XP doesn't get to the internet

[eddyq]

I have Workstation 15 on a trial basis. I'm using Windows 10. I have created a virtual machine and loaded XP. I can't get to the internet via Internet Explorer. I know I'm connected because I can ping google.com from a CMD prompt. I am taking all the defaults so it is connected as NAT. Does anyone have a suggestion?

[jromanvm]

Did you try this old trick? https://www.ricksdailytips.com/windows-xp-wont-connect-to-internet/

Curious what you are testing!

[eddyq]

Those "resets" didn't help. This is a brand new XP so it is still in the default state.

What am I testing? Vm Ware workstation 15 with XP.

[bluefirestorm]

XP in default state would mean you are using IE6.0 with TLS 1.0 disabled by default?

Most websites these days requires https with at least TLS1.2.

So it might depend on the website(s) you try to access. Doing a search looks like there are still some websites that still run with plain http://

http://www.apache.org

http://www.mit.edu

Installing and using a browser that supports TLS1.2 might be required for most websites these days.

[eddyq]

The problem is not a web site not working as expected ... the problem is that I just can't get to anything if I use IE. I get "The page cannot be displayed" on every site I try. So I can't even get a later version of IE nor any other browser. A ping does work though.

[bluefirestorm]

So the Apache and MIT websites also result in "The page cannot be displayed"? Using Firefox (on Windows and macOS), those two websites are marked as "Not secure" so it still is using plain http and not encrypted https. So those two websites won't be requiring TLS 1.2 (or TLS 1.0 for that matter).

Are you pinging by name or by IP address? If you do an nslookup does it resolve to an IP address? This is just to isolate whether it is a DNS name resolution problem or something else. Are you using NAT or Bridged for the XP VM?

[eddyq]

There is a clue here someplace, I can get to my local router and I can get to bing.com; also I can get to Microsoft.com but when I click on Download Center I get "The page cannot be displayed". I have checked the host's C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\Ect\hosts file and it looks like this:

# Copyright (c) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.

#

# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.

#

# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each

# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should

# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.

# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one

# space.

#

# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual

# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.

#

# For example:

#

#      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server

#       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host

# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.

127.0.0.1       localhost

::1             localhost

[bluefirestorm · Accepted solution]

Don't think it has anything to do with the hosts file.

If you are able to ping websites by name and unable to get to those websites through IE6.0 (such as bing or microsoft.com), chances are it is because of the https TLS 1.2 requirement. That is why I asked if the MIT and Apache website went through with IE6.0 or not. IE6.0 only supports TLS 1.0 and it is disabled by default. If it is not getting through for the http only MIT and Apache sites, possibly it is something else that is broken with IE6.0; after all, IE6.0 is almost 18 years old, almost an adult in most societies/cultures/legal definitions if IE6.0 were a person.

It looks like Microsoft does not even offer a full download for IE8 for XP anymore. I would not point you to download from third party sites (but if you want, you do that on your own risk).

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/internet-explorer-8-details.aspx

Alternatively, you can get Firefox 52.9 (it looks like it is the last version that supports XP and supports TLS 1.2).

https://archive.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/52.9.0esr/win32/en-US/

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1195833

So you download the FireFox 52.9 to your Windows 10 host and copy it over to the XP VM (maybe through drag-and-drop or Shared Folders, assuming you got VMware Tools installed/running in the XP VM).

[Luigicece]

I have the same setup, and the same issue; however, your solution would be fine if I could get another browser on it. I installed what was supposed to be Windows xP 64bit SP3 but for some reason it was SP1. So because it's not at least SP2 I can't even install Firefox and windows update is useless cause Microsoft doesn't support xp anymore😕

[wila]

Hmm.. if your Windows XP was 32 bit then this would work:
https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=kb936929

Not seeing a 64 bit equivalent, but I might not have searched well enough.

--
Wil

[Luigicece]

OK yes I see there is no SP3 for the 64 bit windows xp, do you happen to have a link for windows xp 64bit SP2? I don't know why these things are so hard to find

[RDPetruska]

---

@Luigicece wrote:

I don't know why these things are so hard to find

---

Probably because these OS's are outdated by like 20 years!  Don't get me wrong - I use DOS and Windows XP myself, but only on isolated computers.  I've also maintained physical copies of the OS install disks and service packs, etc., because I don't trust the vendor to always allow me to download it (e.g. MSDN no longer has NT4 ISO files for download).

[wila]

Hi,

I just use search at the top of that page and that does indeed give me a link to the 64 bit SP2.

See:

https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=windows+XP+Service+Pack

and the direct download link of x64 SP2.

http://www.download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/v3-19990518/cabpool/windowsserver2003.window...

--
Wil

[Luigicece]

Yes that is true, I only use it because some of the automation software I use requires it unfortunately.😕

[Luigicece]

THANK YOU!