cant create restore point or window upda

I m running XP on pc with amd 1.7 cpu 256 megs and 15 gig free space on hd. But I can not create a system resotore point. only message I get is after reboot it could not create restore point. Also I discovered when I try to download and install xp updates from web .. I get window saying it will download updates selected but status bar doesent change and dont notice any activity on cable modem.. thanks for any help..