Running Windows 11 on Hyper‑V with 8 GB RAM: My Workaround

Hello everyone! I am a beginner and I wanted to run a Windows 11 VM on Hyper‑V to test Windows in a virtual environment. Since my device only has 8 GB RAM (with Windows itself using ~50%), it took some effort to get the VM up and running. Windows 11 requires 4 GB startup memory, and I kept hitting the “not enough memory” error.

This post is my contribution so you don’t have to go through the same struggle!

Windows 11 Requirements on Hyper‑V

• 4 virtual processors
• 4096 MB (4 GB) RAM
• 64 GB storage
• Secure Boot with Trusted Platform Module (TPM) enabled

Things You’ll Need

• Hyper‑V Manager
  • https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/virtualization/hyper-v/host-hardware-requirements?pivots=windows
• Windows 11 ISO
  • https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11

Step 1: Creating the VM

1. In Hyper‑V Manager: Actions → New Virtual Machine
2. Set Name and Location
3. Choose Generation 2
4. Set Startup Memory: 4096 MB
5. Configure Networking: Default Switch
6. Create Virtual Hard Disk: minimum 64 GB
7. Under Installation Options, select “Install an operating system from a bootable image file” and browse for the Windows 11 ISO.
8. Finish setup.

Step 2: Configuring the VM

• Right‑click the VM → Settings
• Under Security, ensure Secure Boot is checked (default).
• Enable Trusted Platform Module (TPM).
• Apply changes.

Step 3: Getting the VM to Start

Here’s where the issue begins. On an 8 GB host, starting the VM with 4 GB allocated often fails with a memory error.

• Windows setup requires 4 GB RAM initially.
• After installation, you can safely reduce the VM’s memory to 2048 MB (2 GB) and enable Dynamic Memory for efficiency.
• This way, the VM boots with less pressure and grows as needed.

Workaround: Freeing Memory

To make sure Hyper‑V has enough contiguous RAM (~4100 MB), I did the following:

• Closed all apps on the taskbar except Hyper‑V.
• Opened Resource Monitor (instead of Task Manager).
• Closed apps in the system tray (except Defender).
• In Resource Monitor → Memory tab, sorted processes by Working Set (KB).
• Ended non‑essential processes until at least 4100 MB available RAM was shown.

Unsafe to End (avoid terminating these)

• System processes: svchost.exe, lsass.exe, wininit.exe, csrss.exe
• Hyper‑V services: vmms.exe, vmcompute.exe
• Antivirus/security: MsMpEng.exe (Windows Defender)
• Drivers and background services (audio, network, GPU helpers)
• Windows Update components

Generally Safe to End (if not needed)

• Web browsers: chrome.exe, msedge.exe, firefox.exe
• Office apps: winword.exe, excel.exe, powerpnt.exe
• Media players: spotify.exe
• Game launchers: steam.exe, epicgameslauncher.exe
• Updaters: Adobe/game patchers
• Cloud sync clients: onedrive.exe, dropbox.exe, googledrive.exe
• Chat apps: teams.exe, skype.exe, discord.exe
• msedgewebview2.exe (WebView2 runtime for apps like Teams/Outlook)
• explorer.exe (you’ll lose desktop/taskbar until restarted)

Booting

• Connect to the VM first before clicking Start.
• If you see >>Start PXE over IPv4 and keys don’t respond
  • Turn off the VM then click Start, make sure to hold a key after you click start.
• You can most likely proceed now onto setting up Windows
• If stuck at a background with “ENG, Accessibility, Power” icons but no login box:
  • In the VM connection window → View → uncheck Enhanced Session.
  • This reveals the login screen.

After setup:

• Shut down the VM.
• In settings, reduce memory to 2048 MB.
• Restart your host.

Now Windows 11 runs in Hyper‑V on an 8 GB RAM without constant memory errors!