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I've installed windows on my macbook pro using bootcamp. Is there a way to run the same partition in a virtual mode in OSX. When I try to import the bootcamp partition through vmware fusion, it works fine but it copies and creates a second virtual machine. I want the changes I make in either to be applied to both the bootcamp partition and the virtual machine in OSX. Is something like this possible?

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  • What do you mean it creates a second virtual machine. Bootcamp isn't a virtual machine.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Aug 20, 2014 at 11:21
  • You are right, the bootcamp disk is a hard disk partition. You can either boot Windows directly from it or use that physical disk instead of a virtual disk in a virtual machine that runs in VMware Fusion while OS X is running. See my answer below.
    – lcbrevard
    Commented Mar 30, 2015 at 15:46

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This is definitely possible. I've been doing it for at least two years.

My BOOTCAMP partition is the disk for a virtual machine using VMware Fusion. In other words, I have a virtual machine using a physical disk.

I'm currently at OS X 10.10.2 and VMware Fusion 7.1 but when I started I was still on OS X 8 and using Fusion 5 (I think!).

The key was to NOT import the machine but to find the option in Fusion to use the BOOTCAMP partition when creating the VM.

Note that when you do this, you cannot suspend the VM like you can when a virtual disk is used. However, I've been able to put the Mac to sleep with the VM running and have everything come back OK when it wakes up.

Another quirk is that if you go between directly booting to the BOOTCAMP disk (only running Windows) and booting the BOOTCAMP VM (while in OS X), Windows and Office ask to be re-activated. But, I've never been asked to re-enter a key for either.

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  • I should have mentioned that any software you install or files you create on the BOOTCAMP disk (partition) are there whether you are directly in Windows or running as a VM. I also have this setup where I can see the other partition with Mac OS X on it while in Windows so I can get at files there. You can READ them with no additional software but it takes an HFS+ file system driver to write to them. I use one from Paragon for that (and another to let OS X get to files in the NTFS partition when I'm not actually running the Windows VM).
    – lcbrevard
    Commented Mar 30, 2015 at 15:50

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