hd replacement with vmware partition

i am trying to swap my hd on macbook pro. i have the mac os/apps as well as vmware (widows xp) installed. i was thinking of the following steps
1) use time machine to do backup
2) create a bootable disk for the os
3) store it on the new hd
4) swap out the hd with the new one which has only the bootable image (ifixit instructions)
5) use time machine to restore to the newly installed hd.

any one has done this before? any concerns? my concern is that time machine may not be able to restore all (mac part and the vmware/xp part) to a new disk with just the bootable part.

any suggestions/recommendations welcome.

It should work just as you posted. When you boot your machine with the original install DVD and the installation starts, you'll be asked if you wish to restore from backup. Make sure your TM external HD is attached and press yes.

Your VMWare and any virtual machine that you created will be restored provided you backed it up to begin with. So before you do the swap, it's a good idea to do a complete TM backup first. Do not exclude anything.