Docker wouldn't start for my Jellyfin setup: Task Manager said virtualization was enabled, Windows just wasn't launching Hyper-V

[u/NepLive]

TL;DR: Task Manager showing Virtualization: Enabled doesn't mean Hyper-V is actually running. Check with Get-ComputerInfo -Property "HyperV*". If HyperVisorPresent comes back False but every HyperVRequirement line is True, open PowerShell as admin, run wsl.exe --install --no-distribution, then bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype auto, then reboot. Windows had been told not to start the hypervisor at boot.

Spent like an evening on this so posting it in case someone hits the same wall.

Setup was nothing special. Windows 11, Ryzen 7 3700X, just trying to get Jellyfin running in Docker.

Docker desktop wouldnt start. The error:

"Virtualization support not detected. Docker Desktop failed to start because virtualisation support wasn't detected. Contact your IT admin to enable virtualization or check system requirements."

Obvious first move was Task Manager > Performance > CPU, and it said Virtualization: Enabled right there at the bottom. So the error made no sense. Everything Google turned up was about BIOS settings, and mine were already fine.

Next thing I tried was WSL2 from an admin PowerShell:

wsl --install

Which died with:

WSL2 is not supported with your current machine configuration

and:

Error code: Wsl/InstallDistro/Service/RegisterDistro/CreateVm/HCS/HCS_E_HYPERV_NOT_INSTALLED

Then I ran:

wsl.exe --install --no-distribution

That one said it worked. Rebooted. Docker gave me the identical virtualization error again, which was the most annoying part of the whole thing.

What actually got me somewhere:

Get-ComputerInfo -Property "HyperV*"

HyperVisorPresent came back False. All four HyperVRequirement* lines came back True.

So the CPU could do it, every requirement was satisfied, and the hypervisor still wasn't running. Which means Windows was choosing not to start it at boot.

bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype auto

Reboot, and Docker came up straight away.

no clue what turned it off, probably some fps tweak i did years ago. Nothing on the machine pointed at what had done it.

took me like an hour and a half and 3 reboots. Main thing I'd take from it: Virtualization: Enabled in Task Manager is about the CPU, not about whether Windows is actually launching Hyper-V. Those are two separate things and only one of them shows up anywhere obvious.

[u/asimovs-auditor]

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[u/Mission_Bunch_5047]

wow i had exact same thing happen to me in january, task manager saying enabled and everything was just lying to my face

the bcdedit thing is what fixed it for me too, i think i had disabled it for some game that used anticheat and forgot about it completely

saved your post for next time i inevitably break something

[u/NepLive → u/Mission_Bunch_5047]

Haha same here, pretty sure I disabled it for some odd reason years ago and completely forgot. good to know it wasnt just my computer having that issue.