Computer randomly reset back to default settings (XP)

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I shut down my computer last night, like I always do every night, so that it installs any updates needed. I woke up this morning and cut my computer on...logged in as usual. When my desktop loaded, it's like it had been reset back to the default settings of when I first got this computer...although the weird thing is that all of the software and documents and things I have on here are still on here. I've noticed that although the software is still on here, that most of it is not installed but rather sitting there...

What I want to know is this: 1) how do I get it back to what I had yesterday (aka back to normal)? and 2) What could have caused this?

I was questioning my friend who knows more than me about computers about whether there was a significant update that resulted in this or what...he said that his computer had done the same thing except that it didn't recognize that there were any user accounts on it. So he restarted it and it went back to the way it was. I have restarted a couple of times crossing my fingers and hoping that the same thing would restart mine back to the way it was but no luck.

Any help on this would be awesome!
 
just wanted to say that I did a system restore back to what I had yesterday morning and it's back to normal...but I'm still wondering what could have caused this. Again, any ideas as to why would be awesome!
 
I shut down my computer last night, like I always do every night, so that it installs any updates needed.
If the PC is shut down, how can it download anything for updating? Perhaps I misunderstood this part. Anyway, maybe your CMOS battery needs replacing. When it dies, your BIOS returns to default settings when you shut down and restart.
 
yep...a little misunderstanding: i go to shut down and turn off computer with updates, so before it shuts off, it updates and then shuts down. Interesting thought about the CMOS battery. We'll see if this system restore will last...so far it has!
 
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