Changing from VMware to Boot Camp

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I am about to upgrade to Leopard to use Boot camp. I previously used VMware fusion with Tiger to run windows xp. Just wanted to know if I can convert the VMware Xp file to work with Boot Camp or will I have to install XP with Boot Camp again?

On a side note I have Macbook pro with a 100GB hard drive- what size partition would you recommend? I will only use Xp for games like Bioshock and Steam games like Half Life 2 other than that it will be pretty bare. On the mac side I'll be using Adobe CS3 and FCP, Aperture and iTunes.
 

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You'll have to reinstall XP as the VM can not be converted. But save the XP VM in case you decide at sometime in the future to use Fusion again. BTW, Fusion Beta 2 is available for public download.

A partition of 20 Gb should be large enough for all your games and other various Windows things like AV, anti-spyware, etc.

Regards.
 
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You'll have to reinstall XP as the VM can not be converted. But save the XP VM in case you decide at sometime in the future to use Fusion again. BTW, Fusion Beta 2 is available for public download.

A partition of 20 Gb should be large enough for all your games and other various Windows things like AV, anti-spyware, etc.

Regards.

Thanks for the advice. Just one more question. Am I able to adjust the size of the Partition in Leopard after the fact to make the Windows partition smaller or larger?
 
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randomfactor
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sorry to ask again but can anyone tell me if you can change the size of a partition in Leopard without destroying the data on OSX or Windows?
I ask this just incase I need extra space on either OS for games or apps.
 
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sorry to ask again but can anyone tell me if you can change the size of a partition in Leopard without destroying the data on OSX or Windows?
I ask this just incase I need extra space on either OS for games or apps.

I tried but bootcamp does not allow me to adjust the windows partition. I did but the Windows cannot boot up, and I have to reinstall it
 
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You'll have to reinstall XP as the VM can not be converted.

This is not strictly true.

In the sense that you can start with the virtual setup, and end with a physical setup... it is very possible. It's just not as elegant as opening up a quick program to translate to files on a partition. (though I really don't understand why such a program has not been written!!!)

In your virtual environment, you can "clone" your XP disk to either an image-file, or another disk/partition. Norton Ghost is probably the most well known cloning/imaging program.
[ list of cloning software ]

A general solution would be as follows:
1. set up your environment to have access to your virtual disk
2. set up your environment to have access to your target physical disk/partition
3. boot your environment (probably in such a way that you are not booting from the disk you wish to clone, though I don't know that this is ALWAYS necessary. It's definitely the safest way.)
4a. use the clone software to image directly from virtual to physical -OR-
4b. use the clone software to image from virtual to a clone/image-file "outside" the environment (i.e. a real disk) then use the software either inside or outside the environment to clone your target disk/partition


VMware actually has a writeup of such a process...
Virtual to Physical Documentation and Sample Configurations
 

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