The QCOW2 format is favored over "raw" disk images for several reasons: Thin Provisioning: The file only grows as data is written. Snapshots:
: During the "Where do you want to install Windows?" step, the disk won't appear. Click Load Driver and browse to the VirtIO CD-ROM (specifically the viostor/w7/amd64 folder) to make the QCOW2 disk visible. Optimizing Performance for 2021 windows 7qcow2 2021
Moving these systems to a QCOW2 image on a modern Linux server (Proxmox/KVM) provided a way to keep old hardware running on reliable, modern infrastructure. 3. GNS3 and Network Simulation The QCOW2 format is favored over "raw" disk
If you have a Windows 7 install on VirtualBox (VDI) or VMware (VMDK), you can convert it in 2021 easily: windows 7qcow2 2021