"Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage"

I'm trying to help a family member who has an old laptop they couldn't get online with anymore and placed it aside.

 

This laptop is running on Vista Home Premium and is operating on [I]Internet Explorer 8[/b].

 

The computer also has Firefox installed.

 

When I started work on it, neither program would connect to the internet.  Eventually, after clearing the cookies for Firefox, that magically allowed the out-of-date version to get online, however, IE8 won't do it.

 

I get the error message in the thread title every single time.
*  Clearing cookies doesn't solve it.

*  The computer shows it is connected to the internet via wifi router, yet won't work.

*  I pinged a couple websites, one yahoo.com, and the the data was sent and received with no errors.

*  I tried disconnecting and re-connecting to the password-protected wifi and that didn't do anything.

*  I have restarted the computer and that didn't clear up the problem.

*  I ran a anti-virus program.  Found a couple of trojans, but the program quarantining them did not help and neither did a restart afterwards.  Also, the program was able to update it's definitions; so, it can get online, via IE8, but we can't.

 

 

Sooo … what now?  Way too many ideas and potential solutions online to go through and most of them seemed geared towards the same solutions which have not worked thus far.

Hi tharpdevenport:

A few things to consider:

• Go to Control Panel | System and Maintenance | System and ensure this Vista OS been updated with Service Pack 2 (rel 25-May-2009) - see image below.
• The last version of Internet Explorer released for Vista was IE9 (rel.14-Mar-2011), not IE8 (rel. 19-Mar-2009).  Vista SP2 reached end of extended support on 11-Apr-2017 (the date Microsoft stopped releasing new security updates for Vista SP2 and IE9 via Window Update) so it's possible your system still isn't patched to 11-Apr-2017.  If you view your installed updates at Control Panel | Programs and Features | View Installed Updates and sort by date (i.e, the "Installed On" column) that should give you some idea of the last date that Vista security updates were installed on your computer.
• Microsoft permanently deactivated the Windows Update servers for Win XP and Vista on 03-Aug-2020 (see the 24-Jun-2020 Microsoft support article Windows Update SHA-1 Based Endpoints Discontinued for Older Windows Devices) so if you try to run a manual Windows Updates now [Start button | All Programs | Windows Update | Check for Updates] you will likely see an error code 80244019 (The device cannot connect to Windows Update).
• Older Internet Explorer browsers like IE8 and IE9 only support the TLS 1.0 protocol for connection to secure (https) websites and most web sites will no longer allow connections via this insecure protocol.  This is the likely cause of your "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage" errors.  See the image below from the advanced settings of my IE9 browser.
• Firefox ESR v52.9.0 (rel. 26-Jun-2018) is the last version of Firefox to be supported on WIn XP and Vista computers.  By default, Firefox ESR v52.9.0 will support newer TLS 1.1 and 1.2 connection protocols (and can be configured to support TLS 1.3), so I would advise you use this browser as your default browser if you intend to continue using this unpatched Vista computer.  See my 23-Sep-2020 post in the thread Problem Accessing HDD Recovery Vista Home Premium SP2 for instructions on how to install Firefox ESR v52.9.0 if you are using a different version of Firefox.

 Vista System Information Service Pack.png   21.8KB   0 downloads
 IE9 v9_0_60 TLS 1_0 Highest Protocol 21 Aug 2017.png   15.14KB   0 downloads

 

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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.9.0 * Malwarebytes Premium v3.5.1-1.0.365
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

Edited by lmacri, 15 November 2020 - 01:07 PM.

Okay, sorry for the delay.

Service PAck 2 is installed.

The Installed Updates reflects Internet Explorer 8 (with an installed date of 11-16-2016).

Yes, I did tell the owners they can still use Firefox, but like me, they prefer to use IE. The home page is set to DuckDuckGo.com, which I would think would still allow this out-of-date version to connect. So, is there no way to upgrade IE8 to IE9[/I] or at least get [b]IE8 to access websites that will allow it? Windows Update doesn't even give an error message; it just perpetually stays on "Checking for updates..."

Yes, I did tell the owners they can still use Firefox, but like me, they prefer to use IE....So, is there no way to upgrade IE8 to IE9[/I] or at least get [b]IE8 to access websites that will allow it?

If the owners strongly prefer Internet Explorer, then it would be best to install Windows 7 (which will run on most Vista hardware, unlike Windows 10). That would enable them to use IE 11.

But to answer your question: You could certainly download an IE9 standalone installer, but that by itself wouldnt be much of an improvement. If you are a fairly advanced user, you could then try this:

https://msfn.org/board/topic/176902-enabling-tls-1112-support-in-vistas-internet-explorer-9/

That would be a considerable improvement, but frankly, IE9 would still be an inferior browser. If you want to attempt that, let me know if the laptop is running Vista x64 because the instructions were originally written for 32-bit Vista.

You are not helping a family member by getting Internet Explorer to run on the Internet

 

In fact, no help at all is more helpful than running Internet Explorer online

 

Tell them to buy a new computer or Install Linux

Edited by Some-Other-Guy, 16 November 2020 - 07:35 PM.

...The Installed Updates reflects Internet Explorer 8 (with an installed date of 11-16-2016)....Windows Update doesn't even give an error message; it just perpetually stays on "Checking for updates..."

 

Hi tharpdevenport:

 

These "Checking for updates..." hangs were first reported in August 2015 and became progressively worse over time until Microsoft finally deactivated the Windows Update servers for Win XP and Vista on 03-Aug-2020.  There is a remote possibility that Microsoft re-activated the Windows Update server for Vista for a short period of time as they seem to do on occasion (see VistaLover's 25-Sep-2020 image <here> in the MSFN board for one example), so if you run another manual Windows Update and it still hangs on "Checking for updates..." try the solution posted on page 1 of m#l's thread Updates not working, it has been searching for updates for hours and see if you can actually get Windows Update to run to completion, even if it's just for a day or two.

Note that you will likely need to manually install all four Windows Update "speed up" patches mentioned in m#ls' thread [KB3205638 (rel. 13-Dec-2016); KB4012583 (rel. 14-Mar-2017); KB4015380 (rel. 11-Apr-2017); KB4019204 (rel. 09-May-2017) - only install KB4018271 (the 09-May-2017 cumulative security update for IE9) if you've installed IE9] if Windows Update hasn't run to completion on your machine since November 2016.  All those "speed up" patches are important Vista SP2 security updates so it does no harm to manually install them, even if they don't fix Windows Update. At the very least they'll make using this Vista SP2 computer a bit more secure.

 

I'd also suggest that you leave automatic Windows Updates permanently disabled on this machine [Windows Update | Change settings | Important updates | Never check for updates (not recommended)] now that Vista SP2 has reached end of extended support and Microsoft has deactivated the Windows Update servers for Win XP and Vista.  It's just a waste of system resources to have the Windows Update Agent (wuaueng.dll) constantly running in the background and consuming high amounts of CPU if Windows Update can't run to completion, and you will still be able to run a manual Windows Updates any time you wish.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.9.0 * Malwarebytes Premium v3.5.1-1.0.365
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

Edited by lmacri, 17 November 2020 - 01:26 PM.

...The Installed Updates reflects Internet Explorer 8 (with an installed date of 11-16-2016)...

 
...There is a remote possibility that Microsoft re-activated the Windows Update server for Vista for a short period of time as they seem to do on occasion...

...if Windows Update hasn't run to completion on your machine since November 2016.
 
32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.9.0 * Malwarebytes Premium v3.5.1-1.0.365
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

Hi Imacri:

OP tharpdevenport never asked about updating Windows Vista, but old habits seem to die hard. If the old Vista laptop described at the bottom of your post was still in service (and I am quite convinced that it is not), then you could simply run a manual check for updates and find out for yourself whether or not Microsoft has reactivated or deactivated Windows Update for Vista. That might make more sense than composing a lengthy answer to a question that no one asked on the basis of a remote possibility.

If IE8 was installed in November 2016, it does not follow that it was installed via Windows Update - in fact I am quite certain that it was manually installed, having reinstalled Vista myself when Windows Update was still working. It updated my IE directly from 7 to 9 without ever offering 8.

If the OP manually installs IE9, then the logical cumulative security update to install would be KB4507434 from July 2019, which was the last dual-signed update for IE9. Im sure you never installed that one on your former laptop because Windows Update didnt deliver it to you in April 2017, but I have actually used it without any problems.

Hi thardevenport:

 

Just checking in to see if you've made any progress with your browser issue.  Let us know if you require further assistance.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.9.0 * Malwarebytes Premium v3.5.1-1.0.365
HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

The other thread about Vista Movie Maker indicates that tharpdevenport left the state where the Vista laptop was located on November 17, but there might be a remote possibility that OP will return for Thanksgiving.