How to Create a Virtual Machine Using Hyper-V on Windows 10

Do you want to create virtual machines without using VirtualBox or VMware?

Hyper-V is a software built into Windows 10 Pro & Enterprise editions allowing users to create virtual machines that operate a guest OS separately.

Using Hyper-V which was first made available for Windows Server users, you can create a virtual machine connected to internet and do all kinds of stuff that you would do with third-party software like Oracle VirtualBox or VMware Workstation.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to enable Hyper-V on your Windows 10 machine and create a switch to then create a virtual machine that we will install Windows 10 into.

Let’s go!

Create Virtual Machines with Hyper-V on Windows 10

Enable Hyper-V

Even if Hyper-V is available in Windows 10 we need to enable it as it’s disabled by default, VMware users may experience some issues with their virtual machines as VMware uses Hyper-V feature. But VirtualBox will not experience any problems.

Open the Start menu and search for and open “Turn Windows features on or off“.

create virtual machines hyper v windows 10 1 features start

Check the option “Hyper-V” and click “OK“. This option is only available for Pro & Enterprise users.

As soon as you click “OK” Windows will apply the changes and you will be asked to restart your PC.

create virtual machines hyper v windows 10 2 hyper v feature on

You will be invited to restart your PC, make sure you keep the link of this tutorial as a favorite and restart your PC.

create virtual machines hyper v windows 10 3 restart now

Create a Virtual Switch

After you restart your PC Hyper-V will be enabled by default.

Open the Start menu and open the Hyper-V Manager, it’s the tool used to create and manage your virtual machines on Windows 10.

create virtual machines hyper v windows 10 4 start hyper v manager

Click on “Virtual Switch Manager“.

create virtual machines hyper v windows 10 5 virtual switch manager

Select “External” and click on “Create Virtual Switch“.

create virtual machines hyper v windows 10 6 create virtual switch

Put a name for your Virtual Network Switch, select your network adapter that is connected to the internet, and check “Allow management operating system to share this network adapter“”.

Click “OK“.

create virtual machines hyper v windows 10 7 virtual switch properties external network tp link wireless usb adapter allow management oprating system share

You will receive this message: Pending changes may disrupt network connectivity. This computer may lose its network connection while the changes are applied. This may affect any network operations in progress. These changes also may overwrite some static changes. If that happens, you must reapply the static changes to restore network connectivity. Do you want to continue?

Click “Yes“.

create virtual machines hyper v windows 10 8 pending changes may disrupt network connectivity

After you created your virtual network switch, now it’s time to create our virtual machine.

Right-click on your PC name and choose “New” > “Virtual Machine“.

create virtual machines hyper v windows 10 9 new virtual machine

Click “Next“.

create virtual machines hyper v windows 10 10 before you begin

Choose a proper name for your virtual machine and click “Next“.

If you want to store the virtual machine in a different location, you can do so in this step.

create virtual machines hyper v windows 10 11 choose a name virtual machine

Choose “Generation 2“, it says: This virtual machine generation provides support for newer virtualization features, has UEFI-based firmware, and requires a supported 64-bit guest operating system. Click “Next“.