For kicks and giggles, I recommend you burn the ISO as a LiveCD using a burning application. And at least see if you can boot to it. If you can and everything functions properly on the LiveCD, then I'd take that same ISO and work with it accordingly in your VM application.
I do not have experience at all in virtual applications with operating systems, however if I were in your shoes, I would sacrifice 1 CD to "test" that ISO. Then, at least you know the ISO works.
