Novice needs help restoring PC to earlier date --

I am not tech savvy and having trouble with my pc. So, I thought I'd restore it to when it worked fine, about two weeks ago. I went to Win site and tried their solutions, but the actions didn't work as they defined them and I got error about restoring not possible due to syntax or something (lost the message). My Dell XPS was starting to run "odd". I would use the desk top icon for Google Chrome to open and instead it went to the bottom tray, and would not open. I did try to fix this, to no avail and I really don't understand much of the solution. Sorry.
First, do u think a restore to earlier date would fix? Why would pc stop letting me use desk icon to open Chrome? I'm unaware of any changes I made that would affect it. If I uninstalled Chrome and re-installed, do u think that would fix it? Also, sites like FB and IE crash a lot and that wasn't happening. I do have virus/mal ware protection, but maybe it's one of those. dang

Sorry to be a lame user, but I just can't seem to fix this and I need help from people who know better. BUT, please please remember I am not all that tech savvy. I appreciate your time.

debnova said:

I went to Win site and tried their solutions,

Not sure at all what that means.

Normally--if you want to restore to a previous point in time, you would choose from the following:

1: A "System Restore" via Windows menus. This isn't a full restore but will often solve many issues.
If System Restore is activated on your PC, then you should have several dates to choose from, dating back a few weeks or months. Some people deliberately turn off System Restore, but it is active and usable by default unless you did turn it off.

2: A formal restoration of an image made at an earlier date by either Windows Backup and Restore or some other imaging application such as Macrium. I assume you are NOT referring to this, but could be wrong.

3: A restore to "factory state" as the machine was on the day you bought it, through a partition placed on your hard drive by Dell or through a CD you burned after you got the PC. This would not restore you to a few days or weeks ago, but only to the day you bought it.

If you are not referring to one of those 3 methods, tell us what other "solutions" you did try from the "Win site" SPECIFICALLY. I have no idea what that means.

Hi
See if this clears up any confusion
System Restore