[solved] Re: OT: Virtualisation of dual-boot partitions

[J.L. Coenders]

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John Austin wrote:
> On Sat, 2006-06-24 at 11:00 +0200, J.L. Coenders wrote:
> Dear all,
> 
> Perhaps a bit OT, but I was wondering if there is a virtualisation
> system available that lets you boot a dual-boot partition instead of a
> virtual partition.
> Say, I have a dual-boot system with Linux on /dev/hda1 and Windows XP on
> /dev/hda2.
> I boot the Linux partition and would like to run Windows from within
> Linux. Is there a system which allows that?
> It would be possible if the Windows partition is a virtual one, but that
> way I can never boot Windows without Linux, if I would need high
> performance.
> 
> Just wondering...
> 
> Regards,
> Jeroen
>>

> http://www.vmware.com/products/ws/

>>From VMware Workstation Manual - ws55_manual.pdf
> "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."

> 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 on page 257.
> Setting up a physical disk configuration for a virtual machine is more
> complicated than using a virtual disk. Virtual disks are recommended
> unless you have a specific need to run directly from a physical disk or
> partition."

> Hope this helps

> John

Thanks, I didn't find this in the searches I made, but it is clear to me
now. Unfortunate that there is no open source alternative yet.

Regards,
Jeroen
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