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)

Dennis Zimmer's new  book covering VMware's free virtualization products is now available: VMware Server and VMware Player. The way forward for Virtualization. It's an update and translation of his original version in German. More information can be found at his site VMuser.com, including a table of contents, an index, and three free chapters on Virtual Networks, VMware Tools, and VMware Server.

Via virtualization.info -- check out the virtualization.info bookstore for information on this and other books. See also the list of books that were at the VMworld bookstore.