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VT-x is disabled in the BIOS for all CPU modes (VERR_VMX_MSR

Posted: 9. Feb 2016, 09:29
by iarsov
Hello,

I am having troubles with VirtualBox 5.0.14.

I keep getting the following error: VT-x is disabled in the BIOS for all CPU modes (VERR_VMX_MSR_ALL_VMX_DISABLED).
The OS is Windows 10 x64bit - Enterprise
Memory: 16gb
CPU: Intel i7-6700HQ
VT-x is enabled in BIOS also confirmed with Intel Processor Identification Utility
Hyper-v is not configured

Any ideas why VirtualBox doesn't recognize VT-x settings ?


Regards
Ivica Arsov

Re: VT-x is disabled in the BIOS for all CPU modes (VERR_VMX

Posted: 9. Feb 2016, 11:01
by socratis
See if the steps here can help you: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=62339

Re: VT-x is disabled in the BIOS for all CPU modes (VERR_VMX

Posted: 9. Feb 2016, 14:59
by danci1973
Since yesterday I had the same problem. The machine is a dual Xeon x5670 and VT-x / VT-d are both enabled in BIOS (double checked). It's running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.

The only change I'm aware of was Avast Antivirus update, so I uninstalled it, rebooted the computer and after that, VirtualBox was working again.

After that, just to double check, I re-installed Avast and yes, it broke VirtualBox.

Since running Windows without anti-virus is not a good idea, I tried to install Avast with only the bare essentials (I was especially suspicious of that 'Secure Virtual Machines' option), but even so it breaks VirtualBox.

So I guess I'm loooking for a new antivirus for Windows...

Re: VT-x is disabled in the BIOS for all CPU modes (VERR_VMX

Posted: 9. Feb 2016, 15:06
by iarsov
Yes,

I had avast anti-virus installed, but anyway I re-installed the Windows (cuz it was fresh install) and the problem got fixed.

I would assume that Avast was the issue.

Thank you!
Ivica

Re: VT-x is disabled in the BIOS for all CPU modes (VERR_VMX

Posted: 9. Feb 2016, 16:33
by MDHollinger
I got this working finally.

In Avast, under the Troubleshooting Options page
Uncheck Enable Hardware-Assisted Virtualization.

Seems Avast must be running something in the background to create their "Sandbox" feature, and it locks up the virtualization features from being used by VirtualBox. Once I Unchecked that box and rebooted, my VBox VMs start right up!

Re: VT-x is disabled in the BIOS for all CPU modes (VERR_VMX

Posted: 9. Feb 2016, 19:22
by danci1973
MDHollinger wrote: In Avast, under the Troubleshooting Options page
Uncheck Enable Hardware-Assisted Virtualization.

Seems Avast must be running something in the background to create their "Sandbox" feature, and it locks up the virtualization features from being used by VirtualBox. Once I Unchecked that box and rebooted, my VBox VMs start right up!
Thank you, that did the trick on my machine as well. I did have to reboot, before VirtualBox worked again, even though Avast didn't require it.

Re: VT-x is disabled in the BIOS for all CPU modes (VERR_VMX

Posted: 11. Feb 2016, 05:56
by virtual boyx
MDHollinger wrote:I got this working finally.

In Avast, under the Troubleshooting Options page
Uncheck Enable Hardware-Assisted Virtualization.

Seems Avast must be running something in the background to create their "Sandbox" feature, and it locks up the virtualization features from being used by VirtualBox. Once I Unchecked that box and rebooted, my VBox VMs start right up!
Seriously, thank you so much!

I spent whole day installing program to check vt-x, checking vt-x, installing reinstalling other programs, contacting my notebook support, finding how to enable the virtualization menu in BIOS, etc.

I was ready to give up but today I chanced upon this thread and tried your solution, and it works!

DAMNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!! AVAST SO DAMNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

edit:
link to avast site -> https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=182778.0

Why did they need to turn on this option by default and not ask user? Average user might not need virtualization but I need that for working. I was really stressed yesterday, imagine if I was on tight deadline and this happen.

Sorry for the rant.

Re: VT-x is disabled in the BIOS for all CPU modes (VERR_VMX

Posted: 14. Feb 2016, 15:04
by danci1973
I just got a reply from Avast today (I reported a bug) - apparently a fix has been released recently.

I don't quite understand whether the fix came from Avast (currently mine shows version 11.1.2253, release date 2.2.2016 which is not new enough) or from Microsoft as my machine received a bunch of updates from MS yesterday.

I went ahead an re-enabled Hardware-Assisted Virtualization, rebooted the machine and lo-and-behold - it works!