O/S: Windows 8.1 x64 (This did work on Windows 7 x86 and possible x64)
GNS3 version 0.8.7 and 0.8.6 both standalone
QEMU versions - all three below behave the same
- qemu-0.11.0.patched.win32
- qemu-0.12.5.patched.win32
- qemu-0.13.0.patched.win32

QEMU O/S: Llinux-microcore-2.10.img

Windows Firewall turned off
Tried various console port values.

When trying different versions of QEMU, I copied these three files to the GNS3 folder:
- qemu.exe
- qemu-img.exe
- qemu-io.exe

Symptom:
Add a QEMU guest to map.
Start the guest, I see it start via the 'green' light.
The QEMU console does not appear.

I can run qemuwrapper.exe from Windows Explorer and its window pops up.

Should QEMU run on Windows 8.1 x64?

If yes, any help with getting this working?

Or if no, is there another option to get multiple Linux microcore images running in GNS3 on a Windows 8.1 platform for pinging and traceroute besides VPCS?

I did try an older version, GNS3-Standalone-64-bit-0.8.3, and the Linux Microcore 2.10 works.