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techtrucker · Dec 28, 2007, 09:23 AM

I know this is probably a stupid question, I searched around a bit and could find no answer. I've installed Fusion and XP and have everything running okay in Windows. I've decided that for the things I do in Windows I would rather use Boot Camp. Is there any way Boot Camp can "import" the Fusion disk image somehow?

I'm 99 percent sure I'll be reloading Windows for Boot Camp but before I did I thought maybe some enterprising individual out there found a way.

TIA.

ghporter · Dec 28, 2007, 09:35 AM

Boot Camp allows you to run Windows natively. That means that you actually boot the computer into Windows, where Fusion allows you to simulate a Windows computer running Windows. No, there's no way to "import" your XP installation. You'll have to fully install XP via Boot Camp. But you can export your settings (to an external drive) with Windows' "Files and Settings Transfer Wizard." It saves important data and settings (according to your preferences) to wherever you want, and on the "new PC" end, it imports that information to configure your "new PC" the same as the "old" one. It's included with Windows too, so you already have it.

techtrucker · Dec 28, 2007, 09:54 AM

I figured as much...and thanks for the reminder about the file and settings transfer wizard, I had forgotten about that.

Sven G · Dec 28, 2007, 11:27 AM

However, once installed XP (or Vista) in Boot Camp, you can run that partition also in VMware Fusion (or Parallels Desktop): it indeed supports using your Boot Camp partition also as a virtual machine, when you are booted into Mac OS X.

You probably will have to reactivate XP, anyway: this should be OK over the Internet if you haven't activated it too many times, yet; I'm not sure (can someone confirm this better?), but I think that the maximum global number of activations on different hardware is 10, and one can reactivate over substantially different hardware up tp 4 times a year; every 120 days the activation status is reset, anyway.

techtrucker · Dec 28, 2007, 05:30 PM

If I knew then what I know now I would have gone with boot camp from the beginning. IIRC the Fusion beta didn't support boot camp partitions, so that's how I wound up where I'm at. But yeah, having Fusion being able to use the boot camp installation when I just need to run a windows app quickly is nice.

Not sure about how many times I've activated this copy of XP, probably 3 or 4. It's been installed in Fusion for a few months now, hopefully I'll be okay.

Thanks!