XP doesn't connect to internet

[Nizar77]

Hello, I have an old computer (Dell GX260), I use it only for the internet,,, I have reinstalled XP but it doesn't connect to the internet, I tried USB WIFI also ,but it didn't work...... Any idea?

 

Thanks

[startrek03]

Be glad, using this old, unsupported OS online is a ticking security time bomb.

[danalog]

If your network uses password security it will not connect. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

59 minutes ago, Nizar77 said:

Hello, I have an old computer (Dell GX260), I use it only for the internet,,, I have reinstalled XP but it doesn't connect to the internet, I tried USB WIFI also ,but it didn't work...... Any idea?

 

Thanks

I'd highly recommend you install Linux instead for the reasons above.

 

There's also other issues where even if you DO get it online, you'd have to use obscure web browsers for it to work as mainstream browsers do not support XP.

[LIGISTX]

1 hour ago, Nizar77 said:

Hello, I have an old computer (Dell GX260), I use it only for the internet,,, I have reinstalled XP but it doesn't connect to the internet, I tried USB WIFI also ,but it didn't work...... Any idea?

 

Thanks

Don't.... put windows XP on the internet, ever.

 

As others said, either move to some Linux distro that is not MANY years EOL (Ubuntu may be your friend here, itll run on anything for the most part, and you can install firefox or chrome for web browsing), or upgrade to Windows 10. Don't put anything older then Windows 10 on the internet, ESPECIALLY not XP.

[OU812]

Just dont....

[BondiBlue]

That's a good thing. Windows XP should not be used on the internet these days unless you know what you're doing, and even then it's not the best idea. You'd be better off finding a lightweight Linux distribution to run instead. That computer is very old, so no matter what OS you run it won't be very fast. 

 

10 minutes ago, LIGISTX said:

As others said, either move to some Linux distro that is not MANY years EOL or upgrade to Windows 10. 

The computer OP is using is a Dell OptiPlex GX260, a 20 year old Pentium 4 machine. It won't run Windows 10, and modern versions of Ubuntu aren't going to run either. 

[LWM723]

It should connect, What have you tried so far? Do you have the right password? Have you installed the USB cards drivers? XP is probably more secure than 10, it's so old nobody is targeting it.

[LIGISTX]

32 minutes ago, LWM723 said:

XP is probably more secure than 10, it's so old nobody is targeting it.

No… XP is pwned by looking at it aggressively. 
 

56 minutes ago, BondiBlue said:

The computer OP is using is a Dell OptiPlex GX260, a 20 year old Pentium 4 machine. It won't run Windows 10, and modern versions of Ubuntu aren't going to run either. 

Oh, dang. Ya ok that’s kinda old. That said, must be some linux flavor that will run and is still updated. 

[wseaton]

XP isn't the problem. Its the browser that's the security problem. There is a lot of XP infrastructure still out there, mostly in health care. 

 

Don't get me started on Linux/shell-shock.

 

Likely XP doesn't support the dongle.

[Bitter]

1 hour ago, BondiBlue said:

 modern versions of Ubuntu aren't going to run either. 

You sure?

https://lubuntu.net/downloads/

32 bit Lubuntu very much runs on a Pentium 4 and very much is a usable experience if you have to do it. You're not going to watch Youtube but more basic websites like this forum work pretty OK.

[BondiBlue]

Just now, Bitter said:

You sure?

I never said anything about Lubuntu. I was talking about Ubuntu itself, which will not run on a 32-bit system, at least not officially. Even if it did it would perform terribly. 

 

Yes, I know there are lighter distros available, including Lubuntu. There are other options as well, such as Puppy Linux (if you really wanted to go that far back - it'll run fine on a 400MHz Pentium II), or something like Linux Mint MATE. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

I still have a Pentium 4 2.4Ghz laptop, last time I tried to use it was not fun at all.  You might think its great keeping it out of landfill, but its going to use so much electricity and choke on the modern web.

Even the cheapest crap you can find today will run rings around the best Pentium 4.

 

 

Not recommending the Pi btw, just a comparison, a dirt-cheap Atom or Celeron small form factor PC from somewhere like Aliexpress would absolutely murder the P4, as well as plenty of used hardware going for next to nothing.

 

The only good reason for retro hardware is to run retro software.

[Bitter]

10 hours ago, BondiBlue said:

I never said anything about Lubuntu. I was talking about Ubuntu itself, which will not run on a 32-bit system, at least not officially. Even if it did it would perform terribly. 

 

Yes, I know there are lighter distros available, including Lubuntu. There are other options as well, such as Puppy Linux (if you really wanted to go that far back - it'll run fine on a 400MHz Pentium II), or something like Linux Mint MATE. 

Is Lubuntu not a 'version' of Ubuntu? Did you literally mean version like AOL Version 2.0?

[Bitter]

9 hours ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

I still have a Pentium 4 2.4Ghz laptop, last time I tried to use it was not fun at all.  You might think its great keeping it out of landfill, but its going to use so much electricity and choke on the modern web.

Even the cheapest crap you can find today will run rings around the best Pentium 4.

 

 

Not recommending the Pi btw, just a comparison, a dirt-cheap Atom or Celeron small form factor PC from somewhere like Aliexpress would absolutely murder the P4, as well as plenty of used hardware going for next to nothing.

 

The only good reason for retro hardware is to run retro software.

Absolutely correct. An Atom D525 is a better experience but still pretty awful.

[Nizar77]

On 5/7/2022 at 6:10 AM, Bitter said:

You sure?

https://lubuntu.net/downloads/

32 bit Lubuntu very much runs on a Pentium 4 and very much is a usable experience if you have to do it. You're not going to watch Youtube but more basic websites like this forum work pretty OK.

how can I download it ? the download never  starts .  and also which version is suitable for the old Pentium 4 2.00Ghz 500m ram? 

[Bitter]

2 hours ago, Nizar77 said:

how can I download it ? the download never  starts .  and also which version is suitable for the old Pentium 4 2.00Ghz 500m ram? 

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/18.04/release/lubuntu-18.04-alternate-i386.iso

That should be the one. You'll def still want more like 1GB RAM for a passable experience doing anything. It's still going to be pretty slow but it will do things if you're patient enough.

There's even lighter ones but you start to drop some ease of use.

[Alex Atkin UK]

2 hours ago, Bitter said:

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/18.04/release/lubuntu-18.04-alternate-i386.iso

That should be the one. You'll def still want more like 1GB RAM for a passable experience doing anything. It's still going to be pretty slow but it will do things if you're patient enough.

There's even lighter ones but you start to drop some ease of use.

Therein lies the problem, you'll end up spending more on RAM than it would cost to get a far better PC.

 

Even with Adblock I'd consider 4GB a stretch these days.

[Bitter]

14 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Therein lies the problem, you'll end up spending more on RAM than it would cost to get a far better PC.

 

Even with Adblock I'd consider 4GB a stretch these days.

I agree wholeheartedly. 2GB wasn't that horrible with Lubuntu and I could have used an even lighter browser I'm sure. Sitting at desktop I was using about 100MB of RAM, with FF open and the forum up it was more like 300-400MB. 512MB would be really tight and  if you're on a mechanical hard drive it's going to be intolerably slow to swap. You'd need to tune swappiness to only swap if 100% needed.