I'm a complete newbie and I'm trying to learn more about virtual machines (VMs). I've heard that disabling Hyper-V might improve VM performance. However, I'm also aware that it could pose security risks. I plan to run Linux Mint on a Windows 11 PC for various purposes like gaming, programming, and just learning about Linux. I don't want to dual boot, as I've had a tough time with that before, especially with Ubuntu. Can anyone provide some advice on whether I should disable Hyper-V for better performance or stick with it?
4 Answers
Don't stress about performance; your setup sounds powerful enough to handle VMs well. With an i5 14th Gen CPU and a 4060 GPU, you should be in great shape! Just take it step by step and enjoy the learning process.
Disabling unnecessary features can enhance security, so if you don't use Hyper-V, it's fine to turn it off. However, if you're serious about learning Linux, getting a separate, dedicated machine can be even better than using a VM. Once you’re comfortable with Linux, you can upgrade your setup, but there's nothing wrong with running multiple PCs for different tasks.
Disabling Hyper-V will turn off some important Windows security features. If you have Windows Pro, consider keeping Hyper-V enabled and just accessing your VMs through Hyper-V Manager instead. If you want to use other VM software like VirtualBox or VMware, make sure to enable the 'Windows Hypervisor Platform' in the optional features. It helps maintain your system's security while you run your VMs.
If you're not using Microsoft Hyper-V as your hypervisor, which you probably aren't if you're asking this, you can safely disable it. In most cases, Hyper-V will try to take over and prevent other hypervisors from working. Just make sure that your Virtualization support is enabled in your BIOS or UEFI settings, and you should be good to go.
But I heard I should disable it to improve performance? Is that a misunderstanding?