Patent ID: 8099541

Claim:
A method comprising: detecting a guest exit during execution of a guest on a processor configured to execute the guest, wherein a guest exit comprises interrupting execution of the guest in response to one or more intercepts programmed in the processor by a virtual machine monitor (VMM) that controls a virtual machine that encapsulates the guest; determining, by the processor, that the guest exit is to a minivisor, wherein a first amount of guest state saved by the processor to memory during the guest exit to the minivisor is less than a second amount of guest state saved by the processor to memory during a guest exit to the VMM, wherein the guest state is processor state generated during the execution of the guest; and response to determining that the guest exit is to the minivisor, the processor exiting to a defined entry point in a VMM address space, the defined entry point associated with the minivisor, wherein the defined entry point is different from an address of a first instruction that follows a second instruction in program order of the VMM, wherein the second instruction is executed to invoke the guest.