Can the game site help? I’d be very cautious about downloading game-fixers.
I guess pay them. Running a 15 year old OS is not without costs.
They probably ended XP support. Win 7 may be the only fix.
If you post the web site URL, it might be helpful. It could be a login issue.
It might be an opportune time to try out Linux and see if it works on your game sites. You don’t even have to install it. Just download the ISO, burn it to CD/DVD and boot from there.
I recommend Linux Mint XFCE for an older computer.
The Windows update fix (KB 248977) is applicable to servers.
Research this and contact game manufacturer support before you buy anything.
it sounds like a winsock error:
Winsock runtime error 10061 or WSAECONNREFUSED (10061). a socket error.
maybe your peer is now forcibly refusing your attempt to connect.
It’s a Windows Sockets (TCP/IP) error. There is nothing listening on the TCP port at the hostname or IP address of the server.
Run several different complete anti-malware anti-virus programs. These sites offering to fix your problem for a price are often the ones putting that stuff on your computer.
Sorry for yelling, but DON'T PAY!
This is most probably a virus, meant to extort money off of you. This sort of thing is common on game sites.
If you pay, they will take your money (and maybe even your identity), but they probably won't bother to fix your computer.
I’m no expert, but here's my advice. Go to another computer, and research that error thoroughly. Then do a virus sweep on your computer. You might have to do that from an external drive. Hopefully, some expert here will give you more details on that.
Something like this happened to a friend of mine. He ended up having to wipe his computer clean, and start all over again.
Oh, and one more thing. Look into putting Avast and/or Malwarebytes onto your computer. They are both great (and free) anti-virus programs.
Maybe you could run a restore program for Windows ME or 2000?
Call Microsoft Tech Support in India, they will go to google and find the fix.
Shot in the dark
I used to have a problem when I was using a VPN and the company firewall for work.
My connection settings would get changed in Internet Expoloder and they wouldn’t be changed back after I would log off.
I couldn’t access web sites.
control panel\internet options\connections\lan settings.
In my case, proxy settings were set. I had to uncheck them to be good again.
not much...shot in the dark. good luck
According to a Google search, one site says TCP error — target machine actively refused connection.
It may be a problem at THEIR end, not yours.
Before you do anything drastic — like paying money to scammers — give it some time. Check the web. Look for other comments regarding that particular website.
Win 3.1 will fix that!
Yeah, Run MalwareBytes Anti-Malware, or perhaps "Super Anti-Spyware."
Sounds like you've got some malware on your system.
Where are you trying to go, or what game are you trying to play?
The Internet doesn’t you and your Old win XP anymore
ALSO,
What browser are you running? If it’s Internet Explorer, the highest version that runs on XP is version 8.
I believe there are versions of Chrome you can install on XP that will let you get around most problems that occur from web page browser version incompatibilities.
https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/desktop/