New Windows VM
Prepare
Windows OS ISO
Microsoft Windows image files can be obtained in different ways:
- as physical media, like DVD-ROM or USB drives: usually they come with OEM licenses
- as download from Microsoft:
- Windows 10 (latest build): Windows 10 Download, looking for ISO image section at the bottom or using Media Creation Tool
- Windows 11 (latest build): Windows 11 Download, looking for ISO image section at the bottom
- Windows Server, from the Evaluation Center search into table for the preferred language in ISO format (first column): Windows Server 2019 | Windows Server 2022 | Windows Server 2025
- as download from your 365 portal, if you bought an electronic license (aka: ESD): login with your account at admin.microsoft.com, from the side menu select Billing and then Your Products [COMPLETE]
Looking for Direct Links?
No direct permanent links are provided directly from Microsoft, every request made from links above gives you a 24-hours valid link. Searching the web, maybe you can find permanent but not official links, use them at your own risk.
VirtIO drivers
A must-have during Microsoft Windows installation is the last release of VirtIO driver's ISO file.
VirtIO drivers are provided to enable paravirtualized access to virtual machine's resources instead of the standard "emulated" access. With these not enabled, it's possible to obtain a huge performance loss during Microsoft Windows virtual machines execution.
By default, Microsoft Windows doesn't ship with Qemu drivers included: some of them have to be injected during the first step of the setup; others can be installed just after the first boot wizard. The last version is available at this page: https://fedorapeople.org/groups/virt/virtio-win/direct-downloads/archive-virtio/?C=M;O=D