Windows 7 XP: Physical to Virtual Machine & Share Boot Drive w Host? Best way?

[crashnburn]

XP: Physical to Virtual & Share Boot Drive w Host? Disk2VHD vs VMWare P2V?

XP: Physical to Virtual & Share Drive w Host? Disk2VHD vs VMWare P2V?


Physical-to-Virtual - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


My Thinkpad X61T with recent 8GB DDR2 Upgrade:


I have an XP Pro 3 instance on a HDD able to use 2.99 GB RAM. I can backup bunch of data files to make size smaller.


I have a Win 7 x64 instance on another HDD that can use most of the 8GB RAM.


Now, I'd like to do two things:


1. Virtualize the XP instance and create a Virtual Disk/ Virtual Machine, with all of the Programs & Settings intact.


2. Run this XP on top of Win 7 x64 Host and "Slowly" Migrate Files/ Settings/ MetaData etc. from GUEST XP to HOST machine.


I'd prefer to be able to SHARE "the C: or Boot Drive" between the GUEST & HOST machines (as it is mounted/ running) and be able to COPY some Specific Files/Folders using ROBOCOPY/ RICHCOPY to maintain attributes that could/ easily get lost with any other copy method.


Thoughts/ suggestions, experiences, comparative reviews on using Software/ Tools out of the above listed page and how could go about doing both the things.


Please do let me know. Thanks.


UPDATE: Some advise/ suggestions I got on another forum was..

If it were me, I'd use DISK2VHD on the XP hard drive, copy it to the Win7 machine, install XP Mode, and fire it up like that.


An alternative, in some ways better, would be to use VMWare's P2V converter on the XP machine, install VMWare Player on the 7 machine, and load the virtual machine on there.


If you're just worried about docs / settings / etc, I'd suggest skipping virtualization and just use Windows Easy Transfer to make a clean break.

I've used VMWare and Virtual PC a LOT in the past, but not used in a long time. I know some functionality for items 1 & 2 exist but wanted to get a comparative idea between the various options LISTED in the Link. I guess I was a little out of touch when I realized so many products existed just to do P to V. I remember only VMWare had that for a while.


For me the ability to "share" & "copy" these files is critical. PS: Also, I may or may not have enough storage on the Win 7 x64 drive so I'll have to run the guest VM from a USB 2.0 HDD. Would that work okay?


For now, if the suggestion give by someone from the other forum still holds..:
What are the pros vs cons of Disk2VHD vs VMWare? (Given the specifics of my scenario?)


Esp Sharing Drive & Copying using RoboCopy/ Richcopy (To maintain Modified/ Created Dates .. Wish there was way to keep Accessed Date)

 

[crashnburn]

Re: XP: Physical to Virtual & Share Boot Drive w Host? Disk2VHD vs VMWare P2V?

I want to be able to RUN the XP instance inside Win 7 x64 until my Win 7 x64 and the Programs/ Applications / Preferences & Settings / Bookmarks/ Chrome Extensions & Settings are all at the same way and safely setup.


I am wondering if I can do an iPhone <> iTunes synch with the Virtualized Machine?


I am not worried about it but since this P2V and post-migration will be time & energy consuming, I'd like to do it faster.


I was just wondering how both of those would be different? If there was a comparison chart / matrix for them, somethings would be different? In terms of flexibility and features.. and in terms of Performance / Time when Converting from P2V and post conversation usage performance. Any thoughts on which is faster/ better? If they are different, there's gotta be some differences right? What am I missing?


I also read somewhere that Disk2VHD Disk can also be used inside VMWare. I am guessing opposite direction may not be true for VMWare created image?


The only comparison I found between both of them: Link Removed due to 404 Error


Unfortunately, it is not an apples to apples comparison. Maybe you can read this link and derive more insight on what would be better/ faster?