[Waste of Space]

Whenever my PC gets taken queer and needs to go for treatment, I'm reduced to digging out my old HP Pavilion laptop which still runs on Windows XP and which can't be upgraded.  Obviously this isn't a perfect state of affairs and there's no shortage of websites which aren't accessible (or which are only partially accessible) to computers that use XP. There's also Google Chrome's habit of telling me that almost every website under the sun is unsafe.

 

Until now, though, I've still been able to access and use both Facebook and eBay using my XP laptop  -  but this time around, although I can log into and navigate Facebook, it's not possible to enter any text on anyone's Timeline, not even my own unless I'm starting a new thread.  The searchbox does however accept text, but if I try to open my Messages nothing at all happens.

Meanwhile, if I attempt to go to eBay, I get a message saying

 

www.ebay.co.uk normally uses encryption to protect your information. When Google Chrome tried to connect to www.ebay.co.uk this time, the website sent back unusual and incorrect credentials.  This may happen when an attacker is trying to pretend to be www.ebay.co.uk, or a Wi-Fi sign-in screen has interrupted the connection.  Your information is still secure because Google Chrome stopped the connection before any data was exchanged. You cannot visit www.ebay.co.uk right now because the website uses HSTS.  Network errors and attacks are usually temporary, so this page will probably work later.

-  only it doesn't and this has been going on for days, which suggests this may in fact be an XP-related issue.

Is anyone here able to explain what exactly is happening to cause these experiences with Facebook and eBay?  I can understand about websites no longer being compatible with XP, but the precise nature of these two problems has got me baffled.  Is there, for instance, something cookie-related stopping me from being able to type text onto Facebook Timelines?  And is there anything I can do about it?  And can I force Chrome to stop throwing obstacles in the way of eBay?

 

Thank you.

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Not sure about Facebook but the ebay error is related to most sites (except unfortunately geekstogo) moving to and requiring secure (encrypted) HTTPS.  If you look in Control Panel, Internet Options, Advanced and scroll down to near the bottom there should be a section on Use TLS.  These should all be checked. (Which numbers do you have?).  Use SSL 3.0 should be unchecked.  If you do not have TLS 1.2 that may be a problem.

 

https://www.emailarc...bject_tls12.htm

 

You can try typing

HTTPS://www.ebay.co.uk

which should tell XP that you want to use the required secure HTTP.  That may help.

 

The other problem you will run into using an obsolete PC is that your certificates may have expired. The certificates are used in the authentication process.  Following info may help:

https://itstillworks...-tab-22294.html

[RKinner]

Not sure about Facebook but the ebay error is related to most sites (except unfortunately geekstogo) moving to and requiring secure (encrypted) HTTPS.  If you look in Control Panel, Internet Options, Advanced and scroll down to near the bottom there should be a section on Use TLS.  These should all be checked. (Which numbers do you have?).  Use SSL 3.0 should be unchecked.  If you do not have TLS 1.2 that may be a problem.

 

https://www.emailarc...bject_tls12.htm

 

You can try typing

HTTPS://www.ebay.co.uk

which should tell XP that you want to use the required secure HTTP.  That may help.

 

The other problem you will run into using an obsolete PC is that your certificates may have expired. The certificates are used in the authentication process.  Following info may help:

https://itstillworks...-tab-22294.html

[Waste of Space]

Big thanks for your response, RKinner.  Greatly appreciated.

Glancing at Control Panel/Internet Options/Advanced, I can see that I have the options Use SSL 2 and Use SSL 3 (the latter is currently shown as checked).  As for TLS 1.2, I don't have it, only TLS 1.0 (which is checked).

 

Entering HTTPS://www.ebay.co.uk in the address field unfortunately makes no difference; I still end up with the same obstructive blurb on the screen.

 

I’m sure you’re right about expired certificates being at the root of the problem.

 

Would you say that there’s a good reason why Use SSL 3 is currently checked? That’s to say, with no TLS 1.2, do I need to have that box checked alongside the TLS 1.0 box?

 

Thank you.

[RKinner]

You might get it to work with TSL1.1 but most sites use TSL1.2.  No one uses SSL of any number these days.   I would try to add TSL 1.2 via the instructions here:

https://www.emailarc...bject_tls12.htm