Dual OS or Vmware

Had this client a month ago that brought his freshly bought laptop, And asked me to install winxp in a dual boot mode, Because he need to install software for his clinic in that same day that couldn't be installed on vista.
Now, I'm not a big fan of dual boots, Because sometimes software decide to install itself in locations that might make of mess of the computer (Unless other OS folder becomes hidden), And I don't like to take that risk.
I offered him to install Vmware xp guest.
I had some problem sharing a drive between the vista and xp due to vista restrictions, But it suited him because of time constraints And he worked with it for several weeks.
He called me yesterday and told that his computer freezed in the middle of the work and after a restart the Vmware refused to start.
I will look to his problem later today, But what I wanted to ask is :
1. Is dual boot might be a better solution for this situation ? If I get Vmware to work, Can I "image" the Xp and then restore it in the dual boot mode to the new partition created for the xp ?
2. In case Vmware collapses or refuse to work, And since it is based on internal files structure, Is there a way to restore specific folders from a non working image ?

Thanks