Saturday, August 8, 2015

hyper v - Windows in a VM with 3D Graphics card

What I want


I want to run Windows 8.1 in a VM (on Hyper-V) with rich, 3D graphics (Direct3D) - using the host's graphics card. I.e. I want to use RemoteFX with vGPU for this VM.


My problem


Currently, my VM is only Windows Professional (8.1), whereas vGPU is (apparently) only supported on the Enterprise edition.
Now I would consider re-installing Windows Enterprise in a new VM (if necessary), however I do not have access to the installation disk. (My TechNet subscription expired recently, though the windows license keys are still valid.)
I do have the ISO for Win8.1 Pro. I also have the installation ISO for Win8.1 Enterprise for 32 bit (x86).


What I have



  • Hyper-V on Windows Server 2012, with a strong graphics card

  • VM with Windows 8.1 Professional

  • Additional Windows license key for Enterprise edition

  • Windows installation ISO for Professional only.

  • Windows installation ISO for Enterprise on x86.


For the record, I did run an experiment using the Enterprise Eval ISO, and the vGPU works wonderfully on my system. Unfortunately, it is impossible to upgrade the eval install to use a full license key (after 90 days a full reinstall is necessary).


What I am looking for


Optimistically, a valid solution would be any of the following:



  • Instructions on how to force Win8 Pro to change to Win8 Enterprise (using the valid Enterprise license key).

  • How to install ("hack") vGPU to work on Win8 Pro

  • Link to Win8.1 Enterprise x64 installation ISO (NOT evaluation - this cannot be upgraded to a full license). (As I mentioned, I have a legitimate license, but since my TechNet subscription expired I can't download a fresh ISO, as far as I can find).

  • How to upgrade Windows 8 Enterprise Evaluation edition to a full Enterprise install (using a valid key).

  • Any other creative solution that I have not thought of, that will allow me to have a 64-bit Windows VM with vGPU.

No comments:

Post a Comment

linux - How to SSH to ec2 instance in VPC private subnet via NAT server

I have created a VPC in aws with a public subnet and a private subnet. The private subnet does not have direct access to external network. S...