Before initiating the creation process, ensure you have gathered the following components on your Linux host machine:
To install all drivers at once, run the virtio-win-gt-x64.msi installer directly from the root of the VirtIO CD-ROM. Managing Your QCOW2 Image
You can use this as documentation, a guide summary, or a note for virtualization setups.
Use the qemu-img utility to generate a blank virtual disk. Allocate a virtual capacity of at least 40 GB to accommodate the Windows OS, page files, and user data. qemu-img create -f qcow2 windows8.qcow2 40G Use code with caution.
Over time, as Windows installs updates, deleted data leaves behind ghost blocks that inflate the QCOW2 file size. You can shrink and compress the image to save space on your host machine.
If you want to "produce content" from an existing Windows 8 machine (Physical-to-Virtual or P2V), you can use specialized tools.
In the realm of virtualization and cloud computing, the file format used for virtual hard disks is critical. While .vdi is synonymous with VirtualBox and .vmdk with VMware, the (QEMU Copy On Write version 2) format is the industry standard for KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) and QEMU environments. For users and administrators looking to deploy Windows 8 in a Linux-based virtualized environment, understanding the QCOW2 format is essential.
There are many reasons why you might want to use qcow2 with Windows 8 on Linux. Here are a few:
The actual physical space consumed on your host drive. Cluster Size: Typically 64 KiB; affects I/O performance.
Windows 8 QCOW2: Complete Guide to Virtualization, Creation, and Optimization
