WinInet error code: 12029

[JeanneMarie]

I see threads from a couple of years ago re this error at Fidelity and the statement that users need Win 10. I was updating Fidelity as recently as June of this year with Win 8.1, and Merrill Lynch is still working just fine.

I am well aware of how badly I need to upgrade my equipment, but I'm stuck for the next month or so. And maybe something more has changed at Fidelity?

But is there any troubleshooting you can suggest for the time being until I replace this dinosaur?
Jeanne
(just updated to FM 2022.17.7.100 but no help)

[Mark]

Hi Jeanne,

Unfortunately, there isn't a workaround for this from non-supported Windows platforms like 8.1. If you look at Fidelity's OFX server with a tool like this:

https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze ... com&latest

Click on one of their IP addresses, and go to the "Handshake Simulation" section and you'll see a line like:

IE 11 / Win 8.1 R Server sent fatal alert: handshake_failure

What is happening is that Fidelity's OFX server only supports more recent cipher suites, that were not available in older versions of Windows, so those older versions aren't able to communicate with this server.