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Windows.HomesUnofficial

Lab method: E1/E2/E3, M-V/M-P, PVE templates and snapshots

Verified 1 min read

How Windows.Homes produces evidence: official sources, PVE templates, GPU passthrough measurements, raw data and the limits of each level.

Tested onLab · Build 26300.9711 / 26100.33650 · x64
E2
Build
26300.9711 / 26100.33650
Edition
Lab
Architecture
x64
Support
Method
Evidence
E2Reproduced in the lab, measured in a passthrough VM
Verified
2026-10-27
Page type
Method

Evidence levels

Section titled “Evidence levels”
Level Meaning What it can support
E1 Official documentation or specification, not executed here “Microsoft documents this behavior”
E2 Reproduced in a fixed PVE template “In our 26H2 VM, this happened”
E3 Reproduced on a physical PC or a second host “On this hardware, this happened”
M-V Measured in a GPU-passthrough VM, raw data kept Same-environment deltas, not absolute FPS
M-P Measured on bare metal, raw data kept Performance claims with hardware context

Template baseline

Section titled “Template baseline”
  • PVE host with an isolated bridge; Windows lab traffic never bridges to the production LAN.
  • Windows 11 26H2: q35, OVMF, vTPM 2.0, VirtIO SCSI single, VirtIO NIC, QEMU Guest Agent.
  • VirtIO drivers pinned to 0.1.271; the template records the ISO and driver version.
  • Server 2025: Desktop and Core templates, Evaluation edition, expiresAt recorded.
  • Every experiment starts from a snapshot; the snapshot name goes into the test record.

Procedure

Section titled “Procedure”
PVE host

Do not mutate the template. Clone, rename, and record the template version and clone id.

Expected: A linked clone boots with the expected build and no pending driver warnings.

Virtual machine

Snapshot name: <page>-<change>-before. If the change touches storage or the boot path, take a full clone instead.

Expected: A named snapshot exists and can be reverted.

Virtual machine

Discard the first cold run. Keep the median and 1% low; note the room temperature and power plan.

Expected: Five passes of the same scene, raw CSV saved, build and driver recorded.

Terminal (admin)

The page can only claim E2/M-V if the archive exists. A screenshot without a recipe is not evidence.

Expected: Recipe, VM config, raw data and screenshot are stored under the page id.

Anti-cheat and passthrough

Section titled “Anti-cheat and passthrough”

Some games refuse to run in a VM. This is a per-title policy, not a bug in the lab. The test record marks those titles “not testable in VM” and, if a physical machine is available, repeats them as M-P.

What the lab will not do

Section titled “What the lab will not do”
  • Bypass TPM/Secure Boot to install on unsupported hardware and call it supported.
  • Use “rearm” scripts to extend an evaluation.
  • Publish a measurement without the raw data and the hardware list.
  • Hide a failed run.

Sources