{"id":5472,"date":"2026-08-30T20:50:35","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T11:50:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/server-tech\/wsl-after-cmos-clear-2\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T20:50:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T11:50:36","slug":"wsl-after-cmos-clear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/en\/diy-repair\/repair-pc-hardware\/wsl-after-cmos-clear\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Fix WSL Not Working After a CMOS Clear"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever performed a “CMOS clear” by removing the motherboard coin cell battery to troubleshoot a PC issue (such as replacing parts or fixing static charge problems), only to find that your PC booted up fine afterwards, but WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) or Docker suddenly refused to start?<\/p>\n

Even if you read the error codes and feel unsure what they mean, the cause is actually very simple:<\/p>\n

“The CMOS clear initialized the BIOS settings, turning off the CPU’s virtualization features.”<\/p>\n

This article explains the steps to re-enable virtualization (SVM Mode) in the BIOS to get WSL working again, using an environment with an AMD (Ryzen) CPU and an ASRock motherboard as an example.<\/p>\n

Cause: What is “SVM Mode,” which gets reset by a CMOS Clear?<\/h2>\n

Running WSL or virtual machines on Windows requires CPU “virtualization technology.”
\nOn AMD CPUs (such as Ryzen), this feature is called SVM (Secure Virtual Machine), but it is almost always set to “Disabled” by default in the motherboard’s factory settings.<\/p>\n

The issue occurs because performing a CMOS clear wiped out the previously enabled settings.<\/p>\n

Solution: Enable SVM Mode in the BIOS<\/h2>\n

Let’s enter the BIOS (UEFI) screen and change the settings. The procedure consists of the following 4 steps:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Open the BIOS screen: Operation during PC startup. Immediately after turning on the PC (or rebooting), repeatedly tap the Delete key or F2 key on your keyboard until the screen appears.<\/li>\n
  2. Switch to Advanced Mode: Screen switching. If ASRock’s simplified “EZ Mode” screen appears, press the F7 key on your keyboard to switch to “Advanced Mode,” which allows for more detailed settings.<\/li>\n
  3. Enable “SVM Mode” from CPU settings: The most important point. Select the “Advanced” tab \u2794 “CPU Configuration” from the top menu. Locate “SVM Mode” in the list and change its setting from Disabled to Enabled.
    \n\"Enabling<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Save settings and reboot: Once you have finished configuring the settings, press the F10 key on your keyboard. A confirmation screen reading “Save Changes and Exit” will appear; select “Yes” to boot up the PC normally.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    How to Verify After Booting<\/h2>\n

    Once Windows has started up, let’s verify that virtualization has been successfully enabled.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc simultaneously to open the Task Manager.<\/li>\n
    2. Select “Performance” \u2794 “CPU” from the left menu (or top tabs).<\/li>\n
    3. If “Virtualization: Enabled” is displayed in the detailed information at the bottom right of the screen, you are successful!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \"Checking<\/a><\/p>\n

      With this status, WSL and Docker will also start up normally just like before.<\/p>\n

      Summary<\/h2>\n

      If you find that “WSL stopped working after replacing PC parts or performing repairs,” before panicking and reinstalling WSL, make sure to check the BIOS virtualization settings (SVM Mode) first.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Have you ever performed a “CMOS clear” by removing the motherboard coin cell battery to troublesho […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/?p=3515","footnotes":""},"categories":[1165],"tags":[1134,1133,18,105,1005,1000],"class_list":["post-5472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-repair-pc-hardware","tag-bios","tag-cmos","tag-docker","tag-linux","tag-windows","tag-wsl","en-US"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5472"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5475,"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5472\/revisions\/5475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/donguri3.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}