No guarantees this will work, if you happened to delete some of the essential files for System Restore, but it's worth a try.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q279736&FR=1

How to Start the System Restore Tool From a Command Prompt

(I'm editing here, because edits within the original post have a funny way of making the whole thing disappear )

Another option which was pointed out to me by a colleague who is a bit more inclined toward taking this sort of risk would be to try an overinstall (also known as a "dirty" install) of ME, right over the top of the present installation, without formatting the drive first.  When it works, one is occasionally successful in getting up and running long enough to back up files.  If you try this, I'd recommend getting whatever you need moved somewhere else in a hurry, because it's been my experience that dirty installs of ME (and to a lesser extent Win98) don't last too long.

Hello,

Another option that you may want to try is...

Boot to RCD

Get to a: prompt

Type in Sys C:  

If able to, windows will try to build the command file folder, which is where you will find the system folder.  If you try to run a system restore, it will not install those files again as the restore function is located in the command folder, which if you are missing obviously cannot run.  If the sys c: function doesn't work, along with the other ms option then you will have to "dirty install" win me and hope you can get into it.  Just a point of information though, a dirty install will wipe out the "my documents" file folder.  So if that is where your wife has all of her info then you may as well hang it up now.

"Just a point of information though, a dirty install will wipe out the "my documents" file folder. "

This is incorrect.  I just reinstalled ME on top of itself (i.e. "dirty install")...twice, and the files which were in the "My Documents" folder (.bmps and .MP3s) are still there...untouched...not wiped out.  In a dirty install, the OS is installed on top of the previous System folder.   System files with the same name are overwritten, but other components that don’t have a modern equivalent are retained.  System files that are missing will be replaced.   My Documents is a Windows system folder.  If this folder contains non-system files, these files will be untouched, because the reinstall of ME over itself will only replace or overwrite system files.  In other words, reinstalling the OS on top of itself refreshes the system files, but will not wipe out non-system data.  If you were to delete the sample files in My Documents (Cliff in Clouds, Diagonal Sands, etc.) reinstalling ME on top of itself will replace these because these are files which came with the OS.  Perhaps you were thinking of a reformat/reinstall of the OS?  

Like Goonboy said, installing the OS on top of itself should be able to get you back up so you can perform backups of important data before a reformat/reinstall,  which you would probably want to do after backing up data, because you'll have a mix of .dll and other file versions (this can be a mess to clean up, even with VCM in Win98) and many applications will need to be reinstalled any way. 

BTW, I'm curious as to how you managed to delete files in the Windows system folder?  Normally, WinME won't let you delete a system file necessary for the operation of Windows.

~Pi

The Reinstall Guide from Dell Support is probably the best choice for a clean install.  The overinstall/dirty install is pretty much a no-brainer, but the Reinstall Guide (which gives you the best procedure for your model system) will make it a breeze.  ME goes on desktops easier than notebooks, and it's not that hard on a notebook, as long as you disconnect the peripherals.  Just use the Solutions tab above, make sure your system info is entered on the left, choose Win ME - (Your preferred language) - and "All" for the guides desired, and it'll spit all the documents you need right back at you.  From there, you just format, install Windows, chipset drivers (if necessary for your model), video, audio, modem, and NIC drivers (video first), then the rest of your peripherals and software, saving the anti virus software for last.

Just remember that after you do the dirty install, the clock is ticking on how long it'll last - get what you need backed up, and do that clean install ASAP, because you'll probably see a number of funky glitches in the way things work, until you get ME properly installed, and it may run slower than molasses in January.

Good luck.

Pi

Was playing around in Dos with the Deltree command. I thought I was in the windows temp folder when I used the Deltree *.* to clean the temp files.  I was actually in the windows folder.  By the time I stopped it, it had already deleted the system folder and several other files.

Thanks for all your help,

Jim