Use an existing Windows installation in Virtualbox

[mordsith]

I came across this article:
serverwatch[dot]com/server-tutorials/using-a-physical-hard-drive-with-a-virtualbox-vm.html

My interpretation is this article is explaining that I can use an existing hard drive (presumably with another OS on it) in Virtualbox.

I don't know much about Virtualbox, I've just recently used it. I had the impression that I would have to re-install Windows if I wanted to run it from Virtualbox, but, this article made me (hopefully) believe that I don't have to.

So, my question is, assuming that I have a dual-boot Linux Mint / Windows 7 machine with each OS on separate hard drives, can I use this article to boot Windows from Linux via Virtualbox, without having to re-install Windows?

[Perryg]

It is possible but you really need to read the warnings when using RAW access.

http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch09.html#rawdisk

Since the process is for expert users only and the potential for a disaster is so high not a lot of people will actually help you since it can trash your system.

[mordsith]

In that case, if I do it the "common" way, and re-install Windows, can I save it to a new partition or drive?

The reason I ask is b/c I don't want to have to re-install Windows (b/c it takes so much longer) if I decide to re-install Linux. My host OS would be Linux.

[Perryg]

RAW access with a Linux host is by far easier given the permission issues of Windows, but the dangers remain the same. You can do all you stated, but read the warnings.