Windows Installation on Proxmox Server - Step-by-Step Guide

Keep Two ISO Files Ready Before You Start

Every Windows install on Proxmox needs two ISO files on the server, not one. Upload both to your ISO storage first: in the Proxmox web panel, select the storage, open ISO Images and use Upload.

The Windows ISO itself — Windows 11, Windows 10 or Windows Server, downloaded from Microsoft's official site. And the virtio-win ISO — the free VirtIO driver disc for Windows guests. Proxmox documentation points to it for every Windows install; without it, Windows Setup cannot even see your virtual disk properly.

Create the VM and Tick the VirtIO Drivers Box

Click Create VM in the top right of the Proxmox panel and walk through the wizard. General: give the VM a name, for example Win11, and note the VM ID Proxmox assigns. OS: select your Windows ISO, set Guest OS Type to Microsoft Windows and the version to 11/2022/2025 for Windows 11 or Server 2022/2025 — then tick Add additional drive for VirtIO drivers and select the virtio-win ISO, which attaches the driver disc as a second CD drive automatically.

System: set BIOS to OVMF (UEFI) and Machine to q35, tick Add EFI Disk and Add TPM (version 2.0) if you are installing Windows 11, keep the SCSI controller as VirtIO SCSI single, and tick Qemu Agent. Disks: keep the bus as SCSI and give Windows 11 at least 64 GB — a smaller disk works for a quick test, but updates fill it fast. CPU: 2 to 4 cores for a normal guest. Memory: 4096 MB is the practical minimum for Windows 11; give more if the server has it. Network: keep the model as VirtIO (paravirtualized) on your bridge, usually vmbr0. Setup will not see this network card until its driver is installed — that is expected, and it is fixed below.

Start the VM and Reach the Disk Screen

Select the new VM, click Start, then open the Console. When the screen asks, press any key to boot from the CD. Windows Setup starts exactly like a normal PC install: pick your language, click Install now, choose the edition your licence covers, and accept the licence terms.

Then comes the screen that stops almost every first-time install: "Where do you want to install Windows?" — with an empty list. Do not panic and do not rebuild the VM. Nothing is broken. Windows simply has no driver for the VirtIO storage controller yet, so the disk is invisible to it.

The VirtIO Moment — Load the Storage Driver

This is the one step that makes a Proxmox install different from a physical PC install. On the empty disk screen, click Load driver, then Browse, and open the virtio-win CD drive — the second CD you attached in the wizard. Because your disk hangs on the VirtIO SCSI controller, open the vioscsi folder for your Windows version:

vioscsi\w11\amd64

Use the folder matching your Windows version — for example w10 for Windows 10 or 2k22 for Server 2022. (If you had chosen a VirtIO Block disk instead, the folder is viostor.) Select the Red Hat VirtIO SCSI controller driver and click Next. The disk appears in the list within seconds. Select it, click New if you want Setup to partition it, then Next — from here the installation is a completely normal Windows install.

Finish Setup Even Though There Is No Network Yet

Because the network card is also VirtIO, Windows Setup cannot see it either, so Windows 11 may stop at the "Let's connect you to a network" screen. This is the second expected hurdle, not a failure. You have two clean ways through: press Shift + F10 to open a command prompt, browse to the virtio-win CD and run virtio-win-guest-tools.exe — it installs every driver including the network driver, and the network screen clears. Or finish setup offline using the option your build offers, and install the drivers on the desktop in the next step.

First Desktop Job — Install the Guest Tools

The moment you reach the Windows desktop, open the virtio-win CD in File Explorer and run virtio-win-guest-tools.exe. One installer gives the guest everything it was missing: the network driver (NetKVM), so the VM gets an IP address and internet; the storage and balloon drivers, so disk and memory work the way Proxmox expects; and the QEMU guest agent, so Proxmox can read the VM's IP addresses, shut it down cleanly and take consistent backups.

Restart once, then open Device Manager: no yellow warning marks should remain. In the Proxmox Summary page for the VM, the IP addresses should now be listed — that is your proof the guest agent is alive.

Desktop or Server — and the Licence

A short honest word before you build habits on this VM. Windows 11 or 10 is right for a personal desktop, testing and single-user remote work. Windows Server is right when the VM must serve others — file shares, Active Directory, or several people connecting at once — because desktop Windows allows only one interactive remote session and is not licensed or built as a multi-user server. Both install exactly the same way in this guide.