Windows XP

[Homervander]

Hi,

so during lockdown the boredom has gotten so bad that I decided to dig up an old laptop to see if it still worked and whether it was worth keeping and updating the software.

unfortunately I can’t even get it connected to the WI-FI..

It has windows XP installed and when I go to connect to the internet it asks for network key underneath which is says confirm network key.

I duly input the WI-FI password in both boxes. However, an error message then appears saying “the network connection password needs to be 40bits or 104bits depending on your network configuration. This can be entered as 5 or 13 ascil characters or 10 or 26 hexadecimal characters”.

Any thoughts on what this means and is there an easy way to overcome it? Thanks.

 

[pete.i]

Now I might well be wrong with this cos Windows XP was a long long long time ago. Anyway back in the Win XP days security was somewhat lax and ascii codes were what was used, I think I used A1B1C1D1E1 or something like that. Don't worry I don't use that any more. I would think that that would be all that Windows XP would recognise. In this day and age of WPA, WEP, WPA2, etc etc Windows XP would balk. I would think your easiest way to go would be ethernet cable.

 

[PP Mguire]

Wireless in XP has many incompatibilities with modern network setups. Unless you're running an older Wireless G or possibly Draft N router it won't connect.

 

[Joe C]

It is probably best that you do not bring XP on line anyway.....Using it for older software and games is good. I had an old W2K laptop I gave to a neighbor for her old sewing machine because the software was way out of date for today and it works very well for her purposes/software

 

[PP Mguire]

Now I'm curious what kind of sewing machine needs a computer....

 

[strollin]

I seem to recall that XP had trouble connecting to newer wifi unless updated to Service Pack 3.

 

[Joe C]

Sewing machines are higher tech just like everything else. My neighbor Dee, has an older Husqvarna machine that does embroidery and it has programmable software that she can put on a sd type of drive...it is a proprietary device and it's from the 2000/2001 time frame. Just look at anything new for sewing and you'll see that tech is all over on it

 

[PP Mguire]

I seem to recall that XP had trouble connecting to newer wifi unless updated to Service Pack 3.

Even SP3 has issues with newer wireless setups.

Sewing machines are higher tech just like everything else. My neighbor Dee, has an older Husqvarna machine that does embroidery and it has programmable software that she can put on a sd type of drive...it is a proprietary device and it's from the 2000/2001 time frame. Just look at anything new for sewing and you'll see that tech is all over on it

Huh, I just looked through 2 pages of sewing machines on Amazon and saw only one with a screen. This must be an industrial vs home use scenario.

 

[Joe C]

Cheap machines do not have that, The people that take sewing seriously would not be caught dead with a "Brother" or "economy" machines. Dee has a husqvarna like I mentioned and my wife (who takes her sewing very seriously too) owns a Pfaff brand name. She has owned her sewing machine since 1990 and it cost over 3K at that time. Her's is also programmable too but the software too far out of date to be useful, she also has a serger sewing machine that costs about 2K. Last year I got her a 1916 Singer model 66 at a garage sale for a very good price. She's cleaning it up and has all the parts out currently. It supposed to be a rare model because of the pearl design ...dumb luck mostly on my part cuz I didn't have a clue. I thought it was a very nice looking old sewing machine. She also has one of those treadle sewing machines too.

I never intended to know anything about sewing machines....it's only just because Mrs.C is into them I can't help but hear about it.
Edit: here is a pic of the one I found at a garage sale for $10.

 

[PP Mguire]

So like I said, industrial vs home use....ish. I've only seen the cheap ones you can buy at Walmart and the antique Singer my mom had. I haven't physically looked at a home use machine in well over a decade. My soon to be MIL runs a sewing business out of her house and all of those machines are huge, but none of them are computerized. Googling Husqvarna they look like rather standard machines with fancier screens on them, but maybe I'm not looking hard enough for one that would take a full laptop lol, and definitely not educated enough on sewing machines to recognize what a Pro vs amatuer would be.

Fun fact, I was browsing Ebay looking at Singer machines and found one that looked exactly like my moms. Idk if the year is correct but physically looks the same.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-1910-...546852?hash=item28a60cc624:g:1EkAAOSwhHZf9OoG

I've worked on other industrial machines before, and I actually advertise this for my business. CNC, laser cutters, SMT, dynos, etc so I'm not unfamiliar with large machines being ran on antiquated hardware, OS, and software. Just the visual thought of a computer running a sewing machine never crossed my mind so now I'm rather curious how this works and if I can add this to my servicing model. Thanks for the tip!