optimal settings for win7 64 guest on kvm 64 host managed with libvirt

Solution 1:

1. Use virtio for disks and network.
2. for the mountpoint where you keep the images and the isos, use the noatime and nodiratime options
3. use the deadline scheduler on the host
4. use spice/qxl for video for proper video performance

Solution 2:

I just installed Windows 7 and then after the installation changed the disk to use virtio.

To load the drivers, I added a temporary virtio device (1G) and then rebooted the guest. Then, loaded in the Windows drivers for the virtio through device manager.

Then, shutdown the guest, changed the main disk from IDE to virtio. Becuase Windows 7 had already loaded in the virtio drivers from my temporary device, it coped fine with the IDE disk changing to virtio.