OS and Software > Microsoft Help > [XPHome] Can't figure this out, problem getting online

[XPHome] Can't figure this out, problem getting online

When you mention that no sites load in the browser, are you talking about IE, or another browser?

I ask as my Uncle got a virus about a month ago, and it did some nasty things that broke IE from working, but if I installed Firefox via Flash drive, that worked fine.

I never did discover what got changed, as other things that required the internet to work stopped as well (AIM and Weatherbug to name a few).

Since it was time for a fresh install anyway, I saved all his data, and re-installed XP SP3. I would have went with Windows 7, but he has an older dell with only 512 MB of RAM, and I knew Win 7 would not be a good option for him with very old hardware.

If you have the time, and don't mind doing the re-install, that might be the best thing. Otherwise, try installing another browser just to see if it works or not, and then go from there.

Sorry I cannot be more help then this, but maybe someone else will offer other suggestions.

--Brian
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--Brian Plencner

E-Mail: CoasterBrian72Cancer@gmail.com
Note: Kill Cancer to Reply via e-mail

IE is the only browser she has on the system.

It is an eMachine, one of those little compact models with everything crammed in the case which is about as big as a couple softballs.

The COA on it says "XP Home "something"" on it, I have forgotten what it says, but it doesn't say "OEM", it says something I've never seen before. I wish I had a decent memory, part of my disability is that I don't remember things well.

My BIL has a developer's license with MS so he should be able to get an OEM for it, right, if indeed it uses an OEM rather than Retail, install version?

There didn't appear to be a restore partition, and she doesn't have a restore disk.

Sometimes these factory builds really get annoying trying to fix...
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Join Teams Helix and Discovery. Rest in Peace, Leonard David Smith, my best friend, you are missed badly! Rest in peace, Pop, glad our last years were good. Please pray for Colin, he has ependymoma, a brain cancer, donate to a children's Hospital.

You could try to reset Winsock (command will work if SP2/SP3 is installed):

Start > Run > cmd > OK

then type

netsh winsock reset

Press "Enter"

Restart the computer.

From this KB article:

Warning Programs that access or monitor the Internet such as antivirus, firewall or proxy clients may be negatively affected when you run the netsh winsock reset command. If you have a program that no longer functions correctly after you use this resolution, reinstall the program to restore functionality.

Thanks, passed it on to him, he will try tomorrow when he gets a break. He was wiped out tonight from all the coding he's done. Don't blame him. I spent about 7 hours delousing her system and needed a break too.

Still, compared to fixing 6 to 14 computers at the same time, not so bad. It is a challenge working on that many systems all at once and keeping track.

I also have a question about the OS. I need to ask BIL what it says because I don't remember, but the COA says XP Home xxx where xxx isn't OEM or Retail or anything I've seen before, it says something weird, so weird I can't remember, just that it was a long word.

Can OEM's be obtained from MS on their MSDN site?

That is something that is annoying, that licenses for OEM won't work on a Retail copy, so what do you do if you lose the disk or don't get one??? At least MS should have a site where you can download the OEM if you put in a legit key on their site...
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Join Teams Helix and Discovery. Rest in Peace, Leonard David Smith, my best friend, you are missed badly! Rest in peace, Pop, glad our last years were good. Please pray for Colin, he has ependymoma, a brain cancer, donate to a children's Hospital.

OEM's cannot be obtained on the MSDN site.

Is there an option to create a recovery disk in the "All Programs" menu?

I checked. No.

Is there a difference between OEMs of a given OS? It is Win XP Home. Are there several different such OEMs such that only certain keys work with certain OEMs?

reply to signmeuptoo
Download and run this tiny program!
»winsock-xp-fix.soft32.com/

reply to signmeuptoo
I have had some nasty viruses that change settings and screw with the update service. Good Luck.

Possible reason the browser not getting on the internet:
Look here first, control panel, internet settings, connection settings, lan settings, check and see if proxy is enabled, if so, change it to auto or direct connection.

Now if you did find a problem in the connections setting and windows update still does not work after you may have to reregister the dll files.

Re-register the Windows Update DLL with the commands below
Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
Type the following commands. Press ENTER after each command.
regsvr32 wuapi.dll
regsvr32 wuaueng.dll
regsvr32 wuaueng1.dll
regsvr32 wucltui.dll
regsvr32 wups.dll
regsvr32 wups2.dll
regsvr32 wuweb.dll

reply to signmeuptoo
Thanks guys. He called me a couple hours ago and said he might end up doing a fresh install.

Sr Tech, I hope it isn't too late to try that, somehow I wonder if that might do the trick, seeing as proxy was set.