Driver_IRQL_Not_Less_Or_Equal Error

[dcusick]

What's up all? I'm getting very frustrated with this damn error!!! My computer was always running fine, with XP Pro. Recently, I was sporadically getting a Blue Screen with the above message, Driver_IRQL_Not_Less_Or_Equal, followed by a physical memory dump. This usually happens after being on my PC for a while. The last thing that I remember installing before this happened, was the new AIM update... I figured it was something software related, and it was getting around that time that I formatted anyway to clean up my system. So I decided to go forward with that. I booted up my computer with the XP disc in and ran through the menus. I chose to Format the drive in NTFS format and then install XP. The format went fine and the initial copying of files went fine. After reboot, XP starts to setup and install. About 10-15 minutes in, I get the same Blue Screen with Driver_IRQL_Not_Less_Or_Equal. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance..

Doug

 

[bcastner]

See this thread: thread779-429616

This error is almost always an incompatible hardware device, a BIOS issue with a hardware device, or incompatible drivers for a hardware device.

 

[GreatSeaSpider]

i'd try:

Check RAM and CDRom
check bios for irq conflicts

Have a look at the ram first!

PEte

 

[FunkDoobious]

This error can occur sometimes with faulty RAM and Graphics cards. I have also seen it appear due to over heating. You should also check your system information to see if you do in fact have IRQ conflicts

 

[bcastner]

You can get it from overclocking. You can get it from lots of sources. See the link given above for a rather exhaustive catalogue of reasons and correction steps.

 

[dcusick]

Thanks for the replies.. I guess it's never as easy as one clear cut issue! One thing I noticed, I was usually doing things online when this error occurred... A few times, my computer would be running fine, then I'd click the good old "e" to open up IE 6.0 and bam! Blue screen. It also seems as if during the install the blue screen happens when its setting up the Network Connections. So I'm kinda guessing that the NIC card might have to do with this. I'm gonna try to remove the card and see what happens. I'll get back to everyone with the results... Thanks for the help...

 

[dcusick]

One more thing, the weird thing is that I didn't do anything different, hardware wise, to my machine... It's like a piece of my hardware just died out of nowhere... Oh well, that's computers for you!!

 

[dcusick]

Oh well, not the NIC. I replaced it with a Win XP compatible NIC. It actually got a little further this time, but didn't finish... Oh well.. Back to the old drawing board..

Doug