Fix error 0x80370102 – WSL2 won’t start Ubuntu on Windows 11

Several users have complained about getting error 0x80370102 when trying to install WSL2 Ubuntu on their Windows 11 devices. These errors are most common when installing a Linux distribution so that they can access the Windows Subsystem for Linux OS. 

If you are also experiencing this problem and are still unsure of what to do next, read this guide to find out what is causing this problem and how to fix it on your Windows 11 PC.

Why is WSL2 Ubuntu not launching error 0x80370102?

“WSL2 Ubuntu won’t start error 0x80370102” can occur when your system meets one or two of the following conditions:

• Hardware virtualization enabled in BIOS
• Disabled Hyper-V
• Disabled nested virtualization options
• Memory problems (less RAM required)
• Upgrading WSL from 1.0 to 2.0 – in this case, wait until the upgrade completes. Then restart Windows 11/10 and try starting the virtual machine again.
• Windows Insider Unstable Preview – This error can also occur if you’ve recently upgraded to Windows Insider Unstable Preview. To fix this problem, you must either upgrade to the stable version or wait for the installed operating system to become stable. 

Check if hardware virtualization is enabled or not

To run any virtual machine on Windows 11, hardware virtualization must remain enabled. If you are sure this feature is disabled on your computer, skip this section and follow the next solution. Otherwise, check the current hardware virtualization status by following these simple steps:

• Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter at the same time to launch the Task Manager.
• Go to the Performance tab, select CPU and see what is written next to Virtualization .

• If enabled, virtual machines can run on your computer. If Disabled is displayed, enable it by entering the system BIOS. 

1] Enable hardware virtualization in BIOS (if not already done)

As stated above, hardware virtualization must remain enabled in Windows 11/10 to run any virtual machine, enable this feature by following these steps:

• Restart Windows first, and while it restarts, keep pressing the boot key.
• The boot key varies from one manufacturer to another. So check it out in the user manual that came with your computer, or just search for the manufacturer’s name on the Internet.
• The most commonly used function keys are Del, Esc, f1, f2, or F4. 
• When you boot into your system BIOS, take a look at the processor configuration section. You can find this under Processor, CPU Configuration, or Chipset. 
• Search for the virtualization setting and when found, enable this feature. You can find this feature under different aliases like AMD-V, Hyper-V, SVM, VT-X, etc.
• After enabling the virtualization setting, press F10 to save and exit the system BIOS. 

2] Enable Hyper-V on Windows 11

If error 0x80370102 occurs even after enabling hardware virtualization in BIOS, Hyper-V must be disabled on your PC. So, enable this feature in the Windows Features section. This is how you can enable this setting on your computer –

• Press Win + S to open the search box.
• Enter “Windows features on or off” in the text box and click the top result.
• Scroll down and find Hyper-V .
• When you find it, check the available checkbox to the left of it. 

Note . When in the Windows Features window, remember to enable the Virtual Machine Platform feature as well. You can find this function by scrolling down a bit. 

• Click OK to confirm and save the current configuration.

Then restart your computer and see if that fixes the 0x80370102 error on your device. 

3] Configure nested virtualization parameters

If you are still having problems running WSL2 Ubuntu, you should enable nested virtualization in Windows 11. This is essentially a feature that allows users to run Hyper-V inside a Hyper-V virtual machine. By enabling this, you can even run the Visual Studio phone emulator in a virtual machine. This is necessary to validate configurations that might otherwise require more than one host. 

Here’s how to open virtualization settings in Windows 11 –

• First of all, shut down the virtual machine in Hyper-V Manager.
• Right-click on the Windows icon and select – Windows Terminal (Admin) .
• Terminal will go to Windows PowerShell (Admin) by default.
• Copy / paste the below cmdlet and press Enter –

Set-VMProcessor <VMName> -ExposeVirtualizationExtensions $true

• That’s it, nested virtualization is now active on your computer. 

Increase your RAM settings 

Now that you’ve configured your virtualization settings, don’t forget to increase your memory limit as well to resolve error 0x80370102. Here’s what you need to do next – 

• Open Hyper-V Manager and right click on the virtual machine.
• Click Options on the context menu.
• In the left navigation pane, select Storage.
• Change the Startup RAM value by doubling it and uncheck the box to the left of Enable Dynamic Memory.
• Click Apply, then OK to save this configuration.

Alternatively, you can also increase the RAM limit by running below command in Windows PowerShell (Admin) –

Get-VM MyVM | Set-VMMemory -DynamicMemoryEnabled $True -MaximumBytes 2048MB -MinimumBytes 1024MB -StartupBytes 2048MB

Note . You can change the value next to the maximum bytes, minimum bytes, or start bytes as per your own requirements.

After you finish changing the memory limit, start your virtual machine again. Everything should work fine this time. To start the virtual machine, right-click it and select Connect .

I hope this guide helps you fix error 0x80370102 on your Windows 11 PC.