If System Restore is attempting to connect to the internet then there is
something seriously wrong with your system which could mean that it is
compromised, perhaps as a result of the unwanted installation of a
malicious application or two. Run System Restore in Safe Mode (as
previously suggested) since Safe Mode by design has no internet access.
The following articles may help you fix your problem with system restore:
KB 275646 - "System Restore Shows Date of Saturday, December 30, 1899"
(http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=275646) for a solution to this problem
which is often caused by a bit too vigorous a use of a registry cleaner
such as AriSoft's EasyCleaner and the removal of certain essential entries
from the registry that are required by both Win Me's System Restore and
Help and Support.
You may also want to have a look at KB 275651 - "Blank Pages in Microsoft
Windows Millennium Edition (Me) Help and Support"
(http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=275651) which relates to another
problem caused by the absence of the same entries from the registry.
There also used to be an article KB309663 - "Control Panel, Help, and
System Restore Are Empty or
Partially Empty" but regrettably this no longer appears to be available.
The problem described here was due to the Jscript registry key settings
being incorrect - again possibly due to the use of a registry cleaner.
The key in question being
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{f414c260-6ac0-11cf-b6d1-00aa00bbbb58}\InprocServer32
where the data for the Default value should read
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\JSCRIPT.DLL
--
Mike Maltby
mike....@gmail.com