Hello all, I hope my note finds you doing well. My computer runs Windows XP SP2 and Internet Explorer 6. Lately I have been getting messages from various websites that they do not support my browser and that I should upgrade to IE 7 or 8. This is happening more and more, especially with sites I use frequently, like Facebook.
I tried to upgrade to IE8 first. I found our immediately that the internet would not run, even though my cable modem connection was working just fine. I uninstalled it, my system automatically went back to IE6, and once again the internet worked fine.
I still wanted to try an upgrade, because in addition to it not being supported by various web pages, I heard the IE6 was increasingly vulnerable to spyware, malware, etc. This time I tried IE7. Unfortunately, I got the same response “Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage.”
When this happened after installing IE8, I did some online research to troubleshoot the problem. After IE7 was another bust, I tried to apply the methods suggested:
I clicked on IT Tools, Internet Options, and then the Advanced tab. I restored the Advanced Settings and Reset Internet Explorer Settings. I restarted IE, but still, no internet pages displayed.
I ran Network Diagnostics for Windows XP. I got the message that a repair was needed for the Winsock catalog. I let it run, it said the repair was successful and I restarted my computer. Alas, no change.
I tried to reset the Winsock catalog via the CMD prompt as well. Start > Run > CMD. I typed: netsch int ip reset reset.log, pressed enter. Then I typed netsh winsock reset catalog and pressed enter. I restarted my machine, but still no internet.
My apologies for this novel, but I am flummoxed. I have no idea why trying to upgrade IE completely stops the internet from working. Any ideas, something I missed? I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Cat