virtualbox.org

Some of the software I run is Windows-only and requires access to the firewire port. Therefore, I have created a 150 GB bootcamp partition on my MacBook Pro and installed Windows 7. However, I also want the convenience of dragging files between the Mac OS and Windows, and am now experimenting with Virtualbox. I am wondering if I can create a virtual machine that accesses the bootcamp partition and the software installed there rather than having to install a second copy of the windows OS and other windows software on the Mac partition. Furthermore, I was wondering if the files that I save to the virtual machine will expand it on the Mac side or on the bootcamp partition.

First of, you can't drag'n'drop files from your Mac to the VM. That feature is not (yet) available. Unless you can somehow get the bootcamp partition as a raw disk in VB, files you put inside the VM won't be on the bootcamp installation. The software you need to run on Windows won't work properly in the VM due to the lack of firewire support.
I find it odd that you have to go the VM way to get files across the systems, as Bootcamp allows you to install the drivers and such for it that allows your Windows access to the Mac partition.