Reinstalled XP - cannot connect to internet

[oppie2]

I have a lot of awesome software and excellent equipment which I haven't been able to use since the release of Windows 7 (a pet peeve for another occasion). My sister just gave me an old Lenovo 3000 J Series which uses XP but I had to reinstall XP Pro because there were just too many problems. It runs perfectly and I'm having fun using my old stuff but I can no longer connect to the internet. In the Device Manager (under "hidden devices") the network adapters are listed beside a green box and there are no question marks or exclamation points but directly under the list of network adapters is a list called "other devices" ... these five (which I'll list below) are all in bright yellow with question marks. When I right click on it, the Hardware Install Wizard does a search then says "The Wizard cannot find this software on your computer" and offers to find it online which I obviously can't do. These are the five "other devices" highlighted in the Device Manager:

1. Audio Device on High Definition Audio Bus
2. Ethernet Controller
3. PCI Simple Communications Controller
4. SM Bus Controller
5. Video Controller (VGA Compatible)

I've been to Lenovo's Website (which isn't easy to use) and there are a lot of well hidden lists of driver downloads for older computers and operating systems but truth be told, I really don't know what I'm looking at ... I'm pretty good with graphics but seriously inept with techy stuff! If anyone has any advice on how to fix this, it would be most appreciated. Thank You (an my apologies for being so wordy ... couldn't figure out a briefrer way to state things.)

 

[Kshipper]

After you reinstall an OS you have no choice but to obtain the correct drivers for that laptop from the manufacturer. In particular, you need the chipset driver. Install that and reboot. Then you can do LAN driver, Audio driver (reboot). Camera driver, Touchpad driver (reboot). Wifi driver, Memory Card Reader driver (if it has one) and it may even have a driver that parks the hard drive head when the laptop is dropped. Connecting to the Internet is going to be harder and harder to do as the browser that is built in is Internet Explorer and was made in a day and age when there wasn't a need to have every webpage HTTPS. If I were you, I would seriously consider using this rebuilt XP laptop offline - only.

 

[oppie2]

Thank you, Kshipper ... I may well have to use it offline only. Truthfully, it's not a big deal as I can use my other machines to get online and do anything I have to do with thumb drives; more of a nuisance than anything else (still, I do have a case of OCD when things don't work right!)

 

[Kshipper]

Nuisance...yes but a lot safer! There are still machines all over the world infected, sitting in back rooms and closets all but forgotten looking for an old machine like XP to come online. XP was the "Swiss cheese of operating systems" (It was full of holes). Early versions fit on one CD and then later versions (XP Service Pack 3) needed a DvD (equivalent to 7 CDs) because of all the fixes.

 

[bazz2004]

I think that's good advice. My two XP machines are internet connected but I wouldn't even send an email from them let alone do any financial transactions. XP has some great software that won't run on later systems so it's useful from time to time. It's the only OS I really took to before Windows 10.
You can always try to get the internet up and running if and when you've nothing else to do. Don't waste your time with Microsoft Internet Explorer which is no longer usable in XP. Slimjet is a pretty good XP browser for me. There are a few AV programs available that will work with XP but as said by Kshipper it's full of security holes.