HI. I put windows xp in the drive, booted my desktop, it told me to press any button to continue, then, it told me to press enter to proceed. for some reason when i press enter it doesnt work. I checked with the keyboard, thats not the problem, i cant figure out what is though. Help would be appreciated, and thank you.

If you trying to reinstall windows XP you will need to set the bios to boot from the CD/DVD drive the you put the XP CD in then it sould boot off it or say press any key to boot from CD ROM.

If you are trying to do a system restore

Use System Restore

After you've decided to use System Restore to revert your system to a previous state, start the System Restore Wizard and follow the prompts. To use the System Restore Wizard, make sure you're logged on as an administrator, and then follow these steps:
1.
Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore.
2.
On the Welcome screen, click Restore my computer to an earlier time, and then click Next.
3.
On the Select a Restore Point page, select the date from the calendar that shows the point you'd like to restore to, as shown in Figure 2, and then click Next.

Figure 2


4.
On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, verify that the correct restore point is chosen, and then close any open programs.
5.
Click Next if you are ready to proceed or click Back to change the restore point.
6.
The computer will shut down automatically and reboot. On reboot, you'll see the Restoration Complete page, and then click OK.

After reviewing the stability of your system, you can choose another restore point or undo this restoration. Just open System Restore and make the appropriate choice. After you use System Restore, you'll have an additional task, Undo my last restoration, on the System Restore Welcome page. Remember that you'll have to reinstall any programs that were installed after the restore point.
If System Restore doesn't work in Normal Mode, it might work in Safe Mode. To use System Restore in Safe Mode, press the F8 key during reboot and choose Safe Mode. When your computer starts in either Safe Mode or Normal Mode, System Restore can be used to capture a working previous state. System Restore can't be opened unless the system is bootable into one of these modes.
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Create Restore Points Manually

Only application installations that use a System Restore restorept.api-compliant installer will trigger the creation of a restore point. So it's a good idea to create a restore point manually before you install an application that you suspect won't have one a restorept.api-compliant installer. For example, before installing a screensaver you've downloaded from the Internet or a beta program from a software vendor, you should manually create a restore point. For more information, see the TechNet article, Windows XP System Restore.
To manually create a restore point:
1.
Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore.
2.
On the Welcome page, click Create a restore point.
3.
On the Create a Restore Point page, enter a descriptive name for your restore point, as shown in Figure 3, and then click Create.

Figure 3



The Restore Point Created page confirms that the new restore point has been created. I think it's a good idea to manually create a restore point before you download and install any application from the Internet.
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Use Scheduled Tasks

You can use Scheduled Tasks to create restore points at specified times. You might want to configure Scheduled Tasks to run System Restore at 6:00 P.M. daily, so that you always have a restore point available at the end of each working day.
To create a Scheduled Task, log on as an administrator, and then follow these steps:
1.
Click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, click Scheduled Tasks, and then double-click Add Scheduled Task.
2.
Click Next on the first Scheduled Task Wizard page.
3.
On the second page, click System Restore in the list of applications, and then click Next.
4.
Continue through the wizard, specifying the days and times to run System Restore.
5.
When prompted, type in the user name and password for an administrator of the system, and then click Finish.

Scheduled Tasks starts each time you start Windows XP and runs in the background.
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Troubleshoot System Restore

Some common problems that could cause System Restore not to work properly and their solutions include the following:
•There is less than 200 MB of free space available on the computer—free up some space on the hard drive by deleting unused files or images.
•After rebooting, the restoration is unsuccessful—choose an earlier restore point and try again.
•Restoration was denied due to non-administrator status—log out and then back in as an administrator.
•The System Restore Service is not running—Open Administrative Tools, click Computer Management, and then click Services and Applications. Click Services, and double-click System Restore Services from the list. Verify the service is started and running. If not, under Service status, click Start and change the startup type to Automatic.

Solutions to more complicated problems can be found in the Microsoft Knowledge Base by clicking Search the Knowledge Base and entering System Restore and a few keywords that describe the problem. For example, System Restore Does Not Restore Printer Drivers to Original State details what to do if System Restore fails to restore printer drivers although the rest of the restore process seems to go smoothly.
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Do I Still Have to Use Backup?

System Restore is no substitute for regularly backing up your data. System Restore comes into play when your computer becomes unstable. System Restore can't be used if your hard drive fails or is melted down in a fire, because the information that System Restore uses is stored on the hard drive itself. To create regular backups of your data and computer system state, use the Backup utility in Windows XP.
To open Backup:
•Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup.

When you use Backup, save the backup information to a disk or an external drive for safekeeping. If there's a catastrophic failure, such as a hard drive crash, this backup can be used to restore the data after the hardware repair is complete. See Backup and Recover Your Information, Use Backup to Protect Information, and Backup Overview for more coverage on Backup.
Remember, regularly backup your data, make sure that System Restore has enough free space to run, and let Windows XP do the rest.