Install Windows 11 on a Windows 10 virtual machine

Virtual machines are a great way to test an operating system without changing the one you're currently using. Creating an isolated environment inside a virtual machine does not affect the operating system you are using. There are many external programs that allow you to create virtual machines, but we will use Hyper-V, a feature built into Windows 10.

How to check for PC compatibility and enable Hyper-V in Windows 10

First of all, you need to make sure that you have a computer that is compatible with Hyper-V, check its characteristics. Running a virtual machine is not a light task, so you will need to less than 4 GB random access memory on your PC. In fact, Windows 11 requires even more since the virtual machine you create must have 4 GB as per Windows 11 requirements. There are two more things you need to have:

1. 64-bit processor with Second Level Address Translation (SLAT).
2. Processor support for virtual machine monitor mode extension (VT-x on Intel processors).

Most modern processors should support these features, but it's always better to be sure.

Or you can check these processor requirements, CPU requirements and whether your PC supports Hyper-V using PowerShell, see how it's done:

• Press the Windows + S combination, enter powershell and run it as administrator.
• Type or copy and paste systeminfo.exe and press Enter.
• At the top of the report you will find the information you need to view the processor and CPU support. If you need even more information, click Windows + R And enter msinfo32, which will give you model numbers for a more comprehensive online search.
• See the Hyper-V Requirements section at the end. For Hyper-V to work, all items must be set to Yes.

If the virtualization-enabled firmware says "No", you can enable it in the computer's BIOS, and here's how to do it:

• That enter BIOS, you need to restart your computer, and when it turns on again, press the Esc, F2, F8, F12 or DEL key several times, it depends on what kind of computer you have.
• In the BIOS, find "Intel Virtualization Technology", "SVM Mode" or something similar and activate it.
• Save and exit the BIOS, most often this is the F10 key, but again, this depends on the computer.

Enable Hyper-V as an optional feature

1. Press the Windows + S combination, type Control Panel and enter.
2. Set Control Panel to View by: Category. Click on Programs and then click on Turn Windows features on or off.
3. Hyper-V should be one of your first options. Check all the options and click accept, Windows will search for the files and then prompt you to restart your computer, which is what you should do.

Installing Windows 11 on a W10 virtual machine with Hyper-V

To install Windows 11 on a W10 virtual machine with Hyper-V, you first need to have a Windows 11 ISO handy, so follow this simple guide to download the official Windows 11 ISO.​​​​

Creating a virtual machine in Hyper-V is not at all difficult, just follow these simple steps:

1. Click "Start" and find "Windows Administrative Tools" and then select "Hyper-V Manager."
2. In the upper left corner you will see the name assigned to your PC as a terminal. Right click on this name and select New > Virtual Machine.
3. The Create a Virtual Machine Wizard will launch, click Next, then enter a name for your virtual machine (for example, Windows 11).
4. Then select the generation of the virtual machine you want to create. For Windows 11, generation 2 should be used.
5. Now you need to allocate RAM. Windows 11 requires at least 4 GB of RAM, so enter 4096 MB and make sure the dynamic memory option is enabled. You can allocate more RAM if you want, we tested this and it works fine with 4GB on a PC with 12GB RAM.
6. In the next step change the connection type to Default Switch, this will allow your virtual machine to access the internet.
7. Now you need to configure the virtual hard disk space. The virtual machine takes up space and uses it as if it were a hard drive, but in reality it is also virtual. You can select the value you need if this space is free on your host computer. We must remember that Windows 11 requires 64 GB of memory, so it is good if you allocate at least 80 GB and then Windows 11 will accept it, but we are talking about virtual space, we have put 50 GB and Windows 11 will accept it, but so that Don't risk it, install 80 GB.
8. If you followed the Windows 11 download instructions correctly, this file should be located in the "Downloads" or in the folder where you moved it. Click Browse, locate this folder, and select Windows 11 ISO to install. When you click Next you will see a summary, select Finish.
9. In the menu on the right side, below Windows 11 (this is the virtual machine we just created), click on Settings.
10. Click on Security and make sure that the Enable Secure Boot, Enable Secure Platform Module and Encrypt virtual machine migration traffic and state options are enabled. Click Apply.
11. Now in the section Processor Increase the number of virtual processors to two, as required by the Windows 11 minimum requirements. Click Apply and then OK.
12. Everything is ready, press the button Hometo begin installing Windows 11.

 

Installing Windows 11 on a virtual machine

To finish installing Windows 11 on the W10 virtual machine, let's move on to installing Windows 11, which loaded when you clicked the Start button. We are going to do a clean installation and it is no different from installing any Windows system. However, it is necessary to take into account some details:

• The default language and region settings should be fine, if not, select them, click Next and click Install Now.
• Enter your product key if you have it handy. You can skip this step, but you will need it later, so we have 4 universal keys for installing Windows 11, check them out.
• Select the edition of Windows 11 you want to install, but make sure it matches the product key you used.
• Accept the license agreement, and then select Custom: install Windows only (advanced). Don't worry, remember this is a virtual hard drive, it won't erase anything from your PC's hard drive.
• Now select the virtual hard disk we created and click Next. The installation process will begin and then the setup of Windows 11 will begin.

That's it, we have finished installing Windows 11 on the W10 virtual machine.