Windows Vista Bsod: Irql_not_less_than_or_equal

ferguj1

Super Duper Modulator
Staff member
So about 2 days ago my pc started acting a little strange and then all of the sudden I get the blue screen of death with the IRQL error message. I haven't really made any changes of late so I hoped that a quick restart would get me on my happy way, and for the remainder of the night it did. Then I try to connect to the Internet (dial-up) and nothing happens. I click on the shortcuts in my quick launch bar, hourglass pops up and then nothing happens. Nothing shows in the taskmanager either. Then I get another BSOD, with the same message. Then I notice that my OC settings are not showing correctly in any of the programs I have but have not changed when viewed in the BIOS? Also sometimes it will go ahead and shutdown properly when told to, but when asked to restart it will freeze on the Windows is Shutting Down Message. I could only tolerate this for so long so today I reformatted the drive and did a full install. Thus far some of the problems are fixed but not all. OC settings still do not show properly, just shows as stock, and the restart function does not work all the time. The only thing I can think of is the night before we had a storm with lightning. Maybe the motherboard got hit? I have checked the RAM and it tests OK and nothing is overheating. So I am at a loss and could use some help. Sorry for the long post, wanted to try and give enough detail. Thanks.
 
thats a joke i think its on the site some were i have a look now to try and find gman would be able to tell off the top of his head if im rite some one has been play on you pc have you any idea who

sorry forget that did not read all of your mesage did you do a full format or quick
 
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This has all the hallmarks of a hardware issue ferg!

I know you said you tested the RAM but can I ask how many sticks you have onboard?

If you have more than one can you run it with just one stick & see what happens?

If no improvement swap sticks but still only run on one.

Try one stick of RAM in a spare socket if you have one and problems still persist.

Also make sure all the correct drivers are installed and that there is no conflicts showing in the Device Manager.


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This has all the hallmarks of a hardware issue ferg!

I know you said you tested the RAM but can I ask how many sticks you have onboard?

If you have more than one can you run it with just one stick & see what happens?

If no improvement swap sticks but still only run on one.

Try one stick of RAM in a spare socket if you have one and problems still persist.

Also make sure all the correct drivers are installed and that there is no conflicts showing in the Device Manager.


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I have 2 sticks and only 2 sockets, so when the opportunity presents I will try and do 1 at a time.
I haven't seen any conflicts showing and as far as I kow all the drivers are installed, but as I just did a fresh install I will investigate that further to be sure.
I am also going to unplug everything but my primary HDD and try ans see if that solves it.
Hardest thing for me in diagnosing these type problems is the inconsistancy of it all. Trying to get the issue to duplicate itself so I can see if I have helped anything. Thanks for the post mate.
 
I have 2 sticks and only 2 sockets, so when the opportunity presents I will try and do 1 at a time.
I haven't seen any conflicts showing and as far as I kow all the drivers are installed, but as I just did a fresh install I will investigate that further to be sure.
I am also going to unplug everything but my primary HDD and try ans see if that solves it.
Hardest thing for me in diagnosing these type problems is the inconsistancy of it all. Trying to get the issue to duplicate itself so I can see if I have helped anything. Thanks for the post mate.

Yes it is a tedious task, but the only way to know is to make the changes one at a time & suck it & see.

If you disconnect everything except you primary drive & remove one stick of RAM & it solve the issue, you won't be any the wiser.

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Well I thought that i had it narrowed down to the modem, but now I am not so sure. After I unplugged everything it seemed that the issue had went away, I went back in the BIOS and changed back to my OC settings and then rebooted and when viewed in CPU-Z they showed correctly which they had not been doing. So then I tried re-installing the modem and then the settings no longer showed correctly, they read as the default. So its the modem right? But NO, now it won't boot with any thing but the default, if I change it and boot, it will restart itself and put the default back in place before starting up. So right now I am running it that way to see if I get any more BSOD, but I still am not satisfied that something is not wrong with the MB. So in other words I am still *$#%$# off.
 
If you need a modem, PM me as i'm fairly certain i've still got a couple laying around here somewhere.

Unfortunately from here it literally becomes as you stated making the issue happen consistently enough to from a proper conclusion.
 
Thanks, I seen that I have an older one in the drawer out of my old pc . Just wish I knew for sure thats what it was.
 
let me chime in if i may.
from what ive been reading here, this is almost the same issue i have had recently.
and as stated before here. it is your memory. try running memtest on it first and see if it will pass a few test. and if it dont then there you go. if it does pass then i would try pulling 1 stick and try running just 1 at a time. i did this and found i had a bad stick. lickly i had 2 more new pair's handy plopped them in and all has been well since.

like you have said it doesnt happen enough to really say what it could be. and it wont do it at the same time as before. just out of the blue (no pun intended) you get the bsod... just passing on some info from my troubles with this type of problem...
 
FERGUS reading what I have so far it makes sense that you either have a mobo issue or RAM issues. I would go with the easy 'fix' first.. yep the RAM like Gman and Rob have mentioned. I'm NOT seeing an HDD issue or even the modem or whatever. Make sure your RAM is good before you do anything else. Honestly it's the easiest to check and quickest I think.

Get with that and see what happens... let us know the progress. :)

add: another thing is to make sure the OC is OFF!!! You want DRY settings at first then go for the SPEED. lol. You have about 3-4 voltages that could make a BIG difference when it comes to BSOD's. :)
 
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One of the first things I did was run mem test and it checked ok. But will it still show good if one is bad and the other is good?
Plus at the moment I can't get it to duplicate any of the problems, although there are a few small things that seem a little odd to me, but may just be paranoia.
I will still try the one stick at a time test to see, perhaps then I can get something to happen. The just not knowing part is what really bites. I don't want to start setting everything back up and restoring all my programs just to have the problem strike again. Thanks for all the help :)
 
One of the first things I did was run mem test and it checked ok. But will it still show good if one is bad and the other is good?
Plus at the moment I can't get it to duplicate any of the problems, although there are a few small things that seem a little odd to me, but may just be paranoia.
I will still try the one stick at a time test to see, perhaps then I can get something to happen. The just not knowing part is what really bites. I don't want to start setting everything back up and restoring all my programs just to have the problem strike again. Thanks for all the help :)

Memtest is a good progie but it will show POSITIVE when it's really nOT working correctly. NOT all the time but it has happened... ask RObert. ;)

ONE stick at a time will narrow it down... try it and see what happens... we'll (you'll) figure this out.. don't worry.. ;)
 
I thought that awhile back, when I was having issues with my old pc, that I had another memory test program but I can't seem to locate it now. Any other recommendations or better proggies to try?

---------- Post added at 11:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:13 PM ----------

After saying that, I have found the one that I was looking for. Its Windows Memory Diagnostic on a boot disk. I am going to give it a go later. But I am still definitely open to other suggestions as well.
 
I thought that awhile back, when I was having issues with my old pc, that I had another memory test program but I can't seem to locate it now. Any other recommendations or better proggies to try?

---------- Post added at 11:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:13 PM ----------

After saying that, I have found the one that I was looking for. Its Windows Memory Diagnostic on a boot disk. I am going to give it a go later. But I am still definitely open to other suggestions as well.

FERGUS the only other progie that's coming to mind is IBT (intel burn test). It's a torture test and will normally FIND whatever ails ye computer. :) Well at least make it fail if something's wrong. LOL
 
Ok, if I can't find anything with the either mem test programs I will give that a go. I have it saved already somewhere.
 
So now I am at a loss as I cannot get any of the problems to surface again. I have run Memtest and Windows Memory Diagnostic on my memory individual sticks as well as combined. I have also ran Intel Burn Test in the same manner, both sticks and each individual.
I am in no way convinced that my problem is solved for good, but without being able to duplicate the issues I am unsure which way to go now. I really do not want to get everything put back on only to have it resurface, that I do know :(
 
So where are you ar memory wise? are you running with one or two sticks?

RAM can be so finicky & even re-seating it can solve certain situations at times.

Just leave it as is for a day or so & if you still have one stick out now? put it back in then.

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I am currently running on one stick, as I let MemTest run overnight and have been to lazy to shut down and put the other back in this morning. I will just leave it for now then.
 
I am currently running on one stick, as I let MemTest run overnight and have been to lazy to shut down and put the other back in this morning. I will just leave it for now then.


Yep do that, then you should remove the installed stick and replace it with the one that's out now, let it run and see what happens.

If it causes a problem you will have your culprit, if it doesn't add in the second stick.

Painful I know but that is the nature of troubleshooting I'm afraid :)

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