Importing should work, simply make sure that you are not using Xen's newer linux stubdomain and that the VM is in HVM mode (these steps should be done automatically when importing the VM):
~~~
qvm-features VMNAME linux-stubdom ''
qvm-prefs VMNAME virt_mode hvm
~~~
Note however that you are better off creating a new Windows VM to benefit from the more recent emulated hardware: R3.2 uses a MiniOS based stubdomain with an old and mostly unmaintained 'qemu-traditional' while R4.0 uses a Linux based stubdomain with a recent version of upstream qemu (see [this post](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/qubes-devel/tBqwJmOAJ94/xmFCGJnuAwAJ)).
- The instructions *may* work on other versions than Windows 7 x64 but haven't been tested.
- Qubes Windows Tools (QWT) only supports Windows 7 x64. Note that there are [known issues](https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/3585) with QWT on Qubes 4.x
Create a VM named win7new in [HVM](/doc/hvm/) mode (Xen's current PVH limitations precludes from using PVH):
Windows' installer requires a significant amount of memory or else the VM will crash with such errors:
`/var/log/xen/console/hypervisor.log`:
> p2m_pod_demand_populate: Dom120 out of PoD memory! (tot=102411 ents=921600 dom120)
> (XEN) domain_crash called from p2m-pod.c:1218
> (XEN) Domain 120 (vcpu#0) crashed on cpu#3:
So, increase the VM's memory to 4096MB (memory = maxmem because we don't use memory balancing).
~~~
qvm-prefs win7new memory 4096
qvm-prefs win7new maxmem 4096
~~~
Disable direct boot so that the VM will go through the standard cdrom/HDD boot sequence:
~~~
qvm-prefs win7new kernel ''
~~~
A typical Windows 7 installation requires between 15GB up to 19GB of disk space depending on the version (Home/Professional/...). Windows updates also end up using significant space. So, extend the root volume from the default 10GB to 25GB (note: it is straightforward to increase the root volume size after Windows is installed: simply extend the volume again in dom0 and then extend the system partition with Windows's disk manager).
The second part of the installation process will crash with the standard VGA video adapter and the VM will stay in "transient" mode with the following error in `guest-win7new-dm.log`:
The VM is now ready to be started; the best practice is to use an installation ISO [located in a VM](/doc/standalone-and-hvm/#installing-an-os-in-an-hvm):
Given the higher than usual memory requirements of Windows, you may get a `Not enough memory to start domain 'win7new'` error. In that case try to shutdown unneeded VMs to free memory before starting the Windows VM.
The VM will shutdown after the installer completes the extraction of Windows installation files. It's a good idea to clone the VM now (eg. `qvm-clone win7new win7newbkp1`). Then, (re)start the VM with `qvm-start win7new`.
Revert to the standard VGA adapter: the 'cirrus' adapter will limit the maximum screen resolution to 1024x768 pixels, while the default VGA adapter allows for much higher resolutions (up to 2560x1600 pixels).
Finally, increase the VM's `qrexec_timeout`: in case you happen to get a BSOD or a similar crash in the VM, utilities like chkdsk won't complete on restart before qrexec_timeout automatically halts the VM. That can really put the VM in a totally unrecoverable state, whereas with higher qrexec_timeout, chkdsk or the appropriate utility has plenty of time to fix the VM. Note that Qubes Windows Tools also require a larger timeout to move the user profiles to the private volume the first time the VM reboots after the tools' installation.
At that point you should have a functional and stable Windows VM, although without updates, Xen's PV drivers nor Qubes integration (see sections [Windows Update](#windows-update) and [Xen PV drivers and Qubes Windows Tools](#xen-pv-drivers-and-qubes-windows-tools) below). It is a good time to clone the VM again.
Depending on how old your installation media is, fully updating your Windows VM may take *hours* (this isn't specific to Xen/Qubes) so make sure you clone your VM between the mandatory reboots in case something goes wrong. This [comment](https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/3585#issuecomment-366471111) provides useful links on updating a Windows 7 SP1 VM.
Note: if you already have Qubes Windows Tools installed the video adapter in Windows will be "Qubes video driver" and you won't be able to see the Windows Update process when the VM is being powered off because Qubes services would have been stopped by then. Depending on the size of the Windows update packs it may take a bit of time until the VM shutdowns by itself, leaving one wondering if the VM has crashed or still finalizing the updates (in dom0 a changing CPU usage - eg. shown with `xentop` - usually indicates that the VM hasn't crashed).
To avoid guessing the VM's state enable debugging (`qvm-prefs -s win7new debug true`) and in Windows' device manager (My computer -> Manage / Device manager / Display adapters) temporarily re-enable the standard VGA adapter and disable "Qubes video driver". You can disable debugging and revert to Qubes' display once the VM is updated.
Installing Xen's PV drivers in the VM will lower its resources usage when using network and/or I/O intensive applications, but *may* come at the price of system stability (although Xen's PV drivers on a Win7 VM are usually very stable). There are two ways of installing the drivers:
- Windows 7: installing the driver requires a fully updated VM or else you'll likely get a BSOD and a VM in a difficult to fix state. Updating Windows takes *hours* and for casual usage there isn't much of a performance between the disk PV driver and the default one; so there is likely no need to go through the lengthy Windows Update process if your VM doesn't have access to untrusted networks and if you don't use I/O intensive apps. If you plan to update your newly installed Windows VM it is recommended that you do so *before* installing Qubes Windows Tools (QWT). If QWT are installed, you should temporarily re-enable the standard VGA adapter in Windows and disable Qubes' (see the section above).
- in case you already had QWT installed without the storage PV driver and you then updated the VM, you may then install the driver from Xen's site (xenvbd.tar).
- R4.0: you'll have to install QWT for Qubes R3.2. Be warned that QWT on R4.0 is a work in progress though (see [issue #3585](https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/3585) for instructions and known issues).
With Qubes Windows Tools installed the early graphical console provided in debugging mode isn't needed anymore since Qubes' display driver will be used instead of the default VGA driver:
Please see the [Customizing Windows 7 templates](/doc/windows-template-customization/) page (despite the focus on preparing the VM for use as a template, most of the instructions are independent from how the VM will be used - ie. TemplateVM or StandaloneVM).
