QEMU on Windows

Enable hardware virtualization

  • Reboot into your PC’s UEFI/BIOS settings.
  • Enable “Intel VT-x,” “Intel Virtualization Technology,” or “AMD-V.”
  • Save and reboot.
  1. Enable hardware virtualization
    • Reboot into your PC’s UEFI/BIOS settings.
    • Enable “Intel VT-x,” “Intel Virtualization Technology,” or “AMD-V.”
    • Save and reboot.
  2. Install QEMU Option A: Official Windows installer
    1. Go to https://www.qemu.org/download/
    2. Under “Windows,” click “64-bit” for Stefan Weil’s Windows builds.
    3. Run the installer and accept the defaults (or customize to your needs).
    4. By default, QEMU goes to C:\Program Files\qemu.

    Option B: MSYS2

    1. Open https://www.msys2.org/ in your browser.
    2. Follow the installation instructions provided on the website.
    3. In MSYS2, run: 
      pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-qemu
  3. Create a virtual disk image Open a Command Prompt or PowerShell and run, e.g.: 
    qemu-img create -f qcow2 C:\VMs\win11_disk.qcow2 64G

    This makes a 64 GiB QCOW2 disk at C:\VMs\win11_disk.qcow2.

  4. Download your guest OS ISO
    • For example, grab a Windows 11 ISO from Microsoft or a Linux distro ISO.
  5. Launch your VM In PowerShell or MSYS2, run something like: 
    qemu-system-x86_64 `
     -m 4G `
     -smp cores=2 `
     -cpu host,hypervisor=off `
     -M pc-q35-9.2 `
     -drive file=C:\VMs\win11_disk.qcow2,format=qcow2 `
     -cdrom C:\ISOs\Win11.iso `
     -boot d `
     -netdev user,id=net0 -device rtl8139,netdev=net0 `
     -enable-kvm `
     -device ich9-Intel-hda `
     -device hda-duplex `
     -device intel-hda `
     -device hda-codec-all `
     -device virtio-balloon-pci,bus=pcie.0,addr=0x4 `
     -device virtio-serial-pci,bus=pcie.0,addr=0x3 `
     -device qemu-xhci,bus=pcie.0,addr=0x2 `
     -device usb-tablet `
     -device usb-mouse `
     -device usb-kbd `
     -device ich9-ahci,id=sata0,bus=pcie.0,addr=0x7 `
     -display sdl,gl=on `
     -monitor stdio `
     -nodefaults

    qemu-system-x86_64 \
     -m 4G \
     -smp cores=2 \
     -cpu host,hypervisor=off \
     -M pc-q35-9.2 \
     -drive file=C:\VMs\win11_disk.qcow2,format=qcow2 \
     -cdrom C:\ISOs\Win11.iso \
     -boot d \
     -netdev user,id=net0 -device rtl8139,netdev=net0 \
     -enable-kvm \
     -device ich9-Intel-hda \
     -device hda-duplex \
     -device intel-hda \
     -device hda-codec-all \
     -device virtio-balloon-pci,bus=pcie.0,addr=0x4 \
     -device virtio-serial-pci,bus=pcie.0,addr=0x3 \
     -device qemu-xhci,bus=pcie.0,addr=0x2 \
     -device usb-tablet \
     -device usb-mouse \
     -device usb-kbd \
     -device ich9-ahci,id=sata0,bus=pcie.0,addr=0x7 \
     -display sdl,gl=on \
     -monitor stdio \
     -nodefaults

    Explanation of flags:

    • -m 4G gives 4 GiB RAM
    • -smp cores=2 gives 2 CPU cores
    • -drive … attaches your virtual disk
    • -cdrom … -boot d boots from ISO for installation
    • -netdev user,… sets up user-mode networking
    • -enable-kvm attempts to use hardware acceleration (on Windows it may work as -accel tcg by default)
  6. Install the OS and reboot
    • Complete the normal OS installer steps.
    • After install, remove -cdrom … -boot d (or change to -boot c) so it boots from the virtual disk.
  7. (Optional) GUI front-end
    • You can install virt-manager under WSL2/MSYS2 with an X server, or use third-party GUIs like AQEMU.
    • This makes managing multiple VMs more convenient.

– mino