Windows 98 Qcow2 Guide

Windows 98 crashes on startup if it sees more than ~1.5GB of RAM. Even with 512MB, you might get "Insufficient memory to initialize windows."

Sadly, QEMU Guest Agent doesn't exist for Win98. However, install the SciTech Display Doctor for high-resolution VESA modes, and the Crystal Audio driver for Sound Blaster emulation. windows 98 qcow2

If you have a Windows 98 VM or image in another format (like VMDK or raw), you can convert it to QCOW2: Windows 98 crashes on startup if it sees more than ~1

qemu-img convert -O qcow2 old_windows98_image.vmdk windows98.qcow2

Legal note: You must own a Windows 98 license. No direct links here, but search for “Windows 98 SE qcow2 preinstalled” – some retro computing archives provide them (usually with key and drivers already installed). Legal note: You must own a Windows 98 license