# Example to create a 50GB qcow2 file qemu-img create -f qcow2 Windows7_2021.qcow2 50G Use code with caution. 2. Essential VirtIO Drivers

Windows 7 reached its End of Life (EOL) on . By 2021, no free security updates were officially available for standard consumers. However, enterprises with Extended Security Updates (ESU) or enthusiasts continued running Windows 7 in virtualised environments. The QCOW2 format is the native disk image format for QEMU/KVM, offering features like snapshots, thin provisioning, and compression.

2020 年 1 月 14 日，微软正式终止了对 Windows 7 的主流支持。自此之后，Windows 7 进入了“扩展安全更新”（Extended Security Updates，简称 ESU）阶段，仅为签署了付费支持协议的企业客户提供关键安全补丁。2021 年正是这一过渡期的重要节点——这一年 Windows 7 仍然能够通过 ESU 获得安全更新，微软在 2021 年 7 月、9 月、11 月等多个时间点均发布了针对 Windows 7 的安全性更新。对于仍须运行 Windows 7 的企业和组织而言，2021 年是迁移计划的关键年份，而将 Windows 7 封装为 qcow2 镜像部署于虚拟化环境中，也成为一种切实可行的方案。

In this comprehensive guide, we'll walk you through the process of converting and running Windows 7 as a QCOW2 image in 2021, ensuring you can continue to leverage the familiarity and reliability of Windows 7 within a modern computing environment.

Proceed with the installation wizard until you reach the disk selection screen. Click -> Browse . Navigate to the VirtIO CD-ROM drive.

Despite Microsoft ending official support in January 2020, Windows 7 virtual machines (VMs) remained relevant for: