Have you tried signing in to the website?

Separate Security Issue: Update your Flash Player or remove it using these links; http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-windows.html Uninstall Flash Player | Windows http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-mac-os.html Uninstall Flash Player | Mac

Note: Windows users should download the ActiveX for Internet Explorer. and the plugin for Plugin-based browsers (like Firefox).

Note: Windows 8 and Windows 10 have built-in flash players and Adobe will cause a conflict. Install the plugin only. Not the ActiveX.

Flash Player Version: Version 29.0.0.171

https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ Direct link scans current system and browser Note: Other software is offered in the download. <Windows Only>

https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/otherversions/ Step 1: Select Operating System Step 2: Select A Version (Firefox, Win IE . . . .) Note: Other software is offered in the download. <Windows Only> +++++++++++++++++++ See if there are updates for your graphics drivers https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/upgrade-graphics-drivers-use-hardware-acceleration

It is possible that the requested page are no longer available under the link you used in case you have bookmarked these pages. That happens a lot of times to me (things changes all the time on that website) and I get redirected to the main Microsoft page. You can use the site's sidebar to see if you can find the article you are looking for.

If you use a bookmark then navigate to the web page starting with the main page or the sign in page in case there is a problem with this bookmark.

phrab7 said

I have a Windows 10 machine also, & it can access these sites. However, with either browser (Firefox or IE) it redirects to a general MS support page. It does this on any MS KB article. I've tried disabling the hosts file & flushing the DNS, but I get the same behavior. I know MS doesn't support XP, but all I want to do is read an article. I'd appreciate any help. Thank you in advance!

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I have 2 different accounts. It doesn't matter which I use. When I sign in, I'm just taken to a general page that looks like the attached. Besides, can't anyone just look up a knowledge base article?

Thanks again.

cor-el said

It is possible that the requested page are no longer available under the link you used in case you have bookmarked these pages. That happens a lot of times to me (things changes all the time on that website) and I get redirected to the main Microsoft page. You can use the site's sidebar to see if you can find the article you are looking for.

---

If you use a bookmark then navigate to the web page starting with the main page or the sign in page in case there is a problem with this bookmark.

Thanks for your reply. However, I can paste the URL directly & still can't get any knowledge base page. I can get the same one on my Windows 10 machine. It's as if Microsoft not only doesn't support XP (which I know), but also prevents you from getting any information from Microsoft.

I tried a few links to support articles, but most of them no longer work.

Found this via a search and still works:

• https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/822798/you-cannot-install-some-updates-or-programs-in-windows-xp

This is one I have in my docs that no longer works although searching Microsoft still brings up links to this article;

• https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/search?query="Start a Program as an Administrator in Windows XP"
• https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/305780/how-to-use-the-run-as-command-to-start-a-program-as-an-administrator-i

cor-el said

I tried a few links to support articles, but most of them no longer work. Found this via a search and still works:

• https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/822798/you-cannot-install-some-updates-or-programs-in-windows-xp

I suggest contacting Microsoft about this. https://support.microsoft.com

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/forum/windows_10

FredMcD said

I suggest contacting Microsoft about this. https://support.microsoft.com http://answers.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/forum/windows_10

Thanks again for your reply & your time. I had already contacted Microsoft chat. They never really answered the question. I'm wondering if anyone else has a Windows XP machine & either has the same problem or doesn't. At least it would tell me if everyone using WinXP is blocked from KB articles or just me.<g>

Use the links I posted to ask the whole community about this.

phrab7 said

FredMcD said

I suggest contacting Microsoft about this. https://support.microsoft.com http://answers.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/forum/windows_10

Thanks again for your reply & your time. I had already contacted Microsoft chat. They never really answered the question. I'm wondering if anyone else has a Windows XP machine & either has the same problem or doesn't. At least it would tell me if everyone using WinXP is blocked from KB articles or just me.<g>

I posted the question in MS a forum. The cause wasn't Windows XP. The cause was my out of date browser. I'm using Firefox 52.8 because I want to use my Roboform password manager toolbar & newer versions of Firefox don't support 3rd party toolbars.

Anyhow, an MS MVP recommended an add-on to prevent my browser information from being told to the website, but it required Firefox version 59 or later. But it got me thinking. When I used Firefox's "private browsing" option, I was able to connect to MS KB articles.

Thank you very much for your time & expertise! Issue solved.

Works for me with Firefox 52 esr (52.8.0) with the useragent set to XP (Windows NT 5.1).

• Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:52.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/52.0

If this isn't working for you then I assume that something on your side is blocking access.

You can try these steps in case of issues with web pages:

You can reload web page(s) and bypass the cache to refresh possibly outdated or corrupted files.

• hold down the Shift key and left-click the Reload button
• press "Ctrl + F5" or press "Ctrl + Shift + R" (Windows,Linux)
• press "Command + Shift + R" (Mac)

Clear the Cache and remove the Cookies from websites that cause problems via the "3-bar" Firefox menu button (Options/Preferences).

"clear the Cache:

• Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security -> Cached Web Content: "Clear Now"

"Remove the Cookies" from websites that cause problems.

• Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security -> "Use custom settings for history" -> Cookies: "Show Cookies"

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

• switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Appearance
• do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Safe Mode start window

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode
• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-extensions-themes-to-fix-problems

You can remove all data stored in Firefox from a specific domain via "Forget About This Site" in the right-click context menu of an history entry ("History -> Show All History" or "View -> Sidebar -> History").

Using "Forget About This Site" will remove all data stored in Firefox from this domain like history and cookies and passwords and exceptions and cache, so be cautious. If you have a password or other data from that domain that you do not want to lose then make sure to backup this data or make a note.

You can't recover from this 'forget' unless you have a backup of involved files.

If you revisit a 'forgotten' website then data from that website will be saved once again.

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/delete-browsing-search-download-history-firefox

cor-el said

Works for me with Firefox 52 esr (52.8.0) with the useragent set to XP (Windows NT 5.1).

• Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:52.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/52.0

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

• switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Appearance
• do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Safe Mode start window

You already have this user agent. I changed my Firefox 52 user agent to your Windows XP user agent to see whether that had effect, but all MS websites still work like expected.

If you run Firefox in normal mode then all CTR settings will be applied once again. If you use a custom theme then you would have to apply this (you can skip this step since it is very unlikely this is causing it).

See next response please

cor-el said

You already have this user agent. I changed my Firefox 52 user agent to your Windows XP user agent to see whether that had effect, but all MS websites still work like expected

Thank you again! I followed all the steps you showed, but it didn't work. It just deleted the general.useragent.extra.Firefox entry. Under useragent, I don't show anything for Windows XP or NT. I've attached an image of what I show. Could you tell me how I should modify it? Could this be causing the problem?