Native and virtual boot of Ubuntu

[geologic]

I imagine this has been covered already, but I couldnt find relevant threads...
I have a multiboot system that includes ubuntu and windows xp. From within windows I'd like to be able to boot up and access the ubuntu install via a virtual machine.

Is this possible? It seems like its possible the other way around, so I imagine it would be doable with Ubuntu.
Thanks

[samden]

Haven't done it myself, but considering it too. Check out this tutorial:
http://psychocats.net/ubuntu/virtualbox

[jocampo]

My 2 cents here

If your PC or Laptop is running Windows (XP, Vista or any other) and what you want is just test Ubuntu Linux, maybe run Ubuntu via VirtualBox is your choice. But ... if you are thinking long term and you really want to take the next step and enjoy all the benefits of Ubuntu, you should NOT setup Ubuntu via VirtualMachine. At some point, you will have to migrate or move all the data inside Linux and is going to be a pain, because is a virtual machine. Other reason for not doing that is performance: if you really want to give Ubuntu a try and you're serious in combining Windows and Linux via dual boot, a virtual machine is not your best choice ... the performance is not going to be same and sometimes, sound and usb features inside Ubuntu, do not run properly.

So ... think about it and take your decision ;-) but I will warranty you ... you will love Ubuntu; is fast, reliable and secure. You will never use antivirus or defrag utilities.