How does Hyper-V suddenly need a driver?

Question

How does Hyper-V suddenly need a driver?

allen bell 1

I have two old applications that will not run on Windows 11. Upgrading the applications is not open for discussion. The solution is to install Hyper-V and then install Windows 7 on a virtual drive.

The question is this: After installing Hyper-V (gen 1) and setting up the disc, writing the Win7 to an iso and mounting that iso as the dvd of the virtual machine ... I turn the virtual machine on and connect and the hyper-V sees the iso, boots from the ISO asks if I want a recovery or new installation gives me the screen for keyboard and languages and begins the install ...

AND THEN suddenly, install states that a CD/DVD driver needed for the installation is missing?

My question is this: In found the dvd, read the dvd, booted from the dvd and started the install how can it NOW claim it doesn't have the capability to read the DVD? And since the DVD is a generic IDE interface why is it that the Win7 installed can't suddenly use it?

And more to the point: How do I supply an unknown driver?

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Answer 1

Dear allen bell

Thanks for reaching out! Welcome to Microsoft Q&A. I'm Haien from Microsoft Q&A.

I understand your frustration with the Windows 7 installation process in Hyper-V. You've correctly identified the logical paradox: the installer clearly read the ISO, booted from it, and started the setup, but then suddenly claims a CD/DVD driver is missing. This is a very specific and well-known issue when installing older operating systems like Windows 7 onto modern hardware, even in a virtual environment like Hyper-V.

However, because Windows 7 is an outdated version and no longer supported by Microsoft, Microsoft cannot provide a permanent solution for your Windows 7 issue. The problem is not a bug in Hyper-V or a corrupted ISO. It is a fundamental change in the hardware architecture that the Windows 7 installer is not designed to handle. In short, the installer is not saying that it cannot read the DVD; it is saying that it cannot find the driver for the virtual hard drive that Hyper-V created for you.

From the information you mentioned "I have two old applications that will not run on Windows 11", I see that you are using Windows 11, would you mind telling me more specifically which "two old applications" you mentioned? Please sympathize with us about the problem you are having, Microsoft can only give you solutions in Windows 11, so clarifying the problems you are having will help me understand your problem better so that I can give you the best solutions.

Please keep me updated with anything new that you were try to each option.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment". Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

We appreciate your patience and look forward to resolving this quickly for you.

Warm regards

allen bell 1 Reputation point

2025-08-27T16:31:37.45+00:00

Before I accept this I'd like to probe a bit deeper because you seem so knowledgeable.

If I understand you, the error message from the Windows installer is itself an error: It is reporting no DVD/CD driver when you are saying that it actually can't find the DISC driver? So that is, in essence, a bad/faulty/incompetent error on the part of Microsoft ... sending the users off in the wrong direction & chasing the wrong problem?

OK -- that does make sense.

But it create another problem:

The GEN1 Hyper-V can't supply an IDE driver? For the kind of disc that has been on every system since the AT and Windows 98? How is that NOT a bug or omission on the part of Microsoft? And also you are saying there is no driver? No solution?

Finally to answer your other question: There are some relatively antiquated DVR/Camera Recording systems out there that provide a Windows Interface using an ActiveX plug-in. Since Chrome, Firefox and even Microsoft discontinued ActiveX a long time ago, one must use an Internet Explorer from XP or Windows7 that is early enough to still support that plug in. The ONLY way I would allow such an insecure application to run would be as XP/7 on a HyperV that is only started and run for that purpose.

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How does Hyper-V suddenly need a driver?

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