Backup programs that write a bootable CDROM are NOT recommended. A lot of companies have been pulling their versions of these types of software from the shelves and not supporting the software anymore. Roxio is one of them.

If you are daring enough to use one of these software products as your backup solution, always test the disk before you feel comfortable that you have a backup in case of disaster. In addition, make sure you understand the software COMPLETELY before using it. There are a lot of options to choose from that would affect your success in backing up and restoring a computer.

My guess is that you had an old backup disk that was untested and did not have the option as a boot disk enabled when it was created. You are trying to restore from it (you probably have more than one CD). If I am close to your scenario, then you might consider simply booting your computer to a floppy disk (only if you are unable to get into the operating system) and run the setup program on the CD. If you are able to get into your current OS, then I would suggest using the restore function in your software.

Just so you know, if you have got the computer setup to boot to the CDROM and it is unsuccessful, there is a high likelyhood that you were not successful in creating an autoexec.bat file on the CD. Of course, you can check to see if there is an autoexec.bat file on the CD. If so, you might just boot to the floppy anyway and then run the autoexec file from DOS/CMD.
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If you are talking about creating a boot disk(s) from a Windows OS install CD, that is entirely different. It really depends on if you have windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME OR Windows 2000, XP home, XP pro. The Windows 2k and XP operating systems have the ability to create boot disks. That is right, a series of four floppies. You still need to get the computer to boot from a floppy disk though to create disks from the CD. Therefore, my recommendation is to find another computer that is working with Windows 95, 98, 98SE, or ME and create a boot floppy (maybe work computer???). These boot disks are a dime a dozen and worth a million dollars during a computer crash or starting a computer with no file system on a hard drive. Make sure to keep this one handy in case of future crash.

Once you have created the boot disk and have gotten to the DOS prompt, you can run the setup from the CDROM prompt. Just change the directory to the CDROM, then type 'setup'.