How do you use an image backup?

Unfortunatrely when I decided to make a recovery disk for this new computer I didn't understand that the process would take over the whole disk and wipe out everything else on it. In retrospect this is inordinately stupid of me. Fortunately I had made an image backup of the disk I destroyed only a couple of months ago, on to a different disk. Unfortunately, I don't know how to use it. All I see when I explore the disk woith the image backup is a raft of xtml files. Attempting to look at them brings up internet explorer and various demands for updates and making it default (I use chrome on this computer). I have not succeeded in going far enough to see what's in all those xtml files.(in most cases these are double backups but not all: naturally, the disk I destroyed was my primary backup disk, and we'll remember that my operating computer turned into a brick with no warning a few weeks after I had made the image backup: my writing is all backed up in the ether, but only a few of my personal photographs are)

Fortunately I am connected to the entire world of people who know things about computers and probably don't make the kind of stupid mistakes I make anymore. So I am asking: what do I do with these xtml files?

Does it compilcate things that the image was saved in an xp environment and I am now working in a windows 7 environment?