System Restore won't open

Hello I'm having trouble with my PC (Compaq Presario 6024US) with XP Home Edition and I'm having so many problems. Yesterday was when the madness started. I don't know why I did it but I went into Zone Alarm and deleted all the viruses from the quarantine section. I selected them all and clicked delete. This froze my computer. I tried ctrl+alt+dlt but that did nothing. I then got frustrated so I manually shut down the computer by pressing the button on the tower. When I tried to restart I got a screen that said:

"We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start successfully. A recent hardware or software change may have caused this.

If your computer stopped responding, restarted unexpectedly, or was automatically shut down to protect your files and folders, choose "Last Known Good Configuration" to revert to the most recent settings that worked.

If a previous startup attempt was interrupted due to a power failure or because the Power or Reset button was pressed, or if you aren't sure what caused the problem, choose "Start Windows Normally."

Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Networking
Safe Mode with Command Prompt
Last Known Good Configuration
Start Windows Normally"

I first tried "Start Windows Normally" but that just brought me back to the same screen with the 5 options. So then I tried all the other ones but they also looped me back to the same screen. It was an endless restart loop. I tried turning off the computer and then pressing F8 when turning it back on but that didn't get me to Safe Mode.
So then I used my sister's laptop to find a solution. My first attempt to fix it was by putting in the XP OS CD that came with my computer (it says Compaq on it btw), typing R for repair and then chkdsk and fixboot. Nothing negative came up and then I typed exit. It didn't work. I got that same 5 option screen.
Second attempt was this. I was following the steps and everything was going fine until I got to this screen. I kept getting windows popping up with messages that said "cannot copy the file [file name]." Clicking RETRY wouldn't work. I had the CD in and everything but the files couldn't be found on it. There was nothing I could do so I just kept ignoring them but they kept popping up, one after another. There were like 15 or more of them. Finally, the process finished and my computer rebooted...with no 5 option screen! Before I could get on my desktop, it asked me to activate windows. When I tried it, it would become blank and say Not Responding . I decided to just go to sleep--it was already 3am.

Today, I was able to get on my desktop but I am getting error messages popping up (aol, internet and zone alarms won't work). I guess I will create a separate post for those. Anyway, I wanted to try System Restore to try to see if I could restore my computer to an earlier time so it would fix all the error msgs but it wouldn't open. I would click on the icon in System Tools and then I would see the hourglass but that was it...it never opened.

:Sigh: So then I tried booting with Safe Mode and opening System Restore there. I got this msg: 'rstrui.exe - Entry Point Not Found'. The procedure entry point RemoteAssistancePrepareSystemRestore could not be located in the dynamic link library WINSTA.dll.
I found this and I tired it but it didn't fix my problem. Now, though, I see the same message when I'm out of Safe Mode and try to open System Restore.

I'm going loony. I wish I could go back in time and not even use my computer yesterday. I feel like my brain is going to explode. Please help me!!!

Thanks in advance for any helpful responses