No mouse

Long ago, when keyboard and mouse was PS/2, I had a version of True Image and I used to like it.
Then for a while I´ve done without HDD images, but reinstalled the entire system from CD/DvD.
Now with Windows7 it has become too much work to reinstall everything, therefore I´m now looking for an image program again, that can backup the system partition.
I don´t need any of those fancy options like online backup, all I need is a bootable media, from where I can backup and restore my primary partition.
I´ve compared Acronis True Images to some other products and I believe Acronis is my best choice, basically I´m sure I´ll buy it, but there are some issues I need to solve, before I´m willing to pay for it.

1) I have to install the entire program just to create a boot-CD.
I don´t want all that stuff on my system, I don´t need any of it, all I want is the boot-CD, so is there a way to get that CD without installing the program before and uninstall it after?
Side note: I believe a simple boot-CD image like I want, without all the other stuff should be available as a separate product, for a much lower price.

2) Unstable mouse.
I´ve been reading about USB keyboard and mouse problems in the 2010 version and as far as I can tell from the trial version I´ve downloaded, this is a big problem for me as well.
In the 2010 version, booting from CD, I have no mouse and no keyboard.
Through F11 and "quiet ahci=off noapic" I get the keyboard to work, but still no mouse.
In the 2011 version the keyboard is working fine, but the mouse is stuttering like hell, something like moving 5cm, freezing for about a minute, moving another 5cm, freezing for another minute.
I´ve tried "usbmouse=off" but it doesn´t help any.
Is there a version of boot-CD that does work properly, and if yes, is that available only as customized thing for this one PC, or could I have one that will still work if I get a new PC one day?

3) Incomplete backup to USB-HDD
When writing a backup to a USB-HDD there seems to be some cache in use, instead of writing directly to the drive.
Upon shutdown the data remaining in the cache gets lost, the file on the HDD is incomplete and can´t be restored.
This one can be solved by using a secondary partition on the internal HDD, do the backup there and copy the file to the USB-HDD later on, but that´s twice as much work and wouldn´t be necessary if the backup was working properly.
I guess the system on the boot-CD would need a function like Windows has for USB devices "safe removal".

In case you need more info about my system:
Intel I7 860, Asus P7H57D-V EVO, 8GB RAM, 1,5TB HDD S-ATAII, Windows7 ultimate 64 bit