diff --git a/src/qemu_vm.rs b/src/qemu_vm.rs
index 6f89b2d..dd734d3 100644
--- a/src/qemu_vm.rs
+++ b/src/qemu_vm.rs
@@ -160,22 +160,42 @@ fn create_initramfs(rootfs: &PathBuf) -> Result<PathBuf> {
 
     // Create the cpio archive with progress
     let cpio_data = create_cpio_archive(rootfs, &pb)?;
+    let total_bytes = cpio_data.len() as u64;
+    let file_count = pb.position();
 
-    pb.set_message("Compressing initramfs...");
+    // Finish the scanning progress bar
+    pb.finish_and_clear();
 
-    // Compress with gzip
+    // Create progress bar for compression
+    let compress_pb = ProgressBar::new(total_bytes);
+    compress_pb.set_style(ProgressStyle::default_bar()
+        .template("{spinner:.green} Compressing initramfs... {bytes}/{total_bytes} ({eta})")
+        .unwrap()
+        .progress_chars("##-"));
+
+    // Compress with gzip, writing in chunks to update progress
     let mut output_file = std::fs::File::create(&initramfs_path)
         .context("Failed to create initramfs file")?;
     
-    let mut encoder = flate2::write::GzEncoder::new(&mut output_file, flate2::Compression::default());
-    encoder.write_all(&cpio_data)
-        .context("Failed to write compressed initramfs")?;
+    let mut encoder = flate2::write::GzEncoder::new(&mut output_file, flate2::Compression::fast());
+    
+    // Write in 64KB chunks to provide progress updates
+    const CHUNK_SIZE: usize = 64 * 1024;
+    let mut offset = 0;
+    while offset < cpio_data.len() {
+        let end = std::cmp::min(offset + CHUNK_SIZE, cpio_data.len());
+        encoder.write_all(&cpio_data[offset..end])
+            .context("Failed to write compressed initramfs")?;
+        offset = end;
+        compress_pb.set_position(offset as u64);
+    }
     encoder.finish()
         .context("Failed to finalize gzip compression")?;
 
     // Clear progress bar and print message only in verbose mode
-    pb.finish_and_clear();
-    veprintln!("Initramfs created: {} bytes, {} files", cpio_data.len(), pb.position());
+    compress_pb.finish_and_clear();
+    veprintln!("Initramfs created: {} bytes -> {} bytes compressed, {} files",
+               total_bytes, output_file.metadata().ok().map(|m| m.len()).unwrap_or(0), file_count);
 
     Ok(initramfs_path)
 }