I haven't got a copy of XP with me.
Can't you set the "run as administrator" flag when your logged in as administrator and then when you log it does.
There should be a way of starting it as a service on startup with out all this buisness about sudo.
Now is this user you are using a new user account or just the old one which you have reduced the previleges of?
You might find with a brand new account it it will all work fine.