Do I need a boot disk to restore?

I mucked up my new PC by creating a new user. Not fully understanding the process, I named it after myself and gave it full admin privilges. What that did was overwrote my origional user info in XP pro that had already been set up for me by the assembler of my PC. The PC now runs badly. Hesitates when I open a program, will not set an auto restore point, gives me two different blue screens when I first put a CD into either of my DVD drives. When I look in the event log page, there are a variety of errors there as well.
The PC is only a few months old, and I was just starting to set it up, so there isn't much data on it. Mostly security programs and maintenence programs.
I am using Comodo antivirus & firewall, and it's a new program to me. I am learning it with my limited understanding. Possibly, some of my troubles are linked to Comodo not liking this "New User" mistake that I made. I also am new to Acronis, and have never had to make a restore before.
My questions are; Can my Acronis back up be used without having to use a boot CD?
My backup's are all saved on a WD firewire drive, and I have several full backup's saved there. The reason I am asking if a restore can be done without a boot CD is because my DV drives are both Sata, and they are being flaky. They are also not set to boot first, because I am not comfortable to go into the bios. I do have a boot CD that Acronis makes, but I have never tested it.
I also have another question about the stand alone WD drive; It comes with several programs, and I never installed them. Does it need those programs installed on my C drive to be reccognised by ATI, if I hope to use any of my saved back up's? When I use the drive, I just plug it in, and the PC auto finds it, but it does complain first about wanting to install drivers and programs.
It is not plugged in all the time, and I was not sure of the process of trying to restore from that drive. Do I boot the PC with it plugged in, or can I plug it in 'hot'?
Also, as I was looking at my acronis program this evening, I discovered it has been keeping some sort of log, But it appears to not be having a very successful time of it either. Yellow and red icons are showing. If this is not functioning properly because of the 'new user' creation, could you please advise where I turn it off, or reset it? Prevously, I had been setting my own full backup's manually, and had not been aware that Acronis was set to do anything auto such as this log appears to be trying to do.
Thank you for any guidance that can be provided!
Lisa

 

Try the easier things first. Check if Windows has a Restore Point dated before you created the new user. Windows makes Restore points automatically from time to time.

If there is a Restore point with a date prior to your doing the new user, restore your system using that Restore point.

 

If you have the space, copy the true image backup you did, from the external drive into one of your internal drives.

Now you can restore the hard drive without using the bootcd. Just open acronis from within windows and browse to the internal drive where, your image is saved. Unless you have some sort of exotic motherboard, everything should work fine.

The times I have done (about 3 of them) a direct restored of a backup image to the the exact same hard drive/partition, it has always worked without bootup problems etc. I have disabled system restore on my system and just rely on true image backups to restore me(it's proven more reliable for me than system restore). Just make sure you have a good backup to begin with.

Also you might want to make another image of your current c: drive, to make sure it backups up properly with no errors and save it to the internal dive if you have the space or external drive, just in case your other backups are bad. At least this way you can restore to your current situation and maybe try other fixes.

 

Thank you for replying. No, there are no restore points. They all got erased with the 'new user' snafu. I now have to set one manually everyday since.
A few of the ones I had set manually had even gotten erased when I was switching between the two profiles trying to figure out what had happened. When you look under system properties>profiles stored on this PC> you see your list of users. In the course of trying to return the PC settings back to Normal, I found I could switch between "Lisa" and the "Admin" account, and rebooted after switching. Apparently that will erase manually set restore points. I know not to do that now!
I did this on the advice that my PC would be more secure if I created another user to work behind. I'm surprised that Windows did not have a warning box pop up informing me that I was headed to make a bad mistake for myself!
Lisa

 

Thank you, I feel so much better to know that there is some hope!
I have several full back up's on that drive to choose from, so I will be sorting though tonight. There was no manual with my program, so I will track that down to at least have an idea of how a restore is supposed to go.
It is reassuring to read that you are confident enough with Acronis to not need Xp's restore points. When I was making my initial back ups, I was pleased how nifty the program preformed the function.
The PC has 3 drives. Does it matter which one I copy the full back up over to?
The Motherboard is Asus Crosshair AM2 Nforce 590. The 3 hard drives and the two DVD drives are all Sata. I was not sure how to make a boot disk for Sata, or if this version of Acronis would be including them, or even if they would be needed. I got as far as looking at the BartPE instructions and realized that it was way above my PC knowledge. Someone could make a lot of money selling those disks to people like me!
Thank you for pointing out the advice to make a new back up, just in case. It's an easy idea to overlook with my current affairs.
I will write back with the outcome.
Lisa

 

Check my guides below. Perhaps they can help.

 

Thank you for this guide. I printed it out with all the pictures and it held my hand as I went through the steps for my first ever restore!
A Successful restore! It worked just like you all said it would!!
I want to thank the wonderful people who lended thier generous patience, experteise, and time. I would not have had the knowledge, or the courage that these list members have provided me!
Thanks guys! You know who you are!
Lisa K