Nanoqian

11-29-2025

Running Windows 11 on Qubes OS

Purpose

The goal of this post is to share any fixes for stability issues I encounter with Windows 11 as a qube on Qubes OS. Thankfully I haven't had any issues actually installing Windows onto a qube so I'm only focusing on stability improvements

Getting 80% of the way there

After this you should have windows installed on a qube.

If downloading Windows ISO automatically doesnt work

Start the windows-mgmt qube and go to


/home/user/qvm-create-windows-qube/windows/isos/

Then put a windows iso in that directory.
The example command for creation is:


qvm-create-windows-qube -n sys-firewall -i examplename.iso -a xmlname.xml My-Qube

If the XML file is invalid then it should give you a list of XML files you can use.

Fixing screen tearing / ghosting

After install finishes you might encounter a lot of screen tearing/ghosting. Areas of the screen will not redraw properly. You can see this well if you drag a window around (the edges of the window smears).

Solution

Run the commands:


qvm-features MyWindowsVMName gui ""

And...


qvm-features MyWindowsVMName gui-emulated 1

Your windows VM should render properly now.

Slow down and usability problems

By default there isn't a lot of RAM, CPU cores, or storage allocated to the Windows VM besides the bare minimum.

Solution

This one is pretty simple. Just open the settings of your windows Qube. Give it about 50 gb of system storage max size. In the advanced tab I suggest 6-8 GB of memory (Dynamic memory balancing is a option but I havent tried it since it will probably make things super unstable....). Give it about 4 VCPU. That should be it.

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