Do not bother with Windows' system restore for Firefox issues: Microsoft does not back up the main Firefox folders.

Did you uninstall Firefox using its own uninstaller, or did you remove it using a third party uninstaller like Revo, or did you just delete the program folder?

nah I went to windows xp add remove programmes

And when you ran it, did you remove your personal settings? Unfortunately, that would have removed your bookmarks. If you did not remove personal settings, you can reinstall Firefox and pick up where you left off.

Did you uninstall and also checked box to remove personal data?

You shouldn't remove personal data when you uninstall your current Firefox version, because all profile folders will be removed and you will also lose your personal data like bookmarks and passwords from profiles of other Firefox versions.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_backup