Use this panel to select whether the virtual machine will use a virtual disk or an existing (raw) disk partition. Virtual disks are simpler to set up and use. Using an existing disk partition is recommended for advanced users only. VMware recommends that new users gain experience with the product by initially installing a guest operating system on a virtual disk. However, be aware that it is not possible to convert a virtual disk to a raw disk or vice versa.
For advanced users: Select the Existing Disk Partition option if the host computer is a dual-boot or multi-boot system with another operating system installed on an IDE or SCSI disk partition. The Existing Disk Partition option can also be used to configure a virtual machine where an operating system will be installed later onto an existing IDE or SCSI disk partition. VMware Workstation can work with existing disk partitions only on IDE and SCSI disk drives. RAID and network drives are not supported.
Note: The VMware Workstation product, documentation, and Web site use the terminology existing disk partition and raw disk interchangeably.