Win 7 older machine, cannot connect to internet issue

I have an older win 7 machine. The OS is great, but the machine is older because it has the integrated Serial port on the motherboard which I need for peripherals which require it.
I don't have a wifi option on this system so I decided to connect it directly to the internet via the ethernet cable. The lights on the back of the system are flashing green and amber, however it will not connect to the internet. I have tried to troubleshoot it the best I could, but I cannot find the cause or the solution.

I have both a 2.4gz router and a modem (from my ISP). I have tried connecting the older system to each of these via ethernet (not at the same time), but nothing is gained. The computer recognizes the internet connect, however it won't bring any webpages up on the internet.

I have connected my laptop using the same ethernet cable (to test the ethernet cable) and all of the connections come up (names of the networks) and it connects perfectly (win 10 laptop) , however when I try with this older system, "broadband" connection comes up and not the name of the network for the router or the modem.

I have taken some random pics to maybe show my attempts.

Your last pic looks ok.

You wont get far using IE. Try a different browser. You probably need at least SP1 ( service pack 1 ) for a more recent browser.

What is the make and model of the machine ?

I will have to use a USB drive to get service pack 3 if that is possible. I will have to also get a non-web version of chrome because I cannot connect to the internet to download that.

just download the Browser you want to a USB as well

Well, it isn't looking good. I have sp1 and that is it. I can only install portable chrome, but that gets me on the internet. Now, upgrading is impossible it seems. I am using a P5GC-MX 1333 Asus motherboard (old). I need a video card that fits it now so I can do something with the machine. It won't even run the intel driver assistant without getting an error.

For windows 7 sp1 is it. Most browsers have discontinued support for Windows 7 & 8. Supermium and r3dfox are backported versions of Chrome and Firefox that are still being updated.

GitHub - win32ss/supermium: Chromium fork for Windows XP/2003 and up . GitHub
GitHub - Eclipse-Community/r3dfox: r3dfox is a modern Firefox based web browser for Windows Vista & 7. SourceForge link for downloading with older browsers. Just a moment...

You should use simplix to make sure the computer is up to date. Download Simplix UpdatePack 7 - MajorGeeks

Another good thing to try is Legacy Update. It will install some needed updates to enable you to get Windows Update working again.

Legacy Update: Get back online, activate, and install updates on your legacy Windows PC

windows6.1-kb3138612-x64.msu
https://catalog.s.download.windowsu..._f7b1de8ea7cf8faf57b0138c4068d2e899e2b266.msu

or for 32 bit

windows6.1-kb3138612-x86.msu
https://catalog.s.download.windowsu..._6e90531daffc13bc4e92ecea890e501e807c621f.msu

should get windows update working.


Legacy update is not needed for win7 , it is useful for things like Vista

I found simplix to be incredibly convenient when building out my Windows 7 install versus round after round of batches of updates waiting a good 10+ minutes to just check for updates and that's after finding the certificate update. I just downloaded it and ran it. It saved me a lot of time. Plus I knew that there would be some updates I wouldn't want and others that include telemetry. Plus the esu updates are in it. It was a no brainer. The full think is a kind of a hefty download at 800+ mb but it contains a good 11 gb of updates. I remember using a similar program on XP. I think it was autopatcher.

SIW2 is right of course, Legacy Update is intended for older systems than W7. Sorry about that!