jwisneski-- You are probably aware that Windows automatically creates at least one Restore Point every 24 hours or so.
You set the amount of space that Restore Points can use on the HardDrive from System Properties (right click My Computer|Properties|System Restore tab|Settings). When you reach that limit, each new Restore point will automatically delete the oldest Restore Point. The smaller you make that space, the fewer Restore Points, the fewer files to defrag and the faster defrag will complete. I believe a setting between 5 and 10% of the HD size is normal.
However I do not believe manually deleting Restore Points is a good idea, even the older ones. Data from each previous Restore Point is used in making a System Restore. You can, however, either delete all Restore Points or all but the last without adverse effect. As Windows deletes older Restore Points, it apparently has some way of passing on the data to the remaining Restore Points. As I understand it, that is not the case if you manually delete Restore Points.
So if you want fewer Restore Points, decrease the harddrive space alloted as mentioned above.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro.../faqsrwxp.mspx