Question Why won't Windows XP Professional let me on the Internet?

[Moist Crab]

I found an old Dell PC that runs Window XP professional. I connected an ethernet cable to it and the computer says that it is connected but when I open internet explorer it saysI have no connection. So I looked it up online and I decided to try a wireless connection on the pc. I clicked on control panel and network connection and tried every single way I could to set up a wireless connection but under Lan and High speed internet it still won't show up. All I'm trying to do it get online and download Skyrim on this pc.
Please let me know anything I should try to fix this!

 

[Ralston18]

"old Dell PC that runs Windows XP Professional".

Update your post to include full system hardware specs.

And include any and all error related pop-up codes and Windows.

Overall, XP is obsolete, becoming increasingly unsupported, and all the less likely to be able to play Skyrim and similar games.

 

[Moist Crab]

here are my systems specs
operating system: Microsoft Windows XP Professional (5.1, build 2600)
system model: 2400
Bios: Phoenix ROM Bios Plus version 1.1o A05
Processor: intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 cpu 2.80ghz
memory: 510MB ram
DirectX version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)

 

[Clayton.]

sometimes my xp would do the same thing way back when i use to use xp everyday, back then i would just put a different copy of xp back on the computer to get back online, but if that happened to me again now days i would run a bunch of different anti virus / malware removal tools, i am pretty sure that was what always caused the problem for me back then but back then i just always started over with a new copy of xp because i did not know any better

 

[SkyNetRising]

Your system specs are significantly below minimum system requirements for Skyrim.
Your system can't run it.

• CPU SPEED: Dual Core 2.0 GHz or equivalent processor
• RAM: 2 GB
• OS: Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
• VIDEO CARD: DirectX 9.0c compliant video card with 512 MB of RAM - NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT & ATI Radeon X1800.
• FREE DISK SPACE: 6 GB
• DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 512 MB

 

[Wolfshadw]

With the Ethernet cable connected to the back of the system, do you see any lights at the port? If so, what color?

-Wolf sends

 

[onespeedbiker]

Go to the Device manager and see if the network controller(s) have a yellow question mark (if there is no wlan controller than it may not have come with one). If so double click on the controller and choose to update the drivers. If that fails check your PC has the correct drivers installed from Dell. https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/dimension-2400/drivers . Have you tried the checking Network Connections in the Control panel to verify your connection? If so does it show any exchange of data? How are you trying to connect a wlan connection? I didn't see the Dell 2400 came with a wireless card. It is also possible that your older Ethernet standard is not compatible with your newer router. You should also try a different ethernet cable.

I have tried a USB wireless dongle with my XP laptop and it worked very well. This particular USB dongle has some storage space and comes along with the XP drivers necessary to make work. I just plugged in the USB dongle, opened it up like a USB storage device and click on the XP software; I ended up with 400mps. https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-600Mbps-USBNOVEL-Wireless-10-4-10-12-2/dp/B06XRG9QDV/ref=sr_1_10?crid=5577M0L17693&keywords=usb+wireless+network+adapter&qid=1562785597&s=gateway&sprefix=usb+wireless,aps,216&sr=8-10

 

[Caramac]

You put your entire home computer system at risk of being infected by connecting XP to the internet.
Some network cards are just out of date and won't connect securely.
Your PC could be set to ancient network addresses in Network properties - TCP/IP. "Obtain a network address automatically"

 

[jsmithepa]

memory: 510MB ram

If the ^above is true, you are massively wasting your time.

 

[SmilinDoug]

IMO it might be your IE. Do you know which one you have? If it's an old one, you might not be able to connect to the internet. If you have another computer, or a friend that has a computer, download the latest Firefox browser. Put it on a DVD or thumb drive and install it on your Dell. I never liked IE anyway.

I would also go to Newegg and buy as much RAM as you can for your computer.

Hope this helps, goodluck

 

[onespeedbiker]

The latest Firefox version will not work. Instead you need to download ver 52.9 https://www.filehorse.com/download-firefox-32/36446/ which is the latest Firefox ESR vesion for XP.

 

[lynx1021]

Most browsers will not work on XP except the Firefox ESR and don't think they are updating it anymore. From another site (techguy.org):
"If you're still using Windows XP SP3, the only browser that still supports it and which is kept up-to-date is Maxthon Cloud Browser."

" Version 5.2.7.2000 was recently updated to version 5.2.7.3000, but it has been updated again to version 5.2.7.4000."

"You can get it here:"
http://www.maxthon.com/

 

[FALC0N]

Why in the world are you trying run Skyrim on a Pentium 4, Windows XP, and 512mb of RAM? That's crazy talk.

 

[BFG-9000]

Because Google drops connections to expired browsers. Yep, they still accept using Firefox 52.9.1 ESR dated 06SEP2018, but at this point the only other browsers for XP still being maintained appear to be the Mypal and New Moon forks of Pale Moon. You'd have to trust the maintainers, but with Maxthon you'd have to trust a Chinese Cloud.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Since the OP hasn't responded in over a month, I'll close this thread.

Wolfshadw
Moderator