On windows 7 can you restore to a month prior

Hello icequeen;
Yes it does. You can get System Restore started directly by typing System Restore into the Start menu search bar.
Or you can find it in the Control Panel -> System and Security -> System -> System Protection.

After re-reading your question you might be asking why there isn't a Oct 21st restore point.
Had you manually set up a restore point on that date?
What available restores points do you see when you run the System Restore utility? Are you seeing only a single restore point?

^+1

If you are low on disk space Windows will remove any older restore points when it creates a new one. If you go to "my computer", right-click on the drive and select properties, there should be a tab that will have the option to control how much disk space can be used for restore points on that drive. You can try turning it up.