Question Dell Optiplex GX620 won't connect to the internet after a fresh Win XP Pro install

[thedealer8]

I just purchased an old Dell OptiPlex GX620 with a Pentium 4 processor. The computer came with a wiped hard drive, so I am trying to install Windows XP Pro Service Pack 3 from a Dell installation CD. I am able to install the operating system fine, but I can never get the system to connect to the internet properly. Internet Explorer will only connect to the MSN website. I have installed all of the drivers from the Dell website (BIOS, Chipset, Video, Audio, Network, etc.). I made sure I installed them in the correct order. I tried installing Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8 with the same results. I have tried connecting to the internet using a wire and wireless internet. I have turned off the firewall, cleared the browser cache, internet history, and reset the default internet settings. Nothing has worked. I also get the same results when trying to install XP on an OptiPlex GX280. Any help you can provide would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Any version of IE that runs under XP is way too old to be supported by any website today. In fact XP shouldn't even touch the Internet these days as all security updates ceased years ago, leaving XP open and vulnerable.

 

[BFG-9000]

It's because Google drops all connections to old browsers.

Try Firefox 52.9.1 ESR dated 06SEP2018, or the Mypal and New Moon Pale Moon forks that are still being updated--but you'd have to trust the dude who maintains those builds. Maxthon Cloud too if you trust the Chinese.

 

[thedealer8]

I appreciate the responses. I agree that the older versions of internet explorer are vulnerable, but my intention is not to use IE to browse the internet. My main reason for trying to get Internet Explorer to work is so that I can use the XP automatic update features to load all of the updates that did not come on the installation software disc. I initially thought that the issue was webpages not supporting the old version of IE, but then I hooked up another XP computer I have and internet explorer and automatic updates works perfectly on that system. I may try cloning the hard drive from the working XP system, but I would really like to figure out why the fresh installation isn't working.