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I am totally lost on this.

I used this guide to help me setup the VM environment (also installed virt-manager): https://help.ubuntu.com/community/KVM/Installation

Then I set up a VM with virt-manager using a Windows 10 ISO, and I wasn't prompted to change anything other than the RAM allocation, the # of CPU cores to use, and the HDD size. When I loaded up the VM for the first time, I noticed that the video was very laggy, but I thought this was just a weird side-effect of the Windows Setup. But this still occurred after Windows was fully installed. The resolution didn't automatically change either, I had to manually change it. The VM's video feels horribly slow.

I have no idea what I did wrong, and I've been looking everywhere for answers. How can I fix this? I'm trying to make a VM that feels like a native install.

HTV04
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  • Related for Virtualbox: https://askubuntu.com/questions/187424/install-windows-7-through-virtual-box You may also be interested in the official timeboxed Windows Virtualbox machines: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/virtual-machines/ They expire in about a month, but they do just work. – Ciro Santilli OurBigBook.com Jan 26 '24 at 04:58

1 Answers1

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You'll probably have to reinstall Windows.

Your Windows VM should use special para-virtualised drivers (known as VirtIO drivers),
else the VM host will have to emulate hardware for the Windows guest, and it'll be abysmally slow.

Go here and download the virtio-win.iso
https://fedorapeople.org/groups/virt/virtio-win/direct-downloads/stable-virtio/

Create a 2nd CD drive on the Windows VM Load the Windows installation ISO on 1 CD drive The above KVM VirtIO driver ISO on the other.

During the Windows install, there should be a point where you can choose what drivers to use.
Navigate to the driver CD, and select the appropriate drivers.

You'll need to select VirtIO drivers for at least following to get near-native performance:

  • Virtio block driver (hard disks, etc.)
  • Virtio network driver
  • Virtio QXL graphics driver

But have a look at the other drivers supplied as well, in case you need.

Tony
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  • Thank you so much for your response! I have absolutely no problem reinstalling Windows if I have to, I just want to get this working. Do I need to change any of the settings under the "additional options" given during the VM setup? – HTV04 Nov 19 '20 at 01:22
  • You shouldn't need to change anything else. The slowness is all down to the host emulating hardware for the guest. Paravirtualised drivers will solve this, and the host won't have to do any hardware emulation – Tony Nov 19 '20 at 01:26
  • Okay, so I'm about to set up a new VM. However, I can't find an option to add another disc. How can I add the VirtIO disc alongside the Windows install disc? – HTV04 Nov 19 '20 at 01:38
  • In Virt-Manager, select the Windows VM, and there should be an add button somewhere. You can then add hardware to the VM. Add a new CD ROM drive – Tony Nov 19 '20 at 01:58
  • Okay, I've been following some parts of this and I was able to add it and make a few other changes, if that's okay: https://dennisnotes.com/note/20180614-ubuntu-18.04-qemu-setup/ The drivers I need to install are NetKVM, viostor, and qxldod, right? – HTV04 Nov 19 '20 at 02:04
  • Yeah, sounds about right. – Tony Nov 19 '20 at 02:09
  • It seems to be working okay so far! Thank you so much! I'll let you know if I can encounter any issues. – HTV04 Nov 19 '20 at 02:12
  • Okay, so now the cursor is perfect, but the video is still slow. How can I fix this? – HTV04 Nov 19 '20 at 02:36
  • UPDATE: Unfortunately, it seems like creating a VM with my current hardware isn't the best idea at the moment. Since I was planning to create a Windows VM for my Windows games, my current video performance won't work. I'm planning to build a PC later on, hopefully with a two separate GPUs (one integrated, one external). How would I modify the steps I did to pass through the external GPU? – HTV04 Nov 19 '20 at 03:36
  • Ooh, yeah. Games are not going to work well in a VM. Have you tried Wine? – Tony Nov 19 '20 at 08:58
  • I've been using Proton with my Steam games, so that seems to work fine. However, I can't play anything that isn't Wine/Proton compatible at the moment, so that's why I was looking forward to making a VM. Guess I'll have to stick with compatible games at the moment. – HTV04 Nov 19 '20 at 12:28