VMTN Blog

Using VMware Workstation or Player, you can run a virtual machine off a raw disk partition, i.e., not using a vmdk file. Today on Digg we find:

Running a Windows Partition in VMware from Imran Naza (mirror)

I have my system partitioned into two: one part of the hard drive hosts a Windows XP partition, and the other runs Gentoo Linux. About a month ago, I was just about tired of having to reboot to switch between the two, so I decided to set up a VM for Windows.

There was, however, a snag to this: I wanted to use the existing Windows installation, because I'd tuned it up and installed the software I always use. I expressly didn't want a virtual disk image duplicating my Windows drive, since I didn't have the space for that. So, that was the task: running the Windows partition in a VM.

See also:  Running VMWare on a Physical Partition from Scott Bronson (mirror)

VMware documentation: Configuring a Dual-Boot Computer for Use with a Virtual Machine.

Many users install VMware Workstation on a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer so they can run one or more of the existing operating systems in a virtual machine. If you are doing this, you may want to use the existing installation of an operating system rather than reinstall it in a virtual machine.

To support such installations, VMware Workstation makes it possible for you to use a physical IDE disk or partition, also known as a physical disk, inside a virtual machine.

Note: VMware Workstation supports booting from physical disk partitions only on IDE drives. Booting guest operating systems from physical SCSI drives is not supported. For a discussion of the issues on a Linux host, see Configuring Dual- or Multiple-Boot SCSI Systems to Run with VMware Workstation on a Linux Host.

And, as always, the experts hang out at the VMTN Workstation Forum if you run into trouble. (Search for 'raw' in that Forum)