Docker Desktop VM fails to start — Hyper-V hypervisor not running despite all prerequisites

Docker Desktop
1

Hi all,
I’ve been troubleshooting Docker Desktop on Windows 11 Pro and keep hitting a wall. I’m trying to use the Hyper-V backend (WSL2 is also blocked), but DockerDesktopVM fails to start with this error:

Virtual machine 'DockerDesktopVM' could not be started because the hypervisor is not running.
Error code: HCS_E_HYPERV_NOT_INSTALLED

When starting Docker Desktop, I get this additional error:

running Hyper-V engine: starting Hyper-V VM: status code not OK but 500: Unhandled exception: job failed with message: ‘DockerDesktopVM’ failed to start. (Virtual machine ID 9DC08F3B-C3DE-4733-B1A3-E659006C2818)
Virtual machine ‘DockerDesktopVM’ could not be started because the hypervisor is not running (Virtual machine ID 9DC08F3B-C3DE-4733-B1A3-E659006C2818). The following actions may help you resolve the problem:

  1. Verify that the processor of the physical computer has a supported version of hardware-assisted virtualization.
  2. Verify that hardware-assisted virtualization and hardware-assisted data execution protection are enabled in the BIOS of the physical computer. (If you edit the BIOS to enable either setting, you must turn off the power to the physical computer and then turn it back on. Resetting the physical computer is not sufficient.)
  3. If you have made changes to the Boot Configuration Data store, review these changes to ensure that the hypervisor is configured to launch automatically.
    Here’s what I’ve confirmed:
    • Virtualization is enabled in BIOS
    • Hyper-V and Virtual Machine Platform features are installed
    • bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype auto has been run
    • OS is Windows 11 Pro
    • No Azure AD, MDM, or domain join (dsregcmd /status confirms)
    • Group Policy settings for WDAC and VBS are disabled
    • systeminfo still shows:
    App Control for Business policy: Enforced
    Virtualization-based security: Not enabled
    Hyper-V Requirements: virtualization enabled, but no hypervisor detected

I’ve tried disabling Malwarebytes, checking for SIPolicy.p7b, and switching to the Hyper-V backend instead of WSL2. Nothing works. I’m trying to avoid a full OS reinstall if possible.
Any ideas on how to get the Hyper-V hypervisor to launch—or how to bypass this and run Docker without WSL2 or Hyper-V?
Thanks in advance.

2

What is your Windows version? And what did you do to make sure the requirements of Docker Desktop are met?

You can find the requirements here for Hyper-V and WSL2 as well

That is not possible. Docker DEsktop requires either WSL2 or HyperV. It has to create virtual machines for Linux containers, and in many case, even windows containers require a small virtualization layer. I know there were some development in that by Microsoft. I haven’t followed the status of that.