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virtualizationvirtual-pc

Determine if my PC supports HW Virtualization

How, in general, does one determine if a PC supports hardware virtualization? I use VirtualPC to set up parallel test environments and I'd enjoy a bit of a speed boost.

Solution

  • Download this: http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

    Also check, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86_virtualization

    Edit: Additional, I know it's for XEN but the instructions are the same for all VMs that want hardware support. http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/HVM_Compatible_Processors

    I can't try it from work, but I'm sure it can identify whether you've got the Intel VT or AMD-V instructions. Intel will have a "vmx" instruction and AMD will have a "svm".

    On linux you can check /proc/cpuinfo, "egrep '(vmx|svm)' /proc/cpuinfo"