stands for QEMU Copy On Write version 2 . It is a versatile, modern disk image format designed specifically for the QEMU emulator. Unlike a "raw" disk image that occupies its full size immediately, qcow2 images are thin-provisioned . Key Features of QCOW2:
: As mentioned, installing the complete suite of VirtIO drivers is paramount. This includes the viostor (disk), netkvm (network), and qxl (video) drivers. These replace the emulated hardware, drastically improving I/O and graphics performance. Windows 10.qcow2
qemu-img convert -f vdi -O qcow2 windows_10.vdi windows_10.qcow2 Use code with caution. Convert RAW to QCOW2 stands for QEMU Copy On Write version 2