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Below I'm posting a step-by-step fix to add TLS1.2 to IE8, so that Skype 7.36.0.150 will continue to run on Windows XP-SP3. (While 7.38.x.x may be actual "last" for WinXP, it may or not nag you to "update".) I'm compiling pieces of the fix puzzle I found elsewhere on MSFN, because the complete fix isn't obvious to WinXp Skypers searching from elsewhere on the web. The fix isn't that difficult, but the usual warnings that novices should back up the registry before editing it, do apply. The download KB file installs, each set their own restore points. I hope just setting a Restore point before starting the edit will be adequate. I haven't used my desktop PC WinXP-SP3 Skype (mostly chat) for months while the power supply was down. Yesterday I fixed it. To my surprise, Skype errored with "Sorry, we couldn't connect to Skype. Please check your Internet connection and try again." But the internet was ok. Many Skypers aren't techies, and most of the posted complaints about "Sorry, we couldn't connect to Skype", don't have a fix other than get a new OS like Win7, or use web Skype. For good reasons, we don't want to give up WinXP, at least as a backup to Win7 (or even Win8.1 for my keytablet). I've thoroughly tested Win10, but I'm not interested in that control-freak bugfest. One elsewhere-posted answer with no fix, helpfully explained that Skype had switched to using the more secure https encryption protocol TLS1.2. Skype for WinXP uses the SSL/TLS protocols built into Internet Explorer 8, which is the last Internet Explorer version for WinXP. IE8 normally has a maximum version of TLS1.0. Skype servers apparently turned off insecure TLS 1.0 sometime after I had to quit using this Skype last year (2018). So the fix is to add TLS1.2 to IE8, and it did work for me. At MSFN I found the bitter-end holdouts on WinXP, same website where I found the Win98 bitter-enders. (Btw, one poster at MSFN said the famous Windows OS bitter-ender AXCEL216 aka MDGx aka George, is still alive!). One or more MSFN gurus noticed that Microsoft is still updating Windows XP embedded OS for computerized cash registers (etc.), a WinXP variant known as "POSReady" (POS= Point Of Sale). They figured out how to spoof WinXP-SP3's identity, so that it will pose as, and accept POSReady updates, including those which to add TLS1.2 to IE8. ----------------------------------------------------- INSTRUCTIONS TO ADD TLS1.2 TO IE8 for Windows XP Skype 7.36.0.150 (Worked for me, but YMMV) ----------------------------------------------------- 1) If not already updated, download and install Microsoft's updated Windows Installer 4.5 (KB942288-v3) from https://download.microsoft.com/download/2/6/1/261fca42-22c0-4f91-9451-0e0f2e08356d/WindowsXP-KB942288-v3-x86.exe 2) Set a System Restore point marked, say, "Spoof POSReady ID registry edit" 3) Put the following POSReady spoof text (omit the hyphen lines) in POSReady.txt, rename to POSReady.reg, right-click Merge, Yes. ---------- Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\WPA\PosReady] "Installed"=dword:00000001 [<-- BLANK LINE] [<-- BLANK LINE] ---------- 4) Navigate to: https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/search.aspx?q=kb4019276 5) Find down to POSReady, Windows XP Embedded versions of KB4019276 Click Download button for that version. Click English in the opening language window (or other language). 6) Navigate to: https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/search.aspx?q=KB4230450 7) Find down to POSReady, Windows XP Embedded versions of KB4230450: Click Download button for that version. Click English in the opening language window (or other language). 8) For each KB file: click, accept install, reboot. (Both create restore points just in case.) 9A) Now edit the following registry entries to read as shown: (These may be automatic merge .reg texts, but to be careful, I entered them manually. If you aren't sure how, look up Regedit 5 editing instructions.) 9B) After navigating the chain of registry keys, click the key TLS1.1, in the right panel, right-click "OSVersion", click Modify, enter the Value data shown above, click OK. (I had to change "3.6.1.0.0" to "3.5.1.0.0" shown in obvious German in the source.) ---------- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\AdvancedOptions\CRYPTO\TLS1.1] "OSVersion"="3.5.1.0.0" ---------- 9C) Next click the key TLS1.2, in the right panel, right-click "OSVersion", click Modify, enter the Value data shown above, click OK. (Likewise I had to change "3.6.1.0.0" to "3.5.1.0.0") ---------- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\AdvancedOptions\CRYPTO\TLS1.2] "OSVersion"="3.5.1.0.0" ---------- 10) Open IE8, click Tools, Internet Options, Advanced tab, pull the thumb bar all the way down. You should see new checkbox options for "Use TLS 1.1", "Use TLS 1.2". (KB4230450 will install these checkboxes, but they won't work without KB4019276.) 11) Uncheck "Use TLS 1.0" (insecure). Leave unchecked "Use TLS 1.1" (already obsolete). Check "Use TLS 1.2". Click OK. Now run Skype 7.36.0.150 (similar versions should also work). When I did this, the "we couldn't connect to Skype" error went away. However, a new sub-login dialog appeared that only allows a Microsoft school or business account. This dialog went away after I clicked on an existing chat account. So it may be only an occasional nuisance glitch, perhaps related to help-bot accounts? Pardon any source text compiling errors. If you have problems, try reading the sources (long). Sources: ---------- https://msfn.org/board/topic/171814-posready-2009-updates-ported-to-windows-xp-sp3-enu/ POSReady 2009 updates ported to Windows XP SP3 ENU By glnz, March 19, 2013 in Windows XP ---------- https://msfn.org/board/topic/177500-upgrading-ie8-to-tls-12/ Upgrading IE8 to TLS 1.2 By Thomas S., June 9, 2018 in Windows XP ---------- I hope this helps. Al

Maybe the good crowd here can help. Suddenly, our Skype phone isn't ringing (or is ringing too little) and incoming calls are going too fast to voicemail. None of the adjustments seems to help. This problem is only a few weeks old. (There is NO problem making outgoing calls!) We have the Connect Me Freetalk 1200 device, which is connected to our router (internet access) and to our deskphone. It has been good for two years until this problem. We also have a Skype telephone number. Anyone can call that telephone number and our deskphone will ring (until now). It should ring four or five times before the call goes into Skype voicemail, but now either it is not ringing or ringing only once and already the call is diverted to voicemail. This has been happening in my wife's mini-office, which she rents from a mini-office company. The router in our mini-office is connected to the ethernet socket in the wall, and the mini-office company provides internet access through its own network, which we do not control, to that socket. Until this, all has been working very nicely, with a good internet connection with very low Ping and fast speed up and down. Our Freetalk is connected to that router and our deskphone. Here's my only clue: I took the little Connect Me Freetalk 1200 device home, hooked it up to my home LAN, and it worked perfectly. The little deskphone rang five times and I could either pick it up or let it go to voicemail. And I could make some adjustments (how long it rings) with the Freetalk's embedded web server. But when I brought these back to the mini-office, the symptoms revived - no ring or one ring and the incoming call is already diverted to voicemail. And adjustments don't help. Any thoughts? I'm not a tech person. But maybe the mini-office company did something to its network that interferes with our incoming calls. (But outgoing calls work fine.) Thanks.

Hello, is it possible to keep using Skype 4.2.0.187 on Windows 2000? I don't know where I can change the version number.

Hello, Is it possible to install Skype on Windows Millennium Edition? I know I can install an older version, but I can't login to that.

Today I started skype and got a message that auto-login didn't work. The message said that my password might have been changed (or was changed) from an alternate location, and I need to log in using the new password. I understand that skype has been forcing people to upgrade to newer versions, but this old version I use (3.2.0.175) was working fine yesterday or a few days ago. I've been unable to get this same version working on another win-98 machine that I have very rarely used for skype, so I'm not sure if they've permenantly made this version unworkable now. So - does anyone else out there still have skype working on their win-98 system? If so, what version? I understand (vaguely) that there are other alternatives to skype, and would like to know which of them work under win-98. Edit: I've tried setting up a new skype username, and I'm using a throw-away email address. When I try to start skype using the new account, I get: Skype may be blocked on your network. Contact your network administrator, or (2) make sure skype is allowed on your network. Given this is win-98, there is no firewall on this computer, but I'm also not forwarding any ports for skype on my router. But I understand that skype doesn't require any ports to be forwarded (because of how it spoofs connections) - and my current setup was working until a few days ago. I understand that these old versions of skype connect to a different database run by Skype, and perhaps they've finally closed down the servers for those databases? Either that, or Skype doesn't like it when I use a throw-away email service... (?)

Yesterday, midway through a skype call, skype suddenly stopped working, so I tried to reopen it. My computer screen then went black to be followed by a blue screen with SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION at the top. I have read numerous posts about this with no set solution, so here is a link to the dump file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8IfJMTnm6ShcmtjUGJ5SDJIbDQ/edit?usp=sharing I uninstalled Skype, and I tried to reinstall it. The blue screen came up mid-way the install. This happens every time I try to install it. If anyone has a solution, it would be greatly appreciated.