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I'm being forced by a client to support Win XP/IE 8 for their web app that I'm developing. As such, I have followed this guide to install Win XP in a VirtualBox 6.0.4 VM (Windows 10 Pro 1809 host), which has all gone quite smoothly except for enabling internet access!

I have a fibre connection running through an ISP-supplied WiFi router, which works fine for the other PCs in my network, but not for this pesky VM. I've tried NAT, Bridged and Host-Only networking modes, as well as the PCnet-Fast III and Intel PRO/1000 MT Desktop adapters, all without any success.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about this is that I can type e.g. telnet www.google.com.au 80 into a command prompt and it successfully connects, yet IE refuses to load any websites. I've tried resetting WINSOCK and all other options discussed here, but to no avail (I didn't expect any of that to work since I don't use a proxy and the Win XP install is fresh, but thought I'd try them anyway).

So are there any other known reasons for this kind of behaviour on XP? Or is it a VirtualBox issue? MTIA :-)

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  • Just don't do it. Writing a new app and supporting IE8 is going to double or triple your work with no benefits at all.
    – Eugen Rieck
    Mar 8, 2019 at 21:58
  • @EugenRieck LOL yeah I think you may be right mate...but I've known this client for a long time and really don't want to let them down. I have explained the nightmare that supporting such an ancient OS/browser stack presents, and warned of the likely costs, but they are adamant that it MUST run on XP. Perhaps I should explain that simply diving into a pit of fire would be easier and less painful LOL :P
    – Kenny83
    Mar 8, 2019 at 22:29

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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There is a procedure described for this in the article
Enable Internet Access to Windows XP VM (VirtualBox 5):

  • In the Settings of the XP VM:

    • Select NAT
    • Click on Advanced, and under "Adapter Type" select Intel Pro/1000 MT Desktop(...). Below that, "Cable Connected" option should also be checked.

    enter image description here

  • Create a shared folder with the host

  • Download to the shared folder the Intel Pro/1000 MT Ethernet adapter driver installer from this page. There are two drivers for 32-bit XP and 64-bit version.

  • Boot the XP and install the downloaded Intel Ethernet adapter from the shared folder. When unsure, use the default values of the installer.

  • Reboot the VM.

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  • Thanks for trying to help but nope, as stated in my question I've tried all possible combinations of adapter type and attached to settings.
    – Kenny83
    Mar 9, 2019 at 18:38
  • Did you install these drivers?
    – harrymc
    Mar 9, 2019 at 18:51

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