The Ultimate Dual Boot Worked!

Well, as I posted a little while ago, I was going to try to create the ultimate dual boot system - one where I could run my Linux install virtually, in Windows with VirtualBox, but have the option to reboot natively into the Linux install.

I did have to make a modification to my “original plan”. In order for you to access a RAW device in VirtualBox, you must first create a .vmdk file that points to that device. You can find more details on this in the VirtualBox manual, which is available for download on the VirtualBox downloads page, however, I’ll do a how-to post on this later (probably tomorrow, so stay tuned).

First off, I modified my initial plan, by just installing withing Windows in VirtualBox since I had to create that .vmdk file anyway. My initial plan of doing a Debian install didn’t work either. When I tried to boot from the install natively, I got a “Grub Error 17″.

I decided to try Ubuntu, just to see what would happen, and low and behold, it worked! I can now use my Linux install from within Windows using VirtualBox, AND I can reboot into the Linux install physically.

I only have one question…why the heck didn’t I think of this sooner?!?!