Windows 81 Qcow2 Install Work

To start the installation, you need to boot from the ISO while attaching both the blank qcow2 disk and the VirtIO driver disk.

qemu-img check -r all win81.qcow2 qemu-img convert -O qcow2 -c win81.qcow2 win81_compressed.qcow2 # compress

virsh domblklist win81 # Find disk target (e.g., vda) virsh snapshot-create --disk-only --atomic win81 cp /var/lib/libvirt/images/windows81.qcow2 /backup/windows81_backup.qcow2 virsh blockcommit win81 vda --active --verbose --pivot windows 81 qcow2 install

The QCOW2 disk will now appear as .

This is the most reliable method. We create a blank QCOW2 file and boot the Windows ISO. To start the installation, you need to boot

if=virtio : Tells the VM to use high-performance paravirtualized drivers for the disk.

To keep your QCOW2 file size slim, enable TRIM inside Windows. Open PowerShell as Administrator and run: powershell Optimize-Volume -DriveLetter C -ReTrim -Verbose Use code with caution. Stuck on Boot Loop? We create a blank QCOW2 file and boot the Windows ISO

Right-click each unrecognised device, choose , and browse your CD-ROM drive to install the correct drivers.

sudo qemu-system-x86_64 \ -enable-kvm \ -m 4096 \ -smp 2 \ -cdrom /path/to/win8.1.iso \ -boot order=d \ -drive file=win81.qcow2,format=qcow2,if=virtio \ -netdev user,id=network0 \ -device e1000e,netdev=network0