstation on computer, you can create a new VM and then install OS in it.
First Move: Creating a Virtual Machine
Step 1: Once you’ve downloaded and installed VirtualBox, run the program to get its main window. Then, click the 'New' icon in the top left corner of the window.
Step 2: In the Create Virtual Machine dialog box, type 'Windows 10' and then click the “Version” and select which type it is from a couple of drop-down menus (making sure to match the ISO you downloaded: 64- or 32-bit). Then click “Next” button.
Step 3: Decide how much RAM you want to allocate for this VM. VirtualBox will recommend a value, and I suggest you go with that then click “Next”.
Step 4: Select 'Create a virtual hard drive now' and click “Create” to create a virtual drive. Then, decide the size of the virtual hard drive.
Step 5: After that, click “VDI” (VirtualBox Disk Image) as the file type for the drive and click “Next”. Then, choose “Fixed Size for the virtual drive” and click “Next” button. Finally, you’ll be asked to name the drive and confirm its size, and click “Create” to complete the process.
Second Move: Installing Windows 10
Step 1: Choose Windows 10 ISO files in VirtualBox.
Step 2: Choose the second installation option 'Custom: Install Windows only (advanced)' and click “Next” to install Windows in the VM.
Next, let’s see detailed steps of how to use Windows 10 as a VM via another popular app.
First Move: Setting up a VMware Virtual Machine
Step 1: Launch VMware Workstation and then click “Create a New Virtual Machine”. Then, select “Typical (recommended)” and click “Next” button.
Step 2: Choose a Windows version.
Step 3: Set hard disk capacity (a virtual hard disk can function like a physical hard disk, so it can be used to save different kinds of files, too), and the recommended maximum disk size is 60GB.
You are able to enlarge the hard disk of virtual machine if you set the disk to be so small at the beginning of creating virtual machine, and here are detailed steps.
Step 4: Go ahead and select “Finish” button to move on if you’re okay with the VMware defaults. Certainly, you can also customize the hardware that your VM will use.
Second Move: Installing Windows 10
You can simply click “Power on this virtual machine” to install Windows 10. At this time, you can install OS on the virtual machine just like installing a system on a physical disk.
Before using Windows 10, taking snapshots of the virtual machine is recommended in case of system crash. Taking a snapshot can preserve the state of a VM at a specific moment and the virtual machine continues to run.
Snapshots allow you to quickly move between different states of the machine. As a result, if the current system is damaged, you can easily return to the previous version of Windows. You can take a snapshot while a virtual machine is powered on, powered off, or suspended. Let’s see how to make snapshots.
Taking a snapshot in VirtualBox:
Taking a snapshot in VMware Workstation:
As we know, most virtual machines contain a single partition on their hard drive, meaning that it shows up as one drive in the Computer window (as C:, typically). However, keeping your data, applications and operating systems on the same partition can be risky.
To be specific, if the partition gets damaged, you will lose all data. Therefore, to perfectly manage data, you had better create multiple partitions. For example, one partition for your documents, pictures, music or videos, one for your backup data, and one for games.
Windows Disk Management tool provides you with a solution to create new partitions: shrink the existing partition via the function “Shrink Volume” to get unallocated space, and then create new partitions in the unallocated space.
Before using Windows 10, users need to install some necessary programs, such as security software, video/audio player, and drawing tool. But today I'm going to introduce one program which might be unfamiliar to you but can help you a lot. That is MiniTool Partition Wizard.
As we all know, in the process of testing Windows 10 VM, some partition issues may occur. For instance, one hard disk partition is running out of space (especially C drive) or Windows cannot start due to setting a wrong partition active.
These partitioning problems can be easily settled by MiniTool Partition Wizard, a piece of free partition management software.
If your C drive is running out of space, you can use the Extend Partition feature of MiniTool Partition Wizard to solve it.
It is absolutely annoying when the C drive running out of space, while sometimes it will happen. Stop worrying, this post will offer two methods to solve this trouble.
If the operating system is not found, you can use the Rebuild MBR or the Set Partition Active/Inactive feature.
Are you troubled by missing operating system? Now find the possible causes and 5 perfect solutions to this error.
Of course, there are many other useful disk management functions, such as Delete All Partitions, Partition Recovery, Wipe Disk, Data Recovery, Copy Partition, Change Cluster Size, etc. With these functions, you can solve lots of partitioning problems.
Will you use Windows 10 as VM? Do you have problem in completing the virtual machine creation process? Please leave a comment below. If you have any issues in using Windows 10 VM, you can also email us at [email protected]. We will reply to you as soon as possible.
Take creating a virtual machine on VMware as an example:
Take creating a virtual machine in VirtualBox as an example:
This tutorial will show you step by step what to do when VirtualBox is only showing 32-bit and no 64-bit versions of operating systems as options while creating a new virtual machine.
Note: This may be obvious for most of you, but your host operating system should be 64-bit to run 64-bit guest operating systems in VirtualBox.
If VirtualBox has no 64-bit option on Windows 10, then you can try the solutions on this page to fix the problem.
Methods:
I experienced the same problem while trying to install a 64-bit version of Linux Mint inside VirtualBox.
I opened VirtualBox, clicked on NEW, entered a name for the virtual machine, choose the type of operating system, but when I wanted to choose a version, I only saw 32-bit versions and NO 64-bit versions as an option.
But:
Fortunately, I found a simple solution online and on this page, I will share that solution with you.
Note! Your host operating system (OS installed on your PC) must be 64-bit.
I was using a 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows 10 Pro while creating this tutorial.
Enter BIOS settings and check if “Intel Virtualization Technology” and “VT-d” are enabled.
The following steps may be slightly different on your computer.
1. Start (or restart) your PC.
2. Press the right keyboard key to enter the BIOS setup. This must be done before Windows starts, so it's best to press the key a few times directly after you start your PC.
The exact key or key combination depends on your computer manufacturer and model.
Common keys to enter the BIOS are F1, F2, F10, DEL, and ESC.
3. Look for the following settings Intel Virtualization Technology and VT-d.
4. Make sure that they're both enabled.
5. If you made changes, then you must save the settings.
To check if your Windows 10 is a 64-bit operating system, press the [Windows] + [pause] keyboard keys.
At System type (located under System), you should see something like 64-bit Operating System, x64-based processor.
Hyper-V is Microsoft's hardware virtualization product.
It lets you create and run virtual machines (like VirtualBox).
But:
Many third-party virtualization applications (including VirtualBox) do not work together with Hyper-V.
That's why you must make sure that Hyper-V is disabled.
To check if Hyper-V is disabled, follow the following steps:
1. Right-click on the Windows start menu button.
2. Click on Run.
3. Enter optionalfeatures.exe in the Run window.
4. Click on OK or press Enter.
The Windows Features window will appear.
5. Check if the Hyper-V option is unchecked.
6. If the Hyper-V option unchecked (like in the screenshot above), then you can close the Windows Features window.
But:
If the option is checked, then you will need to uncheck it and then click on OK.
If you want to be 100% sure that Hyper-v is disabled then follow these steps:
1. Right-click on the Windows start menu button.
2. Click on Command Prompt (Admin).
3. Enter the following command:
4. Press Enter.
5. After the command is finished, you will need to power down and reboot your PC.
1. Right-click on the installer file (the one you used to install VirtualBox) and choose Run as administrator.
If you don't have the installer file anymore, then you will need to download it from the VirtualBox website (www.virtualbox.org). The installer file must be the same version as the version of VirtualBox that's installed on your computer.
2. When the Windows User Account Control window appears, you click Yes.
Note: You might need to enter an administrator password in the User Account Control window and then click Yes.
A setup window will appear.
3. Click on Next.
4. Click on the Repair icon.
5. Click on Repair located at the bottom right.
VirtualBox will now start the repairing process. This will only take a few seconds.
6. After the repair process is finished, you click on Finish.
VirtualBox may ask you to restart your PC.
Hopefully, this simple solution will solve your problem.
1. Open Windows Security.
2. Click on Device security.
3. Under Core isolation, you click on Core isolation details.
4. Make sure that Memory integrity is turned off.
If Memory integrity was enabled and you just disabled it, then you may need to restart your PC.
Hopefully, this simple solution will solve your problem.
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