Can I virtualize a pre-installed Windows 7?

Posted by SpashHit on Ask Ubuntu See other posts from Ask Ubuntu or by SpashHit
Published on 2011-01-17T13:46:12Z Indexed on 2011/01/17 13:59 UTC
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I am considering buying a new computer with Windows 7 (64-bit) pre-installed. Would it be possible to install Ubuntu (preferably 64-bit) dual-boot on such a machine, and then, using VirtualBox / VMWare, etc. under Ubuntu, make a virtual machine that "points to" the existing Windows 7 OS (without making a copy of it)?

Just to be clear... at the end of this process:

I would have a machine that dual-booted both Windows 7 (64-bit) and Ubuntu (64-bit).
If I choose to boot Ubuntu, I would then have the possibility of running a visualization of Windows 7 within Ubuntu.
There would only be 1 copy of Windows 7 on the hard disk.

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