Hyper-V has never natively supported direct passthrough of physical CD/DVD drives to guest VMs - this is by architectural design. The hypervisor abstracts all hardware resources, including optical drives. While this might frustrate administrators used to VMware's direct device mapping, there are several proven workarounds.

The most reliable method is converting your installation disc to an ISO:

# PowerShell command to create ISO from CD/DVD
New-ISOFile -Volume D: -Path C:\temp\install.iso -Verbose

Then mount it to your VM:

# Mount ISO to VM
Add-VMDvdDrive -VMName "YourVM" -Path "C:\temp\install.iso"

For Windows installations, you can share the physical drive over the network:

# Share the DVD drive
New-SmbShare -Name "DVDShare" -Path "D:" -ReadAccess "Everyone"

Then connect from the guest VM using \\hostname\DVDShare

The Hyper-V architecture prioritizes stability and security over direct hardware access. Physical media introduces:

• Potential security vulnerabilities
• Driver compatibility issues
• Media removal complications during installation

For environments requiring physical media access, consider this PowerShell automation:

# Continuous monitoring script for DVD changes
$drive = Get-WmiObject Win32_CDROMDrive
while($true) {
    $newStatus = (Get-WmiObject Win32_CDROMDrive).MediaLoaded
    if($newStatus -ne $drive.MediaLoaded) {
        if($newStatus) {
            & 'C:\Program Files\cdrtools\cdrdao.exe' read-cd --datafile "D:\temp\cdimage.iso" --device $drive.Drive --read-raw
            Add-VMDvdDrive -VMName "TargetVM" -Path "D:\temp\cdimage.iso"
        }
        $drive.MediaLoaded = $newStatus
    }
    Start-Sleep -Seconds 5
}

Many administrators assume Hyper-V is limited to ISO-based installations, but the platform does support physical media installation – it's just not as straightforward as one might hope. The key lies in understanding Hyper-V's virtualized hardware architecture.

Hyper-V 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 Pro versions actually can utilize physical drives through the legacy IDE controller. Here's how to configure it:

# PowerShell command to add physical DVD drive to VM
Add-VMDvdDrive -VMName "YourVMName" -Path "PhysicalDrive0" -ControllerNumber 0 -ControllerLocation 1

1. Shut down your target virtual machine
2. Open Hyper-V Manager
3. Right-click the VM → Settings
4. Select "IDE Controller 0"
5. Click "DVD Drive" → Choose "Physical CD/DVD drive"
6. Select your host's optical drive from the dropdown

For situations where physical media access proves problematic, consider these workarounds:

# Convert physical disc to ISO using PowerShell
New-ISOFile -Volume "D:" -Path "C:\temp\installation.iso"

• Ensure the VM is using Generation 1 (not Generation 2) for legacy drive support
• Verify the host's optical drive appears in Device Manager
• Try different SCSI controller positions if IDE access fails

While physical media installation works, ISO files typically offer better performance. Benchmark tests show: