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How to Disable Hyper-V on Windows Pro

The following commands will disable Hyper-V from Windows Pro and prevent nested virtualization not supported error. This error occurs when Cisco CML is deployed to VMware. There are three different reboots that will require you to return to article and continue steps.

Save this article to your desktop for convenience instead of navigating online after each restart. Paste any errors to ChatGPT for help with the commands such as typos or software version issues.

This uninstall method was tested with the following laptop configuration:

  • Dell Inspiron Laptop (2025 model)
  • Windows 11 Pro
  • VMware Workstation 17.5
  • Cisco Modeling Labs 2.8

1. Uninstall All Hyper-V Components

Open PowerShell as Administrator, paste (right-click) each command separately and press Enter:

Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V-All -NoRestart

Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName VirtualMachinePlatform -NoRestart

Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName HypervisorPlatform -NoRestart

Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux -NoRestart

Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Containers -NoRestart

Then restart computer with this PowerShell command:

Restart-Computer

2. Disable Windows Hello Device Guard

Open PowerShell as Administrator, paste this script and hit Enter. The purpose is to disable Windows Hello Device Guard feature and prevent VBS from starting.

$regPath = "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceGuard\Scenarios\WindowsHello"

if (Test-Path $regPath) {
    Set-ItemProperty -Path $regPath -Name "Enabled" -Value 0
} else {
    New-Item -Path $regPath -Force | Out-Null
    New-ItemProperty -Path $regPath -Name "Enabled" -PropertyType DWord -Value 0 -Force | Out-Null
}

Write-Host "Windows Hello under Device Guard has been disabled."

3. Prevent Hyper-V From Launching

Paste this command in PowerShell:

bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype off

Then restart your computer.

4. Disable Hyper-V Services

Some Hyper-V services may be in running state and can be disabled manually. The only service typically in running state is HV Host Service to stop and startup disable.

Note the column named “Status” and if empty then service is not running and nothing to do.

Press Win + R and type services.msc to disable any of the following services if they exist and running:

Right-click Service → Select Properties
Click Stop if the service status is running.
Set startup type to Disabled.

  • HV Host Service
  • Hyper-V Virtual Machine Management (vmms)
  • Hyper-V Host Compute Service
  • Hyper-V Time Synchronization Service
  • Hyper-V Guest Service Interface
  • Hyper-V Data Exchange Service
  • Hyper-V Heartbeat Service
  • Hyper-V PowerShell Direct Service

5. Group Policy (Prevent Hyper-V From Being Enabled Again)

Use Group Policy to prevent Hyper-V from being reinstalled:

Press Win + R and type gpedit.msc to start group policy editor.
Go to Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → System

Disable VBS:
Double-click Device Guard → Double-click Turn On Virtualization Based Security option → Check Disabled, then Apply and OK.

This helps prevent the system or updates from re-enabling virtualization.

Navigate to:
Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Hyper-V

If the folder exists, check any settings that enable Hyper-V and set to Disabled or Not Configured. If the Hyper-V policy folder is not listed then there is nothing to disable.

6. Windows Defender Application Guard (optional)

This feature is typically not included with Windows Pro unless it is an older version. Ignore any error generated that says application is unknown.

Run PowerShell as Administrator and paste this command to disable WDAG that triggers Hyper-V launch

Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Windows-Defender-ApplicationGuard -NoRestart

7. Core Isolation Memory Integrity

Go to Windows Security → Device Security → Core Isolation or type core isolation in Windows search bar.

Turn OFF Memory Integrity and restart computer.

8. Verify That Hyper-V is Fully Disabled.

Open PowerShell as Administrator after reboot and paste this command to verify Hyper-V is disabled:

Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V-All

If Hyper-V has been detected → State: Enabled
If Hyper-V has not been detected → State: Disabled

Type this command to verify hypervisorlaunchtype is set to Off:

bcdedit /enum

9. Delete Hyper-V Files (optional)

You can manually remove Hyper-V files and folders if the previous commands did NOT disable Hyper-V. Note the folders may not exist since previous commands could have deleted them.

Open Command Prompt as Administrator and paste each command:

takeown /f "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Hyper-V" /r /d y

icacls "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Hyper-V" /grant administrators:F /t

Paste this command to delete files and restart computer:

rmdir /s /q "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Hyper-V"

Open PowerShell as Administrator after reboot and paste this command to verify Hyper-V is disabled.

Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V-All

Click to continue with network automation lab setup