pros and cons of converting a boot cam partition into a vmware virtual machine?

[salismil]

(and as a corollary, once i go virtual, can i go back to physical? does that require a good ol' call to microsoft to re-activate XP?)

so i have XP on boot camp more because i can rather than for any specific reason. i don't game. i don't render. in fact i hardly ever boot into XP because i'm too lazy to re-boot.

given my limited needs, i figure, why not convert to a virtual machine and suspend? that would make me more inclined to actually use windows (which i really only use for a few apps).

my main question is: performance-wise, does a windows VM run exactly the same as a boot camp VM? that is, will windows run at the same "speed" (subjectively speaking) as my boot camp VM currently does?

also, will i lose out on any functionality?

i have a macbook 2.0ghz C2D with 4 gb of RAM.

[admin]

(and as a corollary, once i go virtual, can i go back to physical?

Not easily - it's much easier to go from physical to virtual.

does that require a good ol' call to microsoft to re-activate XP?)

Possibly. There are advanced ways to import a disk directly that would probably avoid reactivation (assuming you've already activated the Boot Camp install in Fusion), but if you simply use Converter you'll probably have to reactivate. Whether this involves calling Microsoft depends on what license you have (some allow for a certain number of activations before you have to call).

my main question is: performance-wise, does a windows VM run exactly the same as a boot camp VM? that is, will windows run at the same "speed" (subjectively speaking) as my boot camp VM currently does?

Pretty much. I don't think anyone's publicly done hard studies on this, but I would expect things to be about the same. However, if you were to create a fresh XP virtual machine using the Easy Install, it would probably perform better (disk-wise) because it could use virtual SCSI drives.

also, will i lose out on any functionality?

Aside from being able to boot natively into Windows (and all the consequences), no.

[salismil]

thanks for the reply, etung. so you seem to suggest that a fresh XP vm install would create an XP vm that may run faster than converting my boot camp partition into an XP vm?

can anyone else comment on this?

also, where are files stored on a windows vm, such as documents and whatnot? i don't imagine you can access the files without being in the vm environment?

and is there any way to take advantage of os x's "PDF printer" in a windows vm?

[admin]

thanks for the reply, etung. so you seem to suggest that a fresh XP vm install would create an XP vm that may run faster than converting my boot camp partition into an XP vm?

Yep, I believe so. If nothing else, you're getting rid of any cruft from the previous installation.

also, where are files stored on a windows vm, such as documents and whatnot? i don't imagine you can access the files without being in the vm environment?

Normal virtual machines represent the disk as a large file. On Windows and Linux we have a tool called vmware-mount that lets you mount the disk on the host, but Fusion does not currently have this capability.

and is there any way to take advantage of os x's "PDF printer" in a windows vm?

Not that I'm aware of. You could try installing a PDF printer in the guest.

[WoodyZ]

and is there any way to take advantage of os x's "PDF printer" in a windows vm?

You can use http://www.codepoetry.net/projects/cups-pdf-for-mosx to accomplish this.

[salismil]

hi woodyz,

so that allows me to take advantage of the printer even while in my windows VM? i tried using the vmware's own "virtual printer" (not even sure what that is) but was unsuccessful.

are there any CONS for converting a boot camp partition into a windows VM, aside from 1) lesser 3D support?

[WoodyZ]

so that allows me to take advantage of the printer even while in my windows VM?

Yes once you install the CUPS-PDF you can connect to it as a Shared Printer and it work quite nice for the price. It's free.

i tried using the vmware's own "virtual printer" (not even sure what that is) but was unsuccessful.

IIRC that is for use with VMware Ace and does not work in Fusion however because it's a part of VMware Tools it gets installed.

are there any CONS for converting a boot camp partition into a windows VM, aside from 1) lesser 3D support?

Yes there are however it all depends on one's needs and based on the information you presented in your other posts in this thread I'd have to agree with Eric's (etung) assessment.