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This may be answered elsewhere but most of the questions seem to concern a normal dual boot scenario.

I have a standard windows 8/ubuntu 13.10 dual boot, I'm wondering if I can boot Ubuntu from inside Windows using a VM. I know I could install VM with Ubuntu on it, but since I already have ubuntu installed I'm wondering if it can simply boot that partition for me.

Patrick
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  • That's the answer I was hoping not to hear but it does answer my question. Thank you! – Patrick Nov 01 '13 at 18:14
  • I wrote it as a comment and not an answer because I am not 100% certain of that. My knowledge of VMs is such that I am fairly certain of my comment. But I would wait for someone to confirm that or refute it later. – Thomas Ward Nov 01 '13 at 18:14
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    Virtual Box can do this - see http://askubuntu.com/questions/78902/cannot-run-native-ubuntu-in-virtualbox-with-a-vmdk-created-using-the-createrawvm solution is already elaborated in the question. – Takkat Nov 01 '13 at 19:00

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You can boot physical partitions with virtual machines, but it is generally ill advised.

Windows does not like to boot in a vitrual machine this way and will see booting in a virtual machine as a significant change in hard ware. You can make changes to the system files with mixed results.

Linux will boot using a raw partition or LVM fairly easily. It sort of makes managing partitions more difficult as gparted or similar tools can not manage the partition used by the machine.

Without getting overly technical, using a physical partition is possible, but requires a moderate amount of manual configuration.

There is little to no benefit beyond perhaps saving some disk space.

If you are interested, google search for the technical details.

http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch09.html#idp57532640

Warning

Raw hard disk access is for expert users only. Incorrect use or use of an outdated configuration can lead to total loss of data on the physical disk. Most importantly, do not attempt to boot the partition with the currently running host operating system in a guest. This will lead to severe data corruption.

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