VMWare with Windows XP

According to VMWare Fusion's site, possible guest operating systems include Windows XP SP2 & SP3. Does this mean that SP2 or SP3 versions of XP have to be loaded or can a basic version be loaded and then updated? I'm not sure I understand why those specific versions are quoted. Web-sites for Virtual Box and Parallels just quote Windows XP in their list of possible guest systems. Can anybody clarify the situation for me please as I only have access to a basic XP Home disk.

A basic install of XP Home will work with Fusion, however, it's not recommended since the basic version of XP Home (no service packs) is not secure and is prone to corruption by viruses and malware.

I recommend that you update your copy of XP Home to SP2 or 3 by using slipstream software to integrate the service pack to your copy prior to installing. The best slipsteam software is free: "autostreamer"

After downloading autostreamer, obtain a copy of SP-3 for XP from Microsoft at their download site. Follow the instructions to slipstream SP-3 to your copy of XP Home. Once completed, you'll have a copy of XP Home SP-3. Now, you can install it using Fusion, Parallels, or the free VirtualBox.

Note: I'm assuming that you know you will need a PC with Windows in order to run autostreamer.

Regards.

Thanks for your answer but it leads to other questions. Firstly, I have a copy of XP Professional with SP2 slip streamed and I actually used it to load on to BootCamp without problem but it is unrecognised by Fusion or VirtualBox and I don't understand why and, if possible, I don't want my virtual machine to run from BootCamp. Secondly can't I load XP and then download updates from the Microsoft site to the virtual machine?

If all else fails I guess I could update my PC to SP3 and use Migration Assistant to transfer everything across to the virtual machine. But I wish I could just use the slipstreamed disk but why does it fail but it worked with Bootcamp? Any more thoughts?