Help with Silverlight vs old processor

I'm a new geek with an older 'puter. The processor is an AMD Athlon 1.10 GHz. I bought it about seven years ago.
(Windows xp, 1.12 gig/ram)
When I tried to install Microsoft Silverlight (First to watch the Olympics, now to watch the National Conventions), I got the error message: "Your CPU does not support the SSE Instruction Set required by Silverlight."
I don't know what an SSE instruction set is. Can I fix this without replacing my pc?

Should I reformat my hard drive? I've heard that helps sometimes...

I searched the MajorGeeks forums for "Silverlight", but didn't find any info. I'll go search "SSE" while I wait for a reply here.

Thanks.

 

Hi,

This was a first hit on a google search but it doesn't sound promising. http://silverlight.net/forums/t/3805.aspx

I just ran into the need for SilverLight for the Olympics last night. I have an intel chip so no problem installing for me. Anyway, I'm still resisting the install, just suspicious I guess. I did notice that the NBC feeds did work on IE7 without SilverLight, it was only required for FF.

 

Based on the system requirements stated at http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/resources/install.aspx#sysreq, you'd think your processor would work fine with Silverlight. Shame on Microsoft for not clearly stating the SSE requirement.

Silverlight will work with Athlon XP processors. I have an AMD Athlon XP 2200 and I have Silverlight installed with no problems. Do you want to determine whether your motherboard will support Athlon XP processors? Do you know what make and model motherboard you have? Since both Athlon and Athlon XP processors are older processors, Athlon XP being newer than Athlon, you may have to look for a used one on ebay.

 

I tried to download Silverlight right from Microsoft, just for fun, and got the same error message.
What does "SSE" mean anyway?

Re: "What kind of motherboard..."
That's an interesting question. I never thought to check before. I pooped around in Device Manager but couldn't find any motherboard details there. Does it go by another name?
I'm not afraid to open the CPU and take a look. I've replaced disk drives and fans and such before, but I'm motherboard illiterate.
It's a PITA to open the CPU up today. Is there a way to find out info on my motherboard through Windows? Without grabbing a screwdriver?

Thanks for the reply.

 

I suggest Belarc Advisor 7.2.24.8. Download, install, and run it to get a report on your system.

 

You meant to say "I Dont use Belarc ...", right?

I know Everest provides much more detailed info but, just to get the model of his motherboard, I suggested Belarc.

The Main Circuit Board info should appear near the top of the report in the right column of its two-column format.