Image made from boot disk better then ..?

Can anyone tell me if the image I make of my C drive, running WindowsXp, using the True image boot disk, is the same as doing it from the True Image program while running Winxp?
What prompts the question is concerns of the system files being in use while T.I. tries to copy them.

2nd question if it's better to make an image from the boot disk:
When using the boot disk, T.I doesn't recognize my LG multi writer DVD. So when you have only 1 hard drive on a laptop, would I be able to make the image to the secure zone, and then copy it to the DVD after I start up windows?

 

Spooky isn't it? But it works, and the image made under Windows is a good one.

Ok, it isn't better to make the image from the boot disk, and there isn't a way to move the image from the SecureZone to any other media. Acronis say they are working on allowing copying images from the SecureZone to other media, but it isn't possible with the product now.

Even if you could copy the image to DVD, you couldn't restore it if you had to boot from the recovery CD, so you'd still be in a bad spot.

I think I'd invest in an external USB 2.0 or Firewire hard drive as a place to make images and also be able to restore them.

 

Thanks for the help!
Bill