QEMU: question on creating a virtual/emulated(?) machine without KVM

[Tom H]

On Sat, Apr 5, 2014 at 5:04 PM, Franz Waldmüller <waldbauernbub at gmx.at> wrote:
>
> before the support for Microsoft Windows XP ends I want to create a virtual
> machine from a Windows XP CD which I don't use anymore.
> The purpose of this install is to have a Windows install available for
> legacy applications or an old scanner which only works on XP. Although this
> virtual machine shouldn't connect to the internet I want to apply all
> available security updates since the won't be available forever.
>
> I think that Windows doesn't use a generic kernel like ubuntu. So I am
> afraid that I have to ensure that the hardware as Windows sees it, does not
> change too much.
>
> Do I need to set the -no-kvm switch when launching qemu-system-i386? Do you
> have any other recommendations on the launch options of qemu?
>
> qemu-system-i386 -no-kvm -hda /path/to/harddisk.img -cdrom /dev/cdrom0 -boot
> d -m 1024
>
> I am on a 64bit install of ubuntu 12.04 at the moment but wanted to create a
> virtual machine which I can use on an old laptop which doesn't have
> VT-x/AMD-V.

AFAIK there's no "-no-kvm" option. There's an "-enable-kvm" option and
omitting it works without VT-x/AMD-V.

"-hda" is an old but still valid syntax. The new syntax is "-drive
file=/path/to/harddisk.img".

Using your command above is the equivalent of using "-net nic -net
user" for networking. If you want to use a different driver, you have
to add "-net nic,model=virtio -net user" (old syntax) or "-device
virtio-net-pci,netdev=net0 -netdev user,id=net0". If you don't specify
a driver, e1000 is used.

It might not matter during installation, but you might want to try vnc
and see if you prefer it to the default sdl.