virtualbox.org

It is some 15 years since I last installed Windows XP under Virtualbox.
The installation went OK.

I can ping my router and even google.co.uk

but I cannot browse the internet using IE. I need that to complete the installation of various programs.

XP's IE is ancient compared to modern internet. You'll need a still-compatible 3rd-party browser that is modern enough.

The last XP-compatible version of Firefox was version 52. It may be too old now.