Fix: Hyper-V error when creating virtual switch – Generic Failure

Microsoft’s Hyper-V mainly offers hardware virtualization. Therefore, each and every virtual machine can easily run on virtual hardware on the Windows 10 platform. It basically allows you to add and run multiple operating systems as virtual machines on Windows. Coming to the depth, it lets you create virtual switches, virtual hard drivers, and other virtual devices that can be included in the virtual machine. However, some of the affected users can face Hyper-V error when creating a virtual switch – Generic Failure. If you’re also one of them, check the troubleshooting guide below.

According to some of the affected users, whenever they trying to open a virtual switch manager, it literally says that “An error occurred while trying to retrieve a list of virtual switches. The operation on computer ‘DESKTOP-V1A0142’ failed: Generic failure.” So, if in case, anything goes wrong with your virtual switch creation, then you can always check this full-depth guide below.

Fix: Hyper-V error when creating virtual switch – Generic Failure

Here we’ve provided some of the possible workarounds below that you should try on your PC.

1. Use PowerShell Method

• Click on the Start menu on your Windows > Type PowerShell > Right-click on it from the search result > Select Run as administrator mode.
• Type the following command and hit Enter in order to create a new external virtual switch.

New-VMSwitch -name ExternalSwitch -NetAdapterName Ethernet -AllowManagementOS $true

Note: Replace name with the network adapter for Hyper-V Manager. NetAdapterName will replace the name of the command. AllowManagementOS is $true for both the host and VM that have an internet connection.

• Now, open Virtual Switch Manager in Hyper-V Manager.

2. Use ‘netcfg’ Command to Reset Network Connection

Netcfg is a utility command in order to manage network configurations. Now, execute this command via the Windows PowerShell. This one command will remove all your existing connections. Make sure to create a system restore point before executing this command for safety purposes.

• Click on the Start menu > Type PowerShell and right-click on it from the search result.
• Select Run as administrator.
• Type the following command and press Enter in order to restart all network adapters & remove MUX objects.

netcfg -d

• Launch the Virtual Switch Manager in the Hyper-V Manager.
• Next, you can create an external switch and check whether the issue has been fixed or not.

3. Re-install Network Adapter

• Click on Start > Type Device Manager > Click on it from the search result.
• Expand Network Adapters > Click to select the network adapter you want to re-install.
• Right-click on the network adapter > Choose Uninstall device.
• Select ‘Delete the driver software for this device’ > Click on Uninstall.
• Restart your Windows PC and then create a Virtual Switch in Hyper-V Manager.

4. Update Network Adapter Driver

• Click on Start > Type Device Manager > Click on it from the search result.
• Expand Network Adapters > Select the network adapter you want to update.
• Just right-click on the network adapter > Choose Update Driver.
• Reboot your PC and check for the issue again.

5. Adjust Network Sharing

• Open Virtual Switch Manager in Hyper-V Manager.
• Next, you can create an Internal Switch.
• Press the Windows logo + R key to open up the Run dialog box.
• Now, type the below command and press Enter.

inetcpl.cpl

• Next, right-click on your network adapter whether you’re using a wired/wireless connection.
• Click on Properties > Sharing tab > Choose ‘Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection’.
• Select the adapter from the list > OK.
• Right-click on your virtual machine > Click on Settings.
• Now, click on Network Adapter > Select the new Internal switch.
• Additionally, you should also enable Hyper-V Extensible Virtual Switch from the Networking option. (If in case, the details are totally missing, click on the Install button > Select Protocol > Install if required > restart the PC and try running the virtual switch manager again.
• Access the guest operating system. You can also adjust the network settings if you want.

That’s it, guys. We hope you’ve found this article useful. For more queries, you can comment below.