🚀 Complete WSL2 Ubuntu 24.04 Installation Guide

Windows 11 HP PC • From Beginner to Success • January 2026

✅ Success! WSL2 + Ubuntu 24.04 is now fully installed and ready for Python, Anaconda, Qiskit, ML & Biomedical Engineering projects.

📑 Quick Navigation

📋 Overview: Journey from Errors to Success

This guide documents the complete process of installing WSL2 Ubuntu 24.04 on Windows 11, including all errors encountered and their solutions.

The Problem Journey

Stage Error Encountered Root Cause Solution Applied
1. Initial Install HCS_E_HYPERV_NOT_INSTALLED BIOS virtualization disabled (VT-x off) Enabled in BIOS via Esc+F10
2. Feature Check vmms service missing Windows 11 Home doesn't include full Hyper-V Used Virtual Machine Platform only (correct for Home)
3. Final Issue HCS_E_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT VM started but HCS couldn't connect within 60 seconds wsl --shutdown + wsl --update --pre-release + Restart
✅ Success None All features properly configured Ubuntu 24.04 fully operational in WSL2

🔧 Prerequisites Check

Before installation, verify your system meets the following requirements:

1. Windows 11 Build Verification

Settings → System → About

Required: OS Build 22000 or higher

2. Task Manager Virtualization Check

Ctrl+Shift+Esc → Task Manager → Performance tab → CPU

Look for: "Virtualization: Enabled"

3. PowerShell Administrator Access

Start Menu → Type "PowerShell" → Right-click → Run as administrator
💡 Tip: Write down your Windows Build version. If it's below 22000, update via Settings → Update & Security → Check for updates.

⚙️ Step-by-Step Installation Process

1Enable Core WSL Features

This installs Windows Subsystem for Linux and Virtual Machine Platform.

wsl --install --no-distribution

What happens: Downloads and installs WSL infrastructure (no Linux distro yet).

Expected output: "The operation completed successfully."

⚠️ Important: Restart your PC when prompted. This is essential for features to load.

2Enable Virtualization in HP BIOS (Critical Step)

This enables the CPU's hardware virtualization feature required by WSL2.

🔴 Critical Process:
  1. Restart your PC (Power button → Restart)
  2. As soon as you see the HP logo, tap Esc key repeatedly (very fast)
  3. A Startup Menu will appear
  4. Press F10 to enter BIOS Setup
  5. You should now be in a blue/gray BIOS interface
BIOS Navigation:
1. Use arrow keys to navigate
2. Find "Advanced" or "System Configuration" tab
3. Look for "Device Configuration" or similar
4. Find "Virtualization Technology" (may also be "Intel VT-x" or "AMD SVM")
5. Set to "Enabled"
6. Press F10 to Save and Exit
7. Confirm "Yes" to save changes

After restart: Verify by checking Task Manager again - "Virtualization: Enabled" should appear.

3Update and Configure WSL Version

In PowerShell (Admin), run these commands one by one:

wsl --update

Updates WSL kernel to latest version

wsl --set-default-version 2

Sets WSL2 as default (uses lightweight Hyper-V)

4Install Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

Now install the actual Linux distribution:

wsl --install -d Ubuntu-24.04

What happens:

First Launch Setup: Create a Linux username (different from Windows username) and password.
Example: Username "engineer" Password "secure123"

5Update Ubuntu & Install Development Tools

You're now inside the Ubuntu Linux terminal. Run:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Updates all package lists and installed software

sudo apt install python3-pip python3-venv curl git build-essential -y

Installs essential development tools

6Install Anaconda for ML/Biomedical Work (Recommended)

Perfect for quantum computing, ML, and biomedical signal processing:

wget https://repo.anaconda.com/archive/Anaconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh
bash Anaconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh

During installation: Press Enter → Yes → Enter (for default location)

source ~/.bashrc
conda --version

Activates Anaconda and verifies installation

✅ Installation Complete! You now have a full Linux environment ready for development.

🛠️ Troubleshooting: All Errors We Encountered & Fixed

Error 1: HCS_E_HYPERV_NOT_INSTALLED

Full Error Message:
"WSL2 is not supported with your current machine configuration. Please enable the 'Virtual Machine Platform' optional component and ensure virtualization is enabled in the BIOS."

✅ Solution:

  1. Restart PC
  2. Enter BIOS: Esc → F10 (during HP startup)
  3. Enable "Virtualization Technology"
  4. Save & Exit (F10 → Yes)
  5. In PowerShell: wsl --update
  6. Retry: wsl --install -d Ubuntu-24.04

Error 2: vmms Service Not Found

Message: "Cannot find any service with service name 'vmms'"

✅ Explanation & Solution:

This is NORMAL on Windows 11 Home. Full Hyper-V (vmms) isn't available, but WSL2 only needs the lightweight Virtual Machine Platform. No action needed - proceed with WSL2 installation.

Error 3: HCS_E_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT

Full Error Message:
"The operation timed out because a response was not received from the virtual machine or container."

✅ Solution (What Fixed It):

wsl --shutdown
wsl --unregister Ubuntu-24.04
net stop vmcompute
net start vmcompute
wsl --update --pre-release

Then: Restart PC and retry:

wsl --install -d Ubuntu-24.04

Error 4: PowerShell && Command Not Recognized

Message: "The token '&&' is not a valid statement separator in this version"

✅ Solution: You're running Linux commands in PowerShell. You must be inside Ubuntu first:

wsl  # or ubuntu  → Launches Ubuntu terminal
sudo apt update && sudo apt install python3-pip -y  # Now it works!

General Troubleshooting Checklist

Issue Check This Command to Verify
Isn't installing BIOS virtualization systeminfo | find "Hyper-V"
Hangs during download Internet connection & disk space wsl --shutdown then retry
Slow performance Background apps consuming CPU Close heavy applications, restart
Ubuntu won't launch Distro registration wsl --list --verbose

✅ Verification & Testing

Verify WSL2 Installation

In PowerShell (Admin), check the installation status:

wsl --list --verbose

Expected output:

NAME              STATE           VERSION
Ubuntu-24.04      Running         2

Launch Ubuntu Terminal

wsl

Or search "Ubuntu" in Windows Start menu and click it.

You should see: username@computername:~$

Test Python Installation

Inside Ubuntu terminal:

python3 --version
pip3 --version
python3 -c "import sys; print(sys.version)"

Test Anaconda (if installed)

conda --version
conda list

Access Windows Files from Ubuntu

cd /mnt/c/Users/YourUsername/
ls  # Lists files in your Windows Documents, Downloads, etc.

🎯 Next Steps for ML & Biomedical Engineering

Install ML/AI Libraries

conda install jupyter notebook pandas numpy scikit-learn matplotlib -y
conda install tensorflow keras -y
pip install qiskit qiskit-machine-learning

Start Jupyter Notebook

jupyter notebook

Open the URL displayed in your browser (usually http://localhost:8888)

VS Code Integration

Steps:
  1. Install VS Code on Windows (code.visualstudio.com)
  2. Install "Remote - WSL" extension
  3. Click green remote indicator → Select "WSL: Ubuntu-24.04"
  4. Open any Linux folder → Full IDE experience

Clone Your Research Projects

cd /mnt/c/Users/YourUsername/Projects
git clone https://github.com/your-repo.git
cd your-repo
conda env create -f environment.yml
conda activate your-env

Useful Commands Reference

Task Command
Update Ubuntu sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
Install package sudo apt install package-name
Exit Ubuntu exit
Stop WSL2 wsl --shutdown (from PowerShell)
List WSL distros wsl --list --verbose