Hyper-V failing to start any of my VM's.

Question

Hyper-V failing to start any of my VM's.

Dovi Felsenburg 5

I am having this issue that after doing an update that updating my Bios and windows 11 to: "2025-01 Cumulative Update for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.8.1 for Windows 11, version 24H2 for x64 (KB5049622)"

and,

"2025-01 Cumulative Update for Windows 11 Version 24H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5050009)"

non of my Hyper-V VM's are starting unless I turn off TPM but windows 11 won't install without TPM. All the VM's give this error:

I have tried creating new VM's, it did not fix the issue.

Dell Inspiron 3910

12th Gen Intel Core i5-12400

32.0 GB RAM

Windows 11

Version: 24H2

OS build: 26100.2894

Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.36.0

Alan Curran 0 Reputation points

2026-02-04T14:47:02.5633333+00:00

Has this been resolved? I have the exact problem on W11Home 25H2. The W11Pro VM will not start unless I disable the vTPM. The VM was created on a W11Pro PC and exported/imported to the W11Home system. It originally ran OK, but sometime before Xmas it stopped working.
Alan Curran 0 Reputation points

2026-02-06T11:32:18.0566667+00:00

To add further information from the W11 Home Event Logs

From the event tree Application and Service Logs/Microsoft/Windows/...

Hyper-V-Worker/Admin reports event ID 3040 'could not initialise'

Hyper-V-VMMS/Admin reports event ID 15500 'vmname' failed to start worker process: This operation returned because the timeout period expired. (0x800705B4).
followed by
event ID 15130 'vmname' failed to start

If I remove the vTPM, the VM starts normally.

If I create a new VM the same happens. Running without the vTPM, W11 fails to install because 'the machine does not meet the hardware requirements (missing TPM).

I hope this sheds light onto this problem.

I have been through all the suggested checks and removed and re-installed Hyper-v

Thank you
Dhiraj Dhote 0 Reputation points

2026-02-08T07:38:29.43+00:00

@Alan Curran
Do THIS first (most likely fix – 90% success)

Run on the Hyper-V host (PowerShell as Admin):

Stop-VM "Win11-AP-VM"

Disable-VMTPM "Win11-AP-VM"

Set-VMKeyProtector -VMName "Win11-AP-VM" -NewLocalKeyProtector

Enable-VMTPM "Win11-AP-VM"

Start-VM "Win11-AP-VM"

Why this works:
Your old key protector became invalid the moment TPM was toggled
Hyper-V won’t tell you — it just refuses to start the VM
Alan Curran 0 Reputation points

2026-02-08T16:08:44.3+00:00

Dhiraj, Thank you for your suggestion.

I completely reinstalled hyper-v, then imported the VM again. Needed to import the certificates from the source PC before the VM failed to start again with the worker process timeout.

I tried your commands which were were executed successfully up until the Start-VM which failed in exactly the same way as previously (worker process timeout)

Please, have you any other suggestions?

1 answer

Your answer

Alan Curran 0 Reputation points

2026-02-04T14:47:02.5633333+00:00

Has this been resolved? I have the exact problem on W11Home 25H2. The W11Pro VM will not start unless I disable the vTPM. The VM was created on a W11Pro PC and exported/imported to the W11Home system. It originally ran OK, but sometime before Xmas it stopped working.
Alan Curran 0 Reputation points

2026-02-06T11:32:18.0566667+00:00

To add further information from the W11 Home Event Logs

From the event tree Application and Service Logs/Microsoft/Windows/...

Hyper-V-Worker/Admin reports event ID 3040 'could not initialise'

Hyper-V-VMMS/Admin reports event ID 15500 'vmname' failed to start worker process: This operation returned because the timeout period expired. (0x800705B4).
followed by
event ID 15130 'vmname' failed to start

If I remove the vTPM, the VM starts normally.

If I create a new VM the same happens. Running without the vTPM, W11 fails to install because 'the machine does not meet the hardware requirements (missing TPM).

I hope this sheds light onto this problem.

I have been through all the suggested checks and removed and re-installed Hyper-v

Thank you
Dhiraj Dhote 0 Reputation points

2026-02-08T07:38:29.43+00:00

@Alan Curran
Do THIS first (most likely fix – 90% success)

Run on the Hyper-V host (PowerShell as Admin):

Stop-VM "Win11-AP-VM"

Disable-VMTPM "Win11-AP-VM"

Set-VMKeyProtector -VMName "Win11-AP-VM" -NewLocalKeyProtector

Enable-VMTPM "Win11-AP-VM"

Start-VM "Win11-AP-VM"

Why this works:
Your old key protector became invalid the moment TPM was toggled
Hyper-V won’t tell you — it just refuses to start the VM
Alan Curran 0 Reputation points

2026-02-08T16:08:44.3+00:00

Dhiraj, Thank you for your suggestion.

I completely reinstalled hyper-v, then imported the VM again. Needed to import the certificates from the source PC before the VM failed to start again with the worker process timeout.

I tried your commands which were were executed successfully up until the Start-VM which failed in exactly the same way as previously (worker process timeout)

Please, have you any other suggestions?

Answer 1

Hi, I am Henry and I'd like to help.

The issue you're experiencing with Hyper-V failing to start VMs after the updates and BIOS changes is likely related to a conflict between TPM settings and the updated environment. Here's a detailed troubleshooting guide to help resolve the problem:

1. Verify TPM Configuration

Ensure that TPM is enabled in the BIOS:

Restart your PC and enter the BIOS/UEFI settings (usually by pressing F2, Del, or Esc during boot).
Navigate to the Security or Advanced tab and confirm that TPM 2.0 is enabled.
Check if the TPM firmware is up to date. Some BIOS updates may require a separate TPM firmware update.

2. Check Secure Boot Settings

Ensure that Secure Boot is enabled in the BIOS. This is required for Windows 11 and may affect Hyper-V functionality.
If Secure Boot is already enabled, try disabling it temporarily to test if it resolves the issue.

3. Reinstall Hyper-V

The update might have caused a misconfiguration in Hyper-V. Reinstalling it can help:
Open Windows Features and uncheck Hyper-V.
Restart your PC.
Re-enable Hyper-V and restart again.

4. Update Drivers and Firmware

Ensure that all drivers, including chipset and storage drivers, are up to date. Visit Dell's support website for the latest drivers for your Inspiron 3910.
Check for any additional firmware updates for your motherboard or TPM module.

5. Test with a Clean VM

Create a new Generation 2 VM with minimal settings (e.g., no TPM or Secure Boot) to test if the issue is specific to existing VMs.

6. Check Event Viewer Logs

Open Event Viewer (Win + X > Event Viewer) and look for errors related to Hyper-V or the VM startup process. This can provide more specific details about the failure.

7. Disable NUMA Spanning

Some users have reported that disabling NUMA spanning in Hyper-V settings resolves similar issues:
Open Hyper-V Manager.
Go to Hyper-V Settings > NUMA Spanning and disable it.

Let me know how these steps work for you. If you encounter any error messages during the process, please share a screenshot of the error message to help identify the root cause of the issue.

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Hyper-V failing to start any of my VM's.

1 answer

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