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.