Now, my_gaming_win98.qcow2 will store only the changes. You can delete it and start over without touching the base.
Companies maintaining industrial machinery (CNC, medical devices) often need Win98 to run control software. A qcow2 image with snapshots allows safe updates.
By mastering qemu-img , snapshots, and backing files, you turn a fragile 16-bit operating system into a robust, reversible virtual machine. Whether you are chasing nostalgia or maintaining legacy integration, the combination of Windows 98 and qcow2 is the most stable, performant, and flexible retro-computing solution available today. windows 98 qcow2
Running Windows 98 inside qcow2 introduces latency because QEMU must translate the guest FAT32 commands to host ext4/NTFS commands.
Once Windows 98 is installed on your QCOW2 image, these steps are critical for a usable experience: How to install Windows 98 in QEMU - Computernewb Wiki Now, my_gaming_win98
When creating the image, use -o preallocation=metadata :
First, you need a place to install the OS. A 2GB to 4GB image is usually the "sweet spot" for Windows 98. A qcow2 image with snapshots allows safe updates
qemu-system-x86_64 \ -machine pc-i440fx-2.1 \ -cpu pentium2 \ -m 256 \ -hda win98.qcow2 \ -cdrom win98se.iso \ -fda bootfloppy.img \ -boot order=d \ -vga cirrus