So I have dual boot machine with windows 7 and ubuntu 11. I would like to, at times, run a vm from one partition to another. For example sometimes I would like to do certain things in windows while still using ubuntu. At other times, perhaps the opposite would be more effective. Why? Well running a vm is fairly resource intensive, and depending on what I am doing primarily I would rather be in one operating system vs the other, or perhaps it is just convenient.

An important consideration is that you should NOT need to "copy" or "duplicate" the partition in any way. The VM should just read the partition as if it were a standard image.

Any ideas? I am using virtual box currently. I have also used virtual pc. I could probably get a copy of vmware workstation if needed.