[nflug] Converting from dual boot to virtual machine

[Joe]

My notebook is an HP Pavilion dv5020us - 1GB ram, 100GB disk, Centrino
Duo  1.6 GHz. 

It is currently set up as dual boot Win XP Pro Media Center Edition and
kubuntu gutsy Linux.  XP came pre-installed and I do *not* have any
install disks.  I do have restore files on the disk and  emergency
restore disks (that will wipe out everything that wasn't pre-installed
including Linux and put back a bunch of stuff I deleted).

Both os's have a lot of stuff installed and configured on them.  Right
now, I use XP on an exception basis for those things that Linux doesn't
have or that won't run under wine first try (because I have no clue as
to a second try).

What I would like to do is run some windows applications from Linux
without rebooting.

I know there are a bunch of virtualization products out there.  I own a
couple of Vmware Workstation 4.x licenses that I have never used.

My notebook is used almost exclusively by me although I have one or two
other end user accounts on it.

I am an experienced user and was a professional programmer, but now my
focus is primarily as an end user who wants to get things done as
opposed to spending lots of time configuring, installing and debugging.

The main Windows applications I want to run are:
Dragon Naturally Speaking (as current as possible)
Maximizer (contact manager that does things that I can't find on Linux)
TurboTax
Omnipage
Copernic Search
and a small number of windows-only professional application packages.

I also want to occasionally run various discount software packages for
windows and Idea Fisher.  I may want to try Vongo or Netflix.

And, it's really helpful to be in Windows when working with an ISP or
hardware vendor on problems.

What approach would work best for me?

It would be great if I didn't have to reinstall one or both os's from
scratch.


TIA

Joe