Enable Virtualization on Core 2 Duo

[Nano Adam]

I have a Dell Studio Slim Core 2 Duo which used to run Windows Vista but now runs Windows 10 flawlessly. But I am facing one problem, I want to enable virtualization but cannot find it in the BIOS. I was able to virtualize FreeNAS on it and Windows Vista (1 Core) but what should I do to enable virtualization.

 

I hope I can find a solution then this machine can be given some more love. 

[Windows7ge]

Can we get an exact model number of your CPU? Sounds like it doesn't support virtualization. You'd be looking for VT-t and/or VT-d in the BIOS.

[AbydosOne]

On 4/20/2019 at 9:44 PM, ammar_code said:

I have a Dell Studio Slim Core 2 Duo which used to run Windows Vista but now runs Windows 10 flawlessly. But I am facing one problem, I want to enable virtualization but cannot find it in the BIOS. I was able to virtualize FreeNAS on it and Windows Vista (1 Core) but what should I do to enable virtualization.

With my 12 seconds of Googling, I'm going to assume it's an E7400 or similar. These (kind of, see spoiler) support VT-x, which is kinda the bare minimum of virtualization extensions. I don't think VT-d was a thing yet when those were new.

Spoiler

Only some of the E7400s have VT-x, oddly enough. There are two Intel part numbers (AT80571PH0723M and AT80571PH0723ML), and only the 'L' one supports VT-x. There's no external difference between the two that I know of. I don't how common either one is relative to the other.

 

I don't know if CPU-Z shows all supported extensions, or only the ones turned on, but you could start there (under the "Instructions" field on the first screen). Also try the Microsoft Hardware-Assisted Virtualization Detection Tool. It's entirely possible that Dell never bothered with the option (it really only because sort of mainstream-relevant with Win7's XP mode).

 

Opinionated answer: don't virtualize FreeNAS, especially on a system that doesn't support VT-d, unless you know what you're doing. It won't be happy, your data won't be happy, and therefore you won't be happy. You're better off just running Win10 and sharing drives through that (using Storage Spaces to make a pool, if you're so inclined).

[Scheer]

Just ran into this last weekend, was going to throw ESXi on an old Dell Optiplex with a Q9400, and it flat out refuses to install because of an incompatible CPU, even have virtualization (VT-d even) enabled in the BIOS.

 

Best I can tell, you just can't do it.

[DeaconFrost]

What is it you are trying to do/run?  Running a virtual machine using something like VMWare Player is a big difference than running a full hypervisor.  However, given the generation of the system in question, I'm not sure if either would be worthwhile.

[Jay Deah]

Back in the day CPUs didn’t have dedicated Virtualisation support and the products used a method called ‘binary translation’ to enable virtual machines to work. Nowadays since Virtualization eztensions are built straight into the CPU most virtualisation software has dropped support for binary translation so you can only use it on supported hardware. I could you could run an older hypervisor like ESX3 but there’s really no point doing this