I have 4 purchased XP Professional 2002 copies with their product codes and another copy with SP3 on it that I do not have the product code for. I am building some XP machines for a friend but cannot put the service packs on due to not being able to get onto the internet. I have rechecked the settings, but have not discovered the incorrect setting. It has been several years since I built a machine. I think I need SP1 at least to get on the internet. I have tried with and without the IP settings in place. no change. The connection Icon reports comings and goings activity. Any ideas would be helpful.
Getting on the internet via XP Professional is not happening with the basic XP Pro. I have checked and rechecked and confirmed my internet cable.
- Thread starter youngeryou
- Start date
There's not much in the way of browsers that are compatible with XP. Firefox version 52.9 was the last one that worked with 32 bit XP so you'll need to download it and save to usb on another computer before you install the browser. If you let the program update to the latest version then obviously you won't have a working browser. Finding a copy to download could take some time. I'm using 52.9 with XP running on a virtual machine and it works fine.
99% of sites (well, except for very simple ones with text) that I open in FF52 already work absolutely incorrectly. And already more than 10% work incorrectly even in FF94, which is only 1 year old! So your optimism about FF52 is not appropriate. Machines under XP, if you do not take into account the unsafe clones of chromium and ff of newer versions from the Chinese and all sorts of homemade ones, under XP, are already useless for the Internet for like 2-2.5 years for sure. In about 1-1.5 years, the same fate will befall W7-W8.1 (although the crooks from M$ and Google could have made it to 2025, especially since W7 still receives paid updates, including for the US Department of Defense - and this is taxpayer money, by the way, which means that all these updates must be available to at least all US citizens, as well as citizens of other countries where government agencies still pay for such updates).
I personally use XP only for a projector and music on an old computer, because, there everything goes smoother and without friezes, as in W7 (this is clearly visible if you start a movie in XP and W7 in the same video player with the same video card driver version - on XP, camera scrolls in scenes are smoother, about sound and speech no, XP absolutely rules here in terms of system latency and the likelihood of problems in playback, I somehow wrote about it in detail in the topic for news about chrome under W7 support end). Otherwise, XP (especially since it is also dramatically worse than WS2003 - the latter at least has support for GPT and disks larger than 2TB, plus memory support for more than 3GB and a normal TCP/IP stack with faster SMB) I have long been like a working environment not interested.
I personally use XP only for a projector and music on an old computer, because, there everything goes smoother and without friezes, as in W7 (this is clearly visible if you start a movie in XP and W7 in the same video player with the same video card driver version - on XP, camera scrolls in scenes are smoother, about sound and speech no, XP absolutely rules here in terms of system latency and the likelihood of problems in playback, I somehow wrote about it in detail in the topic for news about chrome under W7 support end). Otherwise, XP (especially since it is also dramatically worse than WS2003 - the latter at least has support for GPT and disks larger than 2TB, plus memory support for more than 3GB and a normal TCP/IP stack with faster SMB) I have long been like a working environment not interested.
Certainly XP is nowhere compared to W11 which is my main choice but as yourself I use XP to run obsolete but valued software. That can involve some hard work. I have XP in VMWare Workstation on the W11 machine I'm posting from and fired it up to check what you have posted. YouTube seemingly won't work and said that I needed to update the browser - Firefox. I tried a couple of sites including ebay and Amazon which seemed fine although any transactions conducted in XP would be too risky. Then I did a search for some music videos of popular music. Many Youtube links came up and for some strange reason they played fine. There may be other browsers that support XP better. I remember Pale Moon but don't need to spend time looking for such software as most of my hardware will run W11 and up to date browsers.
This link gives details of browsers to download to try with XP.
rigorousthemes.com
10 Best Browsers For Windows XP in 2024
Searching for a browser that’ll make your Windows XP machine feel like it’s not from the early 2000s? You’re in the right place. This guide is your quick and clean rundown of the best browsers that still play nice with Windows XP. Whether you’re after speed, security, or just basic...
rigorousthemes.com
SNGX1275
Posts: 10,615 +467
The OP never came back to say what worked (or didn't). But I don't think the actual question was addressed, he seemed to be having problems getting it "on the internet". Troubleshooting should have been directed towards whether he has network connectivity or not, rather than what type of browser delivers the best internet experience - IE5 that was XP era would still work today, just a lot of websites won't display well, but it can still reach out and pull information from servers.
If you put in some time using internet explorer on an XP machine you'll see that you are underplaying things. In an era when we need to be able to repurpose tech it's a shame that the big OS players and some of the biggest content providers like Youtube are actively making as many difficulties as possible for users of legacy equipment. I've just acquired an ancient mac mini running Snow Leopard and found parallel Mac related issues with Safari. It was just not usable. This took a fair bit of time but I eventually found that Arctic Fox and Interweb which are supported by third parties would give acceptable functionality in OS X 10.6.8. Apple kit is too dear but having now dipped a toe in the water I'm more inclined to consider buying an up to date Mac system.
I'll also add that OS systems like Linux don't impress me when compared with XP.
I'll also add that OS systems like Linux don't impress me when compared with XP.
Macho
Posts: 90 +2
Mypal web browser works with it. Of Course no more Internet Explorer will ever work again. Certification errors & more. But Mypal gets you on the internet and you will have no problems.
Macho
Posts: 90 +2
I bought SuperMax from Ebay for under $100.00
and it will serve you well with them having it ready for your use with that Foxfire version and more.
Windows XP Desktop Computer Systemax Intel Duo Core / parallel port - fire wire. | eBay
Windows XP Pro Desktop Computer Duo Core ( systemax ). Windows XP Pro Coa sticker is attached at top of each machine. Each machine has been tested, with a master test drive. They are fully functional.
www.ebay.com
Mark Fuller
Posts: 625 +109
I don't understand why the architects of the world wide web don't support legacy operating systems more than they do. Given the fact that there are millions of machines that use them that still work (they still use the same gasoline in an old automobile) it would appear to anyone with any general knowledge of accounting that the business that they would generate on the world wide web is not there. Also, to anyone with any general knowledge of networking all of them can still be networked with the most current operating systems.
hwertz
Posts: 517 +273
Problem here is obsolete security certificates and protocols -- the encryption methods in place when XP came out are no longer secure and were retired around 5 years ago. (I ran into this with an old system I have with Ubuntu 11.04 running a DVR, both with the browser and ssh -- the strongest encryption methods supported by 2011-era ssh are now turned off by default as insecure in 2022-era ssh, I had to set a flag in the settings on my newer systems to even be able to ssh into the system.)
This is not theoretical, there were active attacks being tried out in the year or two leading up to these methods being disabled that relied on the "bad actor's" software rejecting newer security methods so the server would be "OK, go ahead and use 56-bit encryption" or whatever and they could try to either exploit protocol flaws or brute-force their way in.
You will have to see if you can find the "offline install" files for the service packs (they USED to be available from Microsoft, who knows where they are now but they're probably online somewhere), put those on a USB stick and install them that way. (Edit: Surprisingly, if you google "Windows XP SP3 update", Microsoft STILL has all the XP updates in the "microsoft update catalog", it lists the updates (including an XP2 and XP3 updater) in the order released, you click download and you can download the .exe's and put them on a USB stick to install on the XP boxes. .)
Personally, though, if you have older computer you just want to keep using, you should do yourself a favor and just install a Linux distro on there (several mainstream distros have dropped 32-bit support and may need more RAM than these systems have; but there are still one or two very lightweight ones that'll even get by on 64-128MB RAM, and plenty that handle 256-512MB RAM, with a much more up-to-date browser and software, better video playback, etc.) For that matter, wine does a great job of running Win9x/XP era software including some games and such that do not run properly in 7/10/11.
This is not theoretical, there were active attacks being tried out in the year or two leading up to these methods being disabled that relied on the "bad actor's" software rejecting newer security methods so the server would be "OK, go ahead and use 56-bit encryption" or whatever and they could try to either exploit protocol flaws or brute-force their way in.
You will have to see if you can find the "offline install" files for the service packs (they USED to be available from Microsoft, who knows where they are now but they're probably online somewhere), put those on a USB stick and install them that way. (Edit: Surprisingly, if you google "Windows XP SP3 update", Microsoft STILL has all the XP updates in the "microsoft update catalog", it lists the updates (including an XP2 and XP3 updater) in the order released, you click download and you can download the .exe's and put them on a USB stick to install on the XP boxes. .)
Personally, though, if you have older computer you just want to keep using, you should do yourself a favor and just install a Linux distro on there (several mainstream distros have dropped 32-bit support and may need more RAM than these systems have; but there are still one or two very lightweight ones that'll even get by on 64-128MB RAM, and plenty that handle 256-512MB RAM, with a much more up-to-date browser and software, better video playback, etc.) For that matter, wine does a great job of running Win9x/XP era software including some games and such that do not run properly in 7/10/11.
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Mypal web browser works well with XP. Check to see if you are getting an IP address. I've never had any major issues with connectivity, the problem is usually that the browsers don't like certain scripts. Your connection issues might be your network card, etc.
This topic has pretty much been done to death. The more useful question is that of how to protect security when using XP with an internet connection. I haven't found any compatible av software that inspires confidence. In other words be very cautious when browsing using any legacy OS.
Mark Fuller
Posts: 625 +109
That's not to say that some 3rd party could not purchase the rights to the legacy os and put out updates to account for the obsolete security certificates and protocols, similar to the way you can get new parts for old automibles from aftermarket manufacturers.
Mark Fuller
Posts: 625 +109
If you look at all of the recent security breaches, most notably the "ransomware" attacks, they have mostly affected Windows 10 and Windows 7 machines, as well as Android.
XP might not be the best for a corporate network environment, (as it many times allows you to bypass "privileges" or access rights) but for the average home user, it works fine. It is slightly less susceptible to viruses and trojans than Windows 10. The same flaws that XP has still exist in Windows 10. There's lots of exploits in Windows 10 that XP doesn't have. Statistically, there's more code to exploit in Windows 10 than XP. Also, Windows 10 loads alot of its software in RAM, where XP loads only what is running in RAM. The RAM in your PC or any other device is not protected and a virus can easily be written to "dump" the entire contents of ram or scan ram to find information stored it it. That's all computers and all operating systems. The fact that Windows 10 loads so much into memory makes it more vulnerable.
The biggest vulnerability of Windows 10 is Windows Update. It keeps "talking out" to the internet if the computer is connected to the internet. And should an update get hacked downstream or, should the update not work with the computer's existing configuration, the end result could be a dead computer, which can shut an entire company down.
How about Windows Update updating Windows 10 during the 5 o clock newscast at a TV station? Seen it. Oh Yes,and what happens if you try to turn the power off during an update. They were using paper scripts for a few days. They didn't even have a toaster. (TV term for a VCR)
The simple truth is that XP has been around long enough to be stable. Security issues have already been patched. Windows 10 and 11 are works in progress, new security holes are found often. The biggest problem with computers is the "stupid" user.
Mark Fuller
Posts: 625 +109
The reason that xp was so exploited is that it was the big boss of all operating systems from it's inception around 2000 till it was retired in 2012, comprising 95% of all operating systems in the market during that time. Longer than any other os so far. It was what was there to be hacked at. That's not to say if it came back in widespread use it would again be a target, needing updates frequently to keep it secure.
The thread is moving a bit off course but that's good.
I've learned some interesting stuff about XP here. XP is able to run on what is by today's standards pretty puny hardware. With so much older tech that really won't run W10 or W11 properly XP is a great option - if you know what you are doing. I have an Atom netbook which runs pretty well with XP but didn't work well with W7 starter edition. In a world where people are struggling for money the use of older tech and XP makes a lot of sense. We throw away far too much hardware.
It's also very easy to get to grips with XP. If new Windows PCs were to have a fall back to run XP there would be less rants from tech resisters trying to live in the good old days. For older people jumping straight into W11 may be an impossibility.
A forum solely devoted to promoting and supporting users of XP would also be very useful. Maybe it exists already and if so please post a link.
I've learned some interesting stuff about XP here. XP is able to run on what is by today's standards pretty puny hardware. With so much older tech that really won't run W10 or W11 properly XP is a great option - if you know what you are doing. I have an Atom netbook which runs pretty well with XP but didn't work well with W7 starter edition. In a world where people are struggling for money the use of older tech and XP makes a lot of sense. We throw away far too much hardware.
It's also very easy to get to grips with XP. If new Windows PCs were to have a fall back to run XP there would be less rants from tech resisters trying to live in the good old days. For older people jumping straight into W11 may be an impossibility.
A forum solely devoted to promoting and supporting users of XP would also be very useful. Maybe it exists already and if so please post a link.
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