I can't connect to the internet on my laptop

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Aurora Kinney - Jun 18, 2015 at 11:39 AM
BrianGreen Posts 1005 Registration date Saturday January 17, 2015 Status Moderator Last seen September 30, 2021 - Jun 18, 2015 at 12:10 PM
Hello,
See I have an old Windows XP laptop I received from my step dad's dad a couple years ago that would connect and allow me to use the internet just fine. But now it will connect and say I have a WiFi signal and it works fine, but when I try to get on the internet it wont let me... saying it cannot connect. Any and All help is greatly needed and appreciated.
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BrianGreen Posts 1005 Registration date Saturday January 17, 2015 Status Moderator Last seen September 30, 2021 150
Jun 18, 2015 at 12:10 PM
Hi Aurora,

There are 5 possible reasons I can think of for this ...

1) your machine is not really connected to the WiFi - I know you say it is, but if you have changed providor or the passcode has changed then it will not connect. But this does not seem to be the issue here as you say it is connected. I thought I'd mention it for completeness

2) there is an issue with viruses - Perform a full sacn of your PC - some viruses can stop Internet access ... which brings me on to ...

3) Some viruses and other things can change the LAN settings for your Internet connection. In Control Pannel double click on "Internet Options". Then click on the "Connections" tab. When there click on the [LAN settings] button. Check that only "Automatically detect settings is ticked. Click on [OK], and then [OK] again and try again.

4) XP is old. As such the latest version of Internet Explorer you can use is IE8. Web Site designers often add up to date instructions that IE8 cannot understand so cant display it. This IS a long shot, but it may be that your home page cannot be displayed so fails to load. Try another site or install a different Internet Browser. Im not sure if any of the others can be installed on XP, but I know Firefox can. You might need to download the installation files on a memory stick from a different machine.

5) There is another possibility that the network card installation has become corrupted. To fix this try uninstalling the wireless card from the Device Manager (available in Control Pannel. Under the Network Adapters node right click the wireless card and choose "Uninstall. Wjhen it asks DO NOT remove the drivers. When done restart the machine and the network drivers should reinstall. Then try again.

I hope this works for you. Good Luck. Let us know how it goes.
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