Windows partition with Boot camp

[jsfitz22]

Please explain how this works:

I use Windows XP via Boot Camp and Parallels (I have Parallels set to utilize the Boot Camp installation of Windows) and I use SuperDuper! to clone/backup my HDD - I originally used WinClone and SD! to clone my Mac OSX and XP HDD so I could upgrade my internal HDD in my Macbook and since then I have been copying my "Macintosh HD" using SD! - the was under the impression that SD! would not copy the Boot Camp partition/data, though I tested this the other day and SD! appeared to copy everything and I was able to boot into Windows from the backup directly (like I would from the original Boot Camp version) - I was also able to boot into Windows from the Parallels configuration.

How does this work? My Parallels virtual machine appears to just be a shortcut to point to the Windows partition, though perhaps not - that's the part I don't understand. And, how am I able to boot directly into Boot Camp Windows if SD! doesn't copy the NTFS partition?

Thank you.