List of PCs supporting Hardware Assisted Virtualization

Does such a list exist? Right now I'm in the market for a laptop,
likely from HP, but I will have Windows 7 which requires HAV to use
Virtual PC, and I can't find a definitive list of which products support
HAV.

Anyone know of such a list?

TIA

"C A Upsdell" <> wrote in message
news:u3D$...
> Does such a list exist? Right now I'm in the market for a laptop,
> likely from HP, but I will have Windows 7 which requires HAV to use
> Virtual PC, and I can't find a definitive list of which products
> support HAV.
>
> Anyone know of such a list?
> ...

Don't know of a list of PC *models*, but you can check the
capabilities of Intel CPUs at http://processorfinder.intel.com/. Once
you select a processor family, you can filter on various capabilities.
Note that I'm not sure if WVPC requires 'Execute disable bit' also (I
think Hyper-V does); so best is to get a processor with both (it's
usefull anyway).

I do not know where to find a similar page for AMD processors.

Beware that, as I found on the Internet, there are computers (from
Sony, IIRC) that ship with a VT-capable CPU but who's BIOS does not
allow enabling that feature. So, the best is to boot the computer and
look into the BIOS if it has an option to enable/ disable VT.

On Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:45:57 -0500, C A Upsdell
<> wrote:

>Does such a list exist? Right now I'm in the market for a laptop,
>likely from HP, but I will have Windows 7 which requires HAV to use
>Virtual PC,

Not if by Virtual PC you mean VPC2007. Only Windows Virtual PC (the
Win7 flavour) requires VT to install.

> and I can't find a definitive list of which products support
>HAV.
>
>Anyone know of such a list?
>
I don't think that such a list exists. You will have to check what CPU
is used on each candidate and compare to the CPU maker's data sheet
for it. And you have also to check the PC MB maker's BIOS settings....
Some makers hide the VT enabling so it is not even possible to switch
on in BIOS (for excample some Sony Vaios do this).

--

Bo Berglund (Sweden)

"C A Upsdell" <> skrev i meddelelsen
news:u3D$...
> Does such a list exist? Right now I'm in the market for a laptop, likely
> from HP, but I will have Windows 7 which requires HAV to use Virtual PC,
> and I can't find a definitive list of which products support HAV.
>
> Anyone know of such a list?
>
> TIA
>
>
>
You can download and use the "pidenu23.msi" found on
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Deta...=7838&lang=eng

Running this program identify an intel prosessor.
And tell you whether this specific intel processor can handle VT.
And a list can be found here:
http://ark.intel.com/VTList.aspx
If you press a processor-type in the left column, a list wil be displayed.

/senn

On Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:45:57 -0500, C A Upsdell
<> wrote:

>Does such a list exist? Right now I'm in the market for a laptop,
>likely from HP, but I will have Windows 7 which requires HAV to use
>Virtual PC, and I can't find a definitive list of which products support
>HAV.
>
>Anyone know of such a list?
>
>TIA

There is no list.
You should look at the specs of the system you're going to buy. If
hardware VT isn't explicitly mentioned, don't buy it.
This is how I purchase my stuff and everything I've got has VT.

Just because the CPU supports VT doesn't mean the BIOS does or the
BIOS implementation works. Look for forums for the product and ask
current owners for clarification.

--
Cheers,
Steve Jain, Virtual Machine MVP
http://vpc.essjae.com/
http://smudj.wordpress.com/

"C A Upsdell" <> skrev i meddelelsen
news:u3D$...
> Does such a list exist? Right now I'm in the market for a laptop, likely
> from HP, but I will have Windows 7 which requires HAV to use Virtual PC,
> and I can't find a definitive list of which products support HAV.
>
> Anyone know of such a list?
>
> TIA
>
>
>

You can put this tool on a stick and ask the seller to test the labtop.
Microsoft® Hardware-Assisted Virtualization Detection Tool
Download it from here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

On 2010-02-21 17:59, senn wrote:
>
> "C A Upsdell" <> skrev i meddelelsen
> news:u3D$...
>> Does such a list exist? Right now I'm in the market for a laptop,
>> likely from HP, but I will have Windows 7 which requires HAV to use
>> Virtual PC, and I can't find a definitive list of which products
>> support HAV.
>>
>> Anyone know of such a list?
>>
> You can put this tool on a stick and ask the seller to test the labtop.
> Microsoft® Hardware-Assisted Virtualization Detection Tool
> Download it from here:
> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

I knew about this some time ago. The problem is that the seller should
refuse -- and almost certainly will refuse -- because they cannot know
that the stick is safe.

Perhaps the seller would be willing to download the tool from the
Microsoft site, as this should assure them that it is safe. But I
suspect that the seller may have blanket instructions to its sales
personnel not to download *any* software to the demo machines.

What is particularly annoying about this situation is that many vendors
like HP don't bother to publish the information on their sites: at least
not in any place I have been able to find. (Dell is a notable
exception.) If I find out what the processor is, I can find out whether
it supports HAV: but this does not tell me whether a particular model
of PC enables it. And the newsgroups are full of complaints by people
who bought PCs thinking that the PCs supported HAV, only to find out
that the PCs did not, or that the PCs would, but only with a BIOS
upgrade which is not yet available.

Sigh.

"C A Upsdell" <> skrev i meddelelsen
news:...
> On 2010-02-21 17:59, senn wrote:
>>
>> "C A Upsdell" <> skrev i meddelelsen
>> news:u3D$...
>>> Does such a list exist? Right now I'm in the market for a laptop,
>>> likely from HP, but I will have Windows 7 which requires HAV to use
>>> Virtual PC, and I can't find a definitive list of which products
>>> support HAV.
>>>
>>> Anyone know of such a list?
>>>
>> You can put this tool on a stick and ask the seller to test the labtop.
>> Microsoft® Hardware-Assisted Virtualization Detection Tool
>> Download it from here:
>> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
>
> I knew about this some time ago. The problem is that the seller should
> refuse -- and almost certainly will refuse -- because they cannot know
> that the stick is safe.
>
> Perhaps the seller would be willing to download the tool from the
> Microsoft site, as this should assure them that it is safe. But I suspect
> that the seller may have blanket instructions to its sales personnel not
> to download *any* software to the demo machines.
>
> What is particularly annoying about this situation is that many vendors
> like HP don't bother to publish the information on their sites: at least
> not in any place I have been able to find. (Dell is a notable exception.)
> If I find out what the processor is, I can find out whether it supports
> HAV: but this does not tell me whether a particular model of PC enables
> it. And the newsgroups are full of complaints by people who bought PCs
> thinking that the PCs supported HAV, only to find out that the PCs did
> not, or that the PCs would, but only with a BIOS upgrade which is not yet
> available.
>
> Sigh.
>
>
I thought about the problem of trusting. But think it's
within reach to persuade the seller in one or the other way.
The seller may run a virus-test on another machine. Or he knows,
it's normally riskfree downloading programs from a microsoft-page.
After all, anyone seller likes to sell you a labtop.
If he's a stubborn type just ask him - as another one here suggested -
to include a guarantee in a contract of sale.
One thing is for sure; someone among a lot of sellers will be prepared
to help you in one way or the other. It's just a matter to present him
for the problem and make it clear to him, that a buy depends on it.
And that you want a guarantee.
/senn

On Sun, 21 Feb 2010 19:04:33 -0500, C A Upsdell
<> wrote:

>On 2010-02-21 17:59, senn wrote:
>>
>> "C A Upsdell" <> skrev i meddelelsen
>> news:u3D$...
>>> Does such a list exist? Right now I'm in the market for a laptop,
>>> likely from HP, but I will have Windows 7 which requires HAV to use
>>> Virtual PC, and I can't find a definitive list of which products
>>> support HAV.
>>>
>>> Anyone know of such a list?
>>>
>> You can put this tool on a stick and ask the seller to test the labtop.
>> Microsoft® Hardware-Assisted Virtualization Detection Tool
>> Download it from here:
>> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
>
>I knew about this some time ago. The problem is that the seller should
>refuse -- and almost certainly will refuse -- because they cannot know
>that the stick is safe.
>
>Perhaps the seller would be willing to download the tool from the
>Microsoft site, as this should assure them that it is safe. But I
>suspect that the seller may have blanket instructions to its sales
>personnel not to download *any* software to the demo machines.
>
>What is particularly annoying about this situation is that many vendors
>like HP don't bother to publish the information on their sites: at least
>not in any place I have been able to find. (Dell is a notable
>exception.) If I find out what the processor is, I can find out whether
>it supports HAV: but this does not tell me whether a particular model
>of PC enables it. And the newsgroups are full of complaints by people
>who bought PCs thinking that the PCs supported HAV, only to find out
>that the PCs did not, or that the PCs would, but only with a BIOS
>upgrade which is not yet available.
>
>Sigh.

Are you looking at consumer level laptops or business? I can tell you
that the Dell e series e6400 and e6500 specfically have VT support. I
buy these for my company. The Dell d620 and d630 models also have it
as long as the CPU does.

--
Cheers,
Steve Jain, Virtual Machine MVP
http://vpc.essjae.com/
http://smudj.wordpress.com/

"C A Upsdell" <> wrote in message
news:...
> On 2010-02-21 17:59, senn wrote:
> ...
> If I find out what the processor is, I can find out whether it supports
> HAV
> ...

Yes, you can know in most cases, but not always. Speaking of Intel CPUs, I
think the maximum you can get from a computer's presentation materials is
the processor number. Unfortunately, for a few processor #s there are
processors both with and without VT. The examples I found on
http://ark.intel.com/VTList.aspx are E7400, E7500, Q8300, E5300, E5400.