Well, the way I get to System Restore on my winXP computer is to click in succession Start All Programs Accessories System Tools System Restore.
Then click "Next" and a small monthly calendar will appear. Since the dates that have restore points are in bold, you may have problems seeing them because of the problem you are trying to fix. However, you can click on each day and you should see a message indicating if there's a restore point or not.
One of the problems you may run into is you will lose any driver updates you made after the restore date you chose. So I would recommend creating a restore point first, so you can get back to the point you are at when you started (the system restore.) You can create a restore point by following the procedure in the first paragraph but instead of using the default "Create a restore point from an earlier time", choose "Create a restore point".
Try to choose a system restore point that is close to the point where you first noticed the problem and then work back to older points until the problem is fixed, but I wouldn't go back too far, since you've probably have automatic updates that may be lost. But if you make that "Create a restore point" first, you should be able to get back to where you're at now.
Follow the instructions carefully and give the computer time to get through the restore process, which will include a reboot. There may be some "dead time" where it doesn't appear anything is happening, but unless you have some hardware problem, it should complete.
