I had a problem starting an Oracle VM on an HP EliteBook and after much searching found that the EliteBook often will have virtualization disabled by default. I found the answer in an HP Support Forum post, which I am re-posting here for ease of reference and to reduce scrolling on their site:
Enable virtualization in the BIOS
To run Virtual PC and XP Mode in Windows 7, the virtualization must be enabled in the BIOS. Follow these steps to make sure virtualization is enabled.
- Shut down the computer and turn it back on. Repeatedly press esc key at startup.
- Press the F10 key for BIOS Setup.
- Press the right arrow key to System Configuration , select Virtualization Technology and then press the enterkey.
- Select Enabled and press the enter key.
- Press the F10 key and select Yes and press the enter key to save changes.
It is possible you need to make these changes both in the System Configuration Menu and the Security Menu.
© Scott S. Nelson