It should be on by default.
Right click on "My Computer" and select "Properties". One of the tabs that are on that window is "System Restore". Just untick the box that says "Turn off System Restore on all drives".
It allows you to restore your computer to a previous state incase of a system problem.
This means the files are in your system restore back up folder. You need to turn off and then turn on system restore To turn off Windows XP System Restore 1 Click Start. 2 Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties. 3 On the System Restore tab, check Turn off System Restore or Turn off System Restore on all drives. If you do not see the System Restore tab, you are not logged on to Windows as an Administrator. 4 Click Apply. 5 When you see the confirmation message, click Yes. 6 Click OK. To turn on Windows XP System Restore 1 Click Start. 2 Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties. 3 On the System Restore tab, uncheck Turn off System Restore or Turn off System Restore on all drives. If you do not see the System Restore tab, you are not logged on to Windows as an Administrator. 4 Click Apply. 5 When you see the confirmation message, click Yes. 6 Click OK.
There are several ways to get to the Windows XP system restore. The easiest way to do so is by going to the help center in the control panel. Another way to access the system restore feature is by booting the computer with the Windows XP CD.
restore
system and registry settings
There are various ways through which you can repair Windows XP. You can format your device and reinstall the software or use the system restore function in the operating system.
Go to "Start", then into "All Programs", then into Accessories, then System Tools, then click System Restore, then follow the on-screen instructions.
Operating system CD
If you have windows vista, click on start and type 'system restore' in the search box down the bottom and click on system restore when it appears If you have xp, click on start, All programs, Accessories, System Tools and then system restore. I'm not sure about windows 7. (Any version of windows which is 98 or under will not have system restore.) Hope this helps!
You can reset the Windows XP by performing a Restore operation.
Restore point
System Restore is a system utility in Microsoft Windows which allows the user to roll their computer's state back to those of a certain point in time, which can be used to recover from system malfunctions or other problems.