As for how imaging works, it's very simple:
- Norton Ghost for DOS, that I use, runs under... well, hard to guess... DOS.
So, there's no problem with how to boot the system; e.g. from a boot disk, with included CD/DVD-ROM support (I have a few generic CD/DVD-ROM drivers for DOS, see
http://sta.c64.org/dosprg.html#cyb ) or from a bootable CD/DVD-ROM that includes not only DOS but also the actual hard disk/partition image by Ghost. A great problem is the very low speed (~2 Mb/s) of saving/restoring data. But, when I moved my stuff onto new hard disks, I didn't mind the process going on for some 10 hours at home, while I was working...
- I haven't needed to use Acronis True Image yet but, as far as my colleagues explained to me, it can kick in during boot time and then can save/restore even the boot partition. This one is fast, like, at least, ~20-30 Mb/s!