Yes, the Alienware M17x is really a gaming machine, but since it also has the power to double as a great Hyper-V server, why not add a drive, download and install Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V, and put your M17x to good use during those few relaxing (work) hours you take from your gaming gig! Like me though, you might run into a few problems with the default configuration of your M17x that will prevent the Hyper-V hypervisor from running once it has been installed. The good news is that it only takes a couple of steps to reconfigure your M17x into a Hyper-V platform, so read on.
Step 1 –> Upgrade Your BIOS Version
If like me, your M17x shipped with the A0 BIOS, go to the Dell drivers site, download BIOS Version A01, and upgrade your BIOS. The BIOS package is R231503 and is about 8 MB in size.
Step 2 –> Enable Hardware-Assisted Virtualization in the BIOS
In order to support Hyper-V, a system requires an x64 AMD-V or Intel VT processor that supports hardware-assisted virtualization and hardware-based Data Execution Prevention (DEP). The default configuration of the M17x is such that the Intel ® Virtualization Technology setting in the BIOS is disabled by default. So, once you have upgraded to BIOS Version A01, reboot your M17x, press F2 at the prompt to reconfigure your BIOS settings, click on the Advanced tab of the Phoenix BIOS Setup Utility, and change the Intel ® Virtualization Technology setting from Disabled to Enabled. Then, Select the Exit tab, choose the Exit Saving Changes option, and press Enter to save the configuration changes and reboot the system.
That’s it! See that was really painless, and now you truly have an awesome gaming machine and Hyper-V server platform!