Running windows from a dual boot partition with VMWare using raw mode.

Well, here is the idea. I have winxp-pro in a dual boot partition on this machine. It is all configured and working and registered and all that good stuff. I just don't like booting to windows when I have to do something in windows like debug a windows specific problem. So, I thought it would be cool to run windows as a guest operating system from my linux host in VMWare. I read that it was possible but that there were some things to worry about if it was on a scsi disk. Well, I don't have a scsi disk. I have an SATA drive. So, I thought it might work.
Problem: linux shows sata drives as scsi drives by using device names like sda1. So, I read some people that said they had got it working.
When I tried it , I got an error saying that the partition table had changed and that I need to remove the disk and re-add it. So, I did and it immediately gave me that same error again.
Someone told me that I need to use a boot floppy but I don't know what he means so here I sit with another unsolved problem.