PurpleJillybeans<a href="https://blog.n8fq.org/social?t=windowsxp" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#WindowsXP</a> / Server 2003 is still very well-supported on <a href="https://blog.n8fq.org/social?t=qemu" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#QEMU</a> in 2025. Here are a few random tips:<br><br>* The latest versions of the virtio-win packages have removed the WinXP drivers, but you can still use an older version. The last release to mention XP in the changelog was <a href="https://fedorapeople.org/groups/virt/virtio-win/direct-downloads/archive-virtio/virtio-win-0.1.132-1/virtio-win-0.1.132.iso" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">0.1.132</a>, so that's a good bet.<br>* In the root of the virtio-win CD, you'll find two .vfd files. Those are floppy images which can be used during the OS installation. Copy the <code>virtio-win-0.1.132_x86.vfd</code> file somewhere handy and attach it to your VM.<br>* Use VirtIO for your hard drive and network, QXL for video, and AC'97 for sound.<br>* When you boot the install CD, hit F6 and choose to load the VirtIO storage driver from the floppy image mentioned above.<br>* Once the OS is installed, download and install the <a href="https://www.spice-space.org/download/windows/spice-guest-tools/spice-guest-tools-latest.exe" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">SPICE Guest Tools</a>.<br>* Once that's all done, use <span class="h-card"><a href="https://hachyderm.io/users/kirb" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@kirb@hachyderm.io</a></span> 's <a href="http://legacyupdate.net" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Legacy Update</a> to install updates, runtimes, and addons like PowerShell.<br><br>If you're using <a href="https://virt-manager.org" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">virt-manager</a> or some other libvirt-based frontend, <a href="https://n8fq.org/winxp.xml" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">this XML file</a> should give you a good workable VM setup. Remember to make a virtual drive image called <code>winxp.qcow2</code> before trying to run it!<br><br><a href="https://blog.n8fq.org/social?t=retrocomputing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#RetroComputing</a><br>