Can't turn on System restore

I have a Thinkpad T400 running Windows 7 Ultimate

I have been getting a windows system crash about once a day now.

I have run Malwarebytes & Spybot S&D, no problems detected

I tried to restore to a prior point and discovered that system restore had been turned off. Not sure how that happened.

I tried turning it back on and received the following error message:

There was an unexpected error in the property page:

The file name, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.
(0x8007007B)

Please close the property page and try again.

When I do I get the same message. Is this tied to the system crashes?

Any help will be appreciated.

Brian

Sorry, I also ran Microsoft Security Essentials the same time I ran the other scans. No issues detected.

I ran the system file checker, it didn't find any integrity violations.

Nothing froze. But it didn't find anything either. Should I run it in Safe mode?

I have been running the laptop in safe mode for a few days now. Without any crashes. I also ran an SFC Scan in safe mode. It didn't find anything.

On a side note Internet Explorer 11 had become completely unstable.

Sorry, is that different than just rebooting the laptop?