qemu-img create -f qcow2 windows-8.1-base.qcow2 40G

Boot a virtual machine using the official ISO as the CD-ROM and your new .qcow2 file as the hard drive.

If you have a Windows 8.1 ISO file (which requires a valid license key), creating your own QCOW2 image is the best long-term solution. This ensures the system is clean, licensed correctly, and optimized for your specific hardware.

Need VMDK for VMware? Or VHD for Hyper-V?

image saved me hours of manual installation and driver troubleshooting. The image imported flawlessly into my KVM environment virt-install

Inside the Windows 8.1 VM:

This is particularly useful when moving legacy workloads into a Proxmox or KVM-based environment. 4. Performance Optimization Tips To ensure your Windows 8.1 QCOW2 image runs smoothly: