A virtual program is a software on which you can create multiple virtual machines. Each virtual machine has its own operating system, these operating systems can be Windows, Linux, or something else. Virtual machines are more commonly used in server virtualization, which allows IT teams to manage their computer resources and improve efficiency. One of the most prominent VM tools is VirtualBox. However, some VirtualBox users have reported that when trying to run a Virtual Machine, they get the following error message.
Failed to open a session for the virtual machine <VMName>.
VT-x is disabled in the BIOS for all CPU modes (VERR_VMX_MSR_ALL_VMX_DISABLED).
Result Code: E_FAIL (0x80004005)
Component: ConsoleWrap
Interface: IConsole {872da645-4a9b-1727-bee2-5585105bgeed}
This hardware acceleration technology is known as Intel VT-X hardware acceleration in Intel CPUs and as AMD-V in AMD CPUs. Whereas other CPU manufacturers have different hardware acceleration technologies. VT-X is, by default, disabled in Intel processors. When you try to run a virtual machine with the feature disabled, there’s a high possibility of encountering an issue stating that it needs hardware acceleration to function properly. The way to enable VT-X hardware acceleration is different in the BIOS and on the UEFI computer in different. In this article, we will learn how to enable VT-X on computers.
VT-x is disabled in the BIOS for all CPU modes (VERR_VMX_MSR_ALL_VMX_DISABLED)
If VirtualBox says “VT-x is disabled in the BIOS for all CPU modes (VERR_VMX_MSR_ALL_VMX_DISABLED)” when launching a VM, follow the solutions mentioned below.
- Check if your CPU supports VT-X
- Enable Virtualization Technology (VTX) from BIOS
- Enable or Disable PAE/NX from VM’s properties
Let us talk about them in detail.
1] Check if your CPU supports VT-X
Before using any solution, we should check whether your computer supports the VT-X (Intel) feature or not. Because the old computer may not support virtualization. There are several ways to check whether your CPU supports virtualization or not. Here, we can download SecurAble software on our computer that will help us to know processor features and will also check whether the virtualization is supported or not.
Let’s download SecurAble software from grc.com to check whether your CPU supports virtualization:
Once SecurAble software is downloaded, click on it, and press Yes at the UAC (User Account Prompt). It will take a few seconds to verify and once the process is completed, see if Yes is showing above the Hardware virtualization.
After ensuring that your computer supports hardware virtualization, follow the steps listed below to resolve the error VT-X is Disabled in the Bios for All CPU Modes.
If you find in the test that your computer does not support hardware virtualization, then the solution given below is not of your use. You should move to the third solution.
Read: How to find if your computer supports Intel VT-X or AMD-V
2] Turn On Virtualization Technology (VTX) from BIOS
Once you know that your computer supports Hardware Virtualization, then you will see this error if Intel Virtualization Technology or VT-X is disabled on your computer. To do the same, boot into BIOS, then you need to find and enable Intel Virtualization under Processor, Chipset, or Northbridge options.
Read: VT-x is not available (VERR_VMX_NO_VMX)
3] Enable or Disable PAE/NX from VM’s properties
When you enable PAE/NX while creating a VM, the Physical Address Extension and NX capabilities of the host computer are accessible by Virtual Machine. There is a bug in VirtualBox making the VMs incompatible with this feature. However, the bug is not uniform throughout devices, for some, disabling works, whereas, others have to enable it. So, PAE/NX is already ticked, just untick, and enable it if it was disabled previously. To do the same, follow the prescribed steps.
- Open Oracle VirtualBox.
- Right-click on your VM and select Settings or just select it and select Ctrl + S.
- Go to System > Processor.
- Untick/tick Enable PAE/NX.
- Click Ok.
Come out of the settings, restart your computer, and then launch the VM.
Read: VirtualBox Failed to open session for the virtual machine, E_FAIL (0x80004005)
4] Increase RAM allocated to your VM
It is very possible that the RAM allocated to your VM and it is running out of memory. To increase the RAM, you need to configure the properties of the VM using the following steps.
- Open VirtualBox.
- Right-click on the VM that you are getting the error with and select Settings.
- Go to System > Motherboard.
- Increase the Base Memory using the slider.
After making the changes, reopen the VM, and this time, it should work.
Read: VirtualBox failed to register and open Hard Disk image file
How do you fix VT-X is disabled in the BIOS for all CPU modes?
If you see “VT-X is disabled in the BIOS for all CPU modes”, first make sure that your computer supports hardware acceleration; if your computer supports hardware acceleration, we need to enable the feature from the BIOS. If the feature is enabled or after enabling the feature, your issue is not resolved; there are some configurations that we need to change in your VM.
Also read: VirtualBox error: VT-X/AMD-V hardware acceleration is not available.
