# virtio-win/kvm-guest-drivers-windows

Windows paravirtualized drivers for QEMU\KVM

Repository: https://github.com/virtio-win/kvm-guest-drivers-windows
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/kvm-guest-drivers-windows
Homepage: https://www.linux-kvm.org/page/WindowsGuestDrivers
Language: C
License: BSD-3-Clause
License Family: permissive
Topics: kvm-hypervisor, kvm, qemu, qemu-kvm, drivers, virtualization, guest, guest-agent, c-plus-plus, virtio, virtio-win, c, ndis, storport, wdf, wdm, windows, kernel-driver, windows-driver, windows-driver-kit
Last push: 2026-08-26T08:17:10+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 86/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 60, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5445, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 42, "gap_med": 26.0, "n_releases_24m": 11}
- flags: prerelease_only
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2703, forks 469 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:11.521679+00:00)

## What it is
A collection of Windows paravirtualized and emulated hardware drivers for KVM/QEMU virtual machines, including network (netkvm), storage (viostor), balloon, and other virtio guest drivers. The source builds into the virtio-win RPM and distribution-neutral ISO/VFD images used to install drivers in Windows guests.

## Use cases
- install virtio drivers in a Windows VM running on KVM/QEMU
- build virtio-win drivers from source
- get high-performance network and disk I/O in Windows guests on KVM
- sign virtio drivers for distribution via WHQL
- obtain virtio-win ISO images for Windows VM setup

## When to choose
- you run Windows guests on KVM/QEMU and need paravirtualized drivers for performance
- you want to build, customize, or re-sign virtio Windows drivers
- you distribute virtualization images that include Windows guest support

## When to avoid
- you need guest drivers for Linux guests (use the in-kernel virtio drivers)
- you use a different hypervisor like Hyper-V, VMware, or VirtualBox
- you only want prebuilt binaries without building from source (download the ISO instead)

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: sdk, developer-tools
- domain: operating-systems, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cpp, c
- tags: virtio, kvm, qemu, kernel-drivers, windows-drivers, paravirtualization, guest-drivers, ndis, storport, wdf, virtualization, linux

## Member repositories
- virtio-win/kvm-guest-drivers-windows (main) score 86

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:11.521679+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:15:57.028171+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/virtio-win/kvm-guest-drivers-windows (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:11.521679+00:00, sha 293d57a1bb18)
  - homepage: https://www.linux-kvm.org/page/WindowsGuestDrivers (fetched 2026-08-29T09:59:00.840090+00:00, sha c5dff510ac7c)
  - site_page: https://www.linux-kvm.org/page/KVM_Features (fetched 2026-08-29T09:59:00.848935+00:00, sha ccd4798cfff7)
  - site_page: https://www.linux-kvm.org/page/FAQ (fetched 2026-08-29T09:59:00.850577+00:00, sha ef7dc51111e5)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.