: A QCOW2 file only consumes physical storage for the data actually written by the guest OS. For instance, a 40 GB virtual Windows 7 drive might only occupy 10–15 GB on the host's physical disk.
Before diving into Windows 7 specifics, we must understand the container. windows 7 qcow2 file
Many industries rely on software that only runs correctly on Windows 7. By keeping a QCOW2 image of a clean, stripped-down Windows 7 installation, administrators can spin up a fresh environment in seconds to test or run legacy applications without needing to reinstall the OS from a DVD. : A QCOW2 file only consumes physical storage
qemu-img convert -f vmdk -O qcow2 windows7-old.vmdk windows7-new.qcow2 qemu-img convert -f vpc -O qcow2 windows7.vhd windows7.qcow2 Many industries rely on software that only runs
stands for "QEMU Copy-On-Write version 2." It is the native disk image format for QEMU (Quick Emulator) and KVM. Unlike a raw .img file, which allocates the entire disk space upfront, QCOW2 offers three killer features: