Thursday, February 24, 2011

VMWare Workstation Error Message: 64-bit operation is not possible

If you newly install VMWare Workstation on your computer and you try to configure a 64-bit Guest VM such as Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2012, you may receive the following error message:


Well, this error message essentially means that even though you may be running a 64-bit OS on your computer, you are running it on the HOST OS.  This is different than running a 64-bit OS in a Guest Virtual Machine.

By default, most BIOS settings disable Virtualization Technology.  Therefore, if you want to run 64-bit Guest VMs on your system, you will have to manually alter this setting in your BIOS.

On older computers, there is another technology enabled in your BIOS which is inhibiting and thus preventing you from using 64-bit guest virtualization called Intel-AMT.  You can read more about Intel-AMT here: http://www.intel.com/technology/platform-technology/intel-amt/

So, as you can probably guess, if you disable Intel-AMT from your BIOS and then re-boot your system, you will be able to utilize 64-bit guest virtual machines!

On newer computers, this setting has been renamed to Virtualization Technology (VTx).  The location of this setting can vary from computer to computer, but on an HP computer for example, it is under the System Configuration --> Device Configurations menu option.

You simply have to check the Virtualization Technology (VTx) checkbox and you should be all set to run 64-bit Guest Virtual Machines!





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