Will an HD image run as a VM OS?

[TroyTalksNoMore]

Can I make an image of my old HD OS partitions & run them as VM's?

Long story short - while cleaning my CPU & heatsink - I bent the mobo pins.
- I had to replace it, but could not get the same mobo.

I bought a "similar" mobo, new HD & installed WIN7-64
I'd like to just boot the old HD OS's via dual / multi-boot menu...

Will my old HD & OS's work on my new P45 mobo?
- current BIOS is set to boot from new HD only...
- I was going to pull the cable off my new HD, or set old HD as boot via BIOS & try it.

My old HD was 1TB - split like this:
1/4 = XP OS
1/4 - WIN7-64 OS
1/2 = DATA

I slaved my old HD & copied my data to external drives.
However, I still want to run my old HD - because it is loaded w/ software & games!

Old mobo - GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358

New mobo - GIGABYTE GA-P45T-ES3G LGA 775 Intel P45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128496

Any help is appreciated!

 

[liqdfire]

Yes you can, VMWare has a converter that you install on a machine and it creates a VM out of it.

 

[ckryan]

So you want to vitualize your old HD and run the games off of it?

You won't be able to load up the VM image of you HDD in Windows and then run the games off of it. 3D graphics don't really work well in VMware Player.

 

[TroyTalksNoMore]

So you want to vitualize your old HD and run the games off of it? You won't be able to load up the VM image of you HDD in Windows and then run the games off of it. 3D graphics don't really work well in VMware Player.

Thanks, I'm a noob to VM's & found a decent video tutorial here:
- http://youtu.be/1yuu6DgFD54

He said the same thing you did about games.
- it sucks to re-DL & re-install 'em all...

PS - will my old HD & OS's work on my new P45 mobo if I set them up to boot in BIOS?

 

[satterth]

Looks like the new and old motherboard have the same north and south bridge. Audio chip and network chip are different.

One should be able to plug the old hard drive into the new motherboard and boot. You might have to install the new audio and network drivers. After that it should just work.