9 year old laptop slow to respond.

No it doesn't.

 

When you plug in the ethernet cable, does your computer show that it is connected?

 

If I connect the ethernet cable directly into the computer from the modem, bypassing the router, Internet Explorer says it doesn't see a server.

 

There will be a network icon in the bottom right corner of your screen next to where the time is displayed, which should have a red cross on it which goes away when you plug in the ethernet cable.

 

Hi Roger, Sorry for the delay. Yes I have that. When I plug in the ethernet cable, the red X goes away. When I access IE there is no connection, and the words " Invalid Synfax Error - IE" appears in the upper left corner of the page.

 

If you visit this link and download the patch from Microsoft and install it on your computer, it should fix the problem.

I found that link here.

 

Hi Roger, I had to burn it on a disk so I can transfer it to my laptop, because I have no internet on the laptop. I'm having a senior moment. Can you tell me how to transfer the download from the cd to the proper place on the laptop? Thanks in advance.

 

Go to My Computer then double click on the icon for your CD drive and then double click on the downloaded file to run it and follow the directions given.

 

That's what I had done, but a window comes up that says "The update requires IE 6.0 sp1 to be installed". My IE has v6.0 sp2. It won't take it.

P.S. I just happen to have the .exe for IE11 in my desktop download folder. Do you think if I burned v11 to a CD I could install it over the v6 on the laptop, and it would work on an old system?

 

Yes, give that a try.

 

OK I will. Thanks for the support. I hope it goes OK. I'll report back later or tomorrow.

 

I had to install IE7 32x because my IE11 is 64x. IE still won't load.

 

Let me know how you go.

 

I am able to connect to the internet after disconnecting the modem for 10 seconds and re-connecting. The ethernet connection is good now. Now I have to figure out why I get my WiFi connection but it is searching for a certificate and can't connect. Thanks for all the help on the connecting to the ethernet internet connection.

 

What XP service pack does the laptop have? When I restored my 9 year old Dell desktop to its original state it only had SP1. I had to update to 3 to use the MS Update website. You'd need to download the full .exe installers for SP2 and SP3 and copy them to the laptop. Install 2 first then 3.

 

If this is the case be prepared to be bored. Each XP SP can take up to 3 hours to install. I found this maddening in the past. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the info. It's sp1, but this laptop will be used by my Daughter to do e-mail and Facebook. As MS will be stopping updates in 2 months anyway I'll just run it as is. It's not worth the trouble for me to go through upgrading twice.

 

Good to see that you can get on the internet now.

What error are you getting when you try to use WiFi?

 

It's not an error really. The WiFi is running, but it's looking for a certificate. I guess they mean the password. If I click on the network it shows a strong connection. I was able to access the place where you enter the password once and it wouldn't take it. My password had the wrong amount of characters. Mine is 11 and they wanted 10 if I remember right. Any way I haven't been able to find where that window was again. I'm going to give the laptop back to my daughter so my Grand Daughter's boy friend can try on the WiFi at her house. He's more WiFi literate than I am. At least she can use the internet now. Thanks again for your help.

 

I'm happy to help.

Maybe not much need for it now anyway but this link tells you how to get XP to forget a WiFi password. Doing so means that next time you connect to the network you should be prompted for a password again.

 

Hello,

A small box of CD-R's should be well under $10 USD, should you change your mind about not making recovery media for the laptop.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

 

It only took me about an hour and a half tops to install SPs 2 & 3, including the downloads. XP looks and works better with SP3 in my opinion, but to each their own.

I'd also uninstall all the trial programs that came with the original install, if any. MS Office or Norton Antivirus, for example. If she doesn't play games, those can be gotten rid of too as some of them have huge bloat. Use CCleaner to check for startup programs that run automatically and disable all but the essential ones. And as someone mentioned earlier, run a defragger to get all the data on the faster outer sectors of the hard drive. This will improve response time if run regularly.

 

Hi Allizomeniz, Would you have the link handy where those sp2 & sp3 updates are? I got to thinking if Ican download all the Widows updates to the present, it might be a good idea. Thanks in advance.

 

I did as you said above, and wasn't prompted to give a password. It just took me back to the WiFi window that shows my router network with a star next to it saying it needs a certificate, with only one option. (disconnect). Now that I think about it, I never successfully added the password in the beginning when I first tried to sign on. So there must be a place where that option lives.