Can I make a virtual machine out of a Windows XP physical machine?

Can I make a virtual machine out of a Windows XP physical machine? I would like to switch to Linux, but I need some stuff on my Windows XP install. I know that VMWare Workstation can convert a physical machine into a virtual machine, but it's $189. :-/
Asked by: Guest \| Views: 396

Total answers/comments: 2

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Guest [Entry]

"You can use the Vmware P2V - http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/overview.html , then the free VM player

http://www.vmware.com/download/player/

Some other VM software also supports the VMWare images."

Guest [Entry]

"What you want to do is better known as a ""Physical to Virtual"" migration, or P2V in short.

I have done this once manually and I know it didn't go very smoothly. Don't remember the exact steps I took, but it was something like this:

Take a clone of your windows xp system harddrive (I used a Bart PE bootable cd with ghost on it).
Install a virtual server of your choice and create a virtual machine in it.
Restore the clone of your harddrive into the new machine (also booting it with Bart PE to do that)."