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I'm now running windows 8 and I installed qemu-windows 1.3.1. I have two hard disks. When I try to boot existing Arch GNU/Linux from second disk using the command: 

qemu-system-x86-64w -hda \Device\HarddiskVolume6

I got this error : 

qemu-system-x86_64w.exe: -hda \Device\HarddiskVolume6: 
could not open disk image \Device\HarddiskVolume6: Invalid argument

Can anyone tell me why? Do I need to mount a linux partition in windows?

The bottom line is:

How do I boot an existing GNU/Linux installation from a hard disk?

update

When I use (either of) the commands suggested by Ярослав Рахматуллин in his answer 

qemu-system-x86_64w.exe: -hda \\.\PhysicalDrive0
qemu-system-x86_64w.exe: \\.\PhysicalDrive0

I get this error : 

qemu: PC system firmware (pflash) must be a multiple of 0x1000
Ярослав Рахматуллин
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Frei Zhang
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1 Answers1

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Your argument is invalid, i.e wrong. The qemu-doc.html from the qemu-windows official page/distribution states how to specify physical hard drives in section 3.6.7.2 Windows:

Hard disks
    Hard disks can be used with the syntax: \\.\PhysicalDriveN where N is the 
    drive number (0 is the first hard disk). /dev/hda is supported as an alias
    to the first hard disk drive \\.\PhysicalDrive0.

WARNING: unless you know what you do, it is better to only make READ-ONLY 
accesses to the hard disk otherwise you may corrupt your host data (use
the -snapshot command line so that the modifications are written in a 
temporary file).

If still in doubt; read this guide: Use physical harddisk in Virtual Box

jcomeau_ictx
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Ярослав Рахматуллин
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