QCOW2’s snapshot feature is ideal for legacy Windows 7 environments.
Windows 7 accumulates updates, logs, and temp files. Without maintenance, your elegant thin-provisioned QCOW2 will balloon to full size (80GB). windows 7qcow2 best
Monthly Maintenance Routine:
qemu-img check windows-7-best.qcow2
qemu-img map windows-7-best.qcow2 --output=json # See actual usage
qemu-img convert -f qcow2 -O qcow2 -c old-windows7.qcow2 new-windows7.qcow2
The best Windows 7 QCOW2 image is the one you build yourself. Why? Full control over: QCOW2’s snapshot feature is ideal for legacy Windows
qemu-img create -f qcow2 -b win7_clean.qcow2 win7_instance1.qcow2
Benefit: Multiple VMs sharing a clean Windows 7 base image. Write operations go to the overlay. qemu-img check windows-7-best
Windows 7 expects physical hardware. Inside the VM, disable: