Windows boots exclusively and prevents BIOS access after enabling CPU virtualization

Question

Hi,

This is going to be a long post, so, apologies ahead of time.

I wanted to use Ubuntu via WSL on my Windows 11 installation. Upon attempting to run it, I got the following error:

Error: 0x80370102 The virtual machine could not be started because a required feature is not installed.

Following that was a link to this page: http://aka.ms/enablevirtualization

That link redirects to this page:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/troubleshooting#error-0x80370102-the-virtual-machine-could-not-be-started-because-a-required-feature-is-not-installed

I followed the instructions on this page as recommended by the Microsoft article to enable CPU virtualzation through my BIOS:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/how-to-enable-cpu-virtualization-in-your-computer-bios/

I will put all my hardware information as well as precisely what I did to enable CPU virtualization at the bottom of this post so we have all the details covered.

Once I had done this and rebooted the computer, Windows booted up as normal but the resolution on my display was really, really off. I went into my display settings and found that it has been locked at 640x480. The settings are grayed out, so this cannot be changed. I tried updating the graphics drivers and even Windows itself but nothing seemed to help.

I decided to give up and disable CPU virtualization and just not use WSL for now. However, I have not been able to access my BIOS configuration menu since then. There is no splash screen from the motherboard and spamming the key to enter the BIOS configuration menu (<Del>, in my case) does nothing. Windows is all that ever appears.

Now, at this point, I have good reason to believe that I'm stuck inside a Windows VM and I cannot get out. In fact, I unplugged the hard drive from which I boot into Windows and Windows still booted. Let me say that again - I can only boot into Windows, and Windows even boots when the hard drive on which Windows is installed (in fact, the ONLY hard drive I have in this computer) is unplugged.

I tried removing the CMOS battery from the motherboard to reset it and hopefully remove this automatic boot. I tried disabling the Hypervisor by setting the hypervisorlaunchtype from "Auto" to "Off". I've tried disabling WSL and the hypervisor via msconfig. Nothing seems to allow me to access the BIOS or see anything other than this extremely low resolution Windows installation.

I have also tried using the "Advanced restart" option in order to look at UEFI boot configuration options, but I just get a blank screen when I do this. I think this is also evidence that I'm stuck inside the hypervisor.

As promised, here is the system information:

Motherboard: Gigabyte B650 Gaming X AX rev 1.3
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 7600
OS: Windows 11 Home, version 23H2, build 22631.3235

In order to enable CPU virtualization, I navigated the following way in my BIOS setup:

1. Tweaker
2. Advanced CPU Settings
3. SVM Mode: Set to Enabled

How do I escape from this Hypervisor? Is the problem something else? Have I bricked my computer?

If I cannot find help here, I will post the same thing on Gigabyte's forums. However, I think this problem has to be solved in Windows as I cannot access my BIOS, like I said.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Alan

***moved from Windows / Windows 11 / Performance and system failures***

Answer 1

Hi Xu,

Thanks for the reply.

This is slightly embarrassing, but it seems that the problem was... the monitor I had been using kicked the bucket. I tried plugging in a different monitor on a whim and saw the splash screen appear! From there, I was able to confirm my BIOS settings and everything seems to be running as normal.

It is not clear to me whether this incident is just a coincidence, but the issue appears to be resolved.

So, I guess for any wanderers who may have a similar issue in the future: Try a different monitor. :)

Thanks,

Alan

Answer 2

Hi Alan,

Hope you're doing well.

1. Since you're having trouble accessing the BIOS menu, you may try to reset BIOS settings. This should reset your BIOS settings to default. Then check if you can access the BIOS.
2. Or you can check Boot Options, turn off your computer and then turn it back on and immediately start pressing the key to enter the BIOS/UEFI settings. Once in the BIOS/UEFI settings, navigate to the Boot options. Ensure that the primary boot device is your internal hard drive where Windows is installed.
3. Since you suspect the issue might be related to the Hypervisor, let's check the Hypervisor settings:

(1) Open a Command Prompt as Administrator.

bcdedit /enum

(2) Look for an entry named "hypervisorlaunchtype".

(3) If it's set to "Auto," change it to "Off" using the command: "bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype off`".

(4) Reboot your computer.

4. In addition, you can try to update Graphics Drivers.

Best Regards

Answer 3

Hi Alan,

Thanks for the update.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Best Regards