Boot error. Driver IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL. Please help.

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This happened when I was casually downloading a manga file when my CPU usage suddenly spiked to 100%. Everything started operating at a snail's pace and I eventually had to cut the power on my laptop.

What happened next is a blue screen that stops me from booting up Windows normally under normal circumstances. (sometimes, if I operate on Safe Mode and uninstall a program or do a restart after modifying something on my MSConfig, I might be able to use normal windows. But the blue screen sometimes returns regardless in the middle of my work.)

I'm pretty sure it's not a virus. Possibly, something in my OS Driver might have have become corrupted. It happened once before with the driver for my monitor, but nothing nearly as bad, and I was able to fix that with System Restore. Unfortunately, I have no restore point ready this time so I'm stuck.

Here are all the technical info that I copied down. The blue screen prevents windows from booting up normally, except under Safe Mode. Some exceptions apply that I've noted above. Its recommendation was that I uninstall whatever hardware I might have recently installed but I do not think it is a hardware problem. (like I said, it happened while I was downloading a manga chapter, definitely virus/spyware free.)

Driver_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

STOP:0x000000D1(0xF73F1244,0x00000002,0x00000000,0xF73C648D)

*** NDIS.sys - Address F73F1244base at F73C6000,DateStamp41107ec3
*** NDIS.sys - Address F73C649Dbase at F73C6000,DateStamp411073c3

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 
Hello Romo and welcome to TechSpot. :wave:

It seems that NDIS.sys is a part of your network card's drivers.

If you can get into Windows (perhaps safe mode is necessary):

Go start-->run, type in sysdm.cpl.

Click the 'Hardware' tab, and click on 'Device Manager.'

Click on the plus (+) sign next to 'Network adapters.'

Doubleclick on the network adapter that you normally use, then click on the 'Driver' tab, and click 'Update driver.'

See if that solves the problem.

Regards :)
 
Thank you very much. That's very likely considering I've always found my network adapter to be rather faulty. I'll certainly give it a try ASAP.
 
Hi there !

I'm new to techspot and have this very same problem, with a blue screen and a reference to ndis.sys.

How did you get on with problem Romo ?

Regards,

Robert
 
No good. I can't connect to the Internet to update my drivers. My wireless adapter isn't working, and connecting it directly to my cable doesn't work either.

Windows XP is pretty screwed up on my laptop right now, after I downloaded a new windows installer from Microsoft's help page. The problem just got worse. I can't open 'Help and Support', disk management and so on. I have to do a system restore in a roundabout method but that doesn't help. The info on the blue screen hasn't changed.

Some good news is that I found the installer CD for XP that came with my laptop. Problem is, I can't get it to reinstall windows. It autoruns but only offers me a Norton AntiVirus program. I figure I might have to uninstall windows before it'll let me reinstall it so I tried to reformat my C Drive. But with the state my OS is currently in, it prevents me from formating it.

That's all I can say about the problem for now. If anybody knows a solution, please let me know. And Robert, lots of people have gotten the blue screen with similar technical info, I think it's different for everyone though so if the details don't match exactly, there might be something else wrong with your computer. For example, I know someone got a blue screen after banging his computer hard enough.
 
Welcome to TechSpot, Robert. :wave:

I suggest that you start a new thread for your question, as answering two people could be confusing.

I have no idea what to do now, Romo, except maybe trying a Windows repair as per this thread.

Regards :)
 
kitty500cat said:
... trying a Windows repair as per this thread.

Hi Kitty.
Thanks for your reply, I'll try the a Windows repair and in case of failure I'll post a new thread.

Romo, in case this may help, and as I seem to have a similar problem to you, (i.e. blue screens caused by wireless adapter) I'll give you a run through my problem solving attempt:

1st. Verify that the wireless adapter is the source of the problem:
- I've booted in safe mode and disabled the adapter.
- This has got rid of the blue screens, but hey, no more internet for me.

2nd. Check if the problem is caused by hardware or software.
- I installed up-to-date drivers downloaded from the vendors site (using a different PC).
- No joy after this. After the driver update, when enabling the card in the Device Manager I got the same blue screen straight away.
So the hardware seems to be the problem.

Still, to be 100% sure, I'm going to try a windows repair as pointed by Kitty.
If that fails I'll try a full Windows reinstall.
If that fails I'll throw the card to the rubish bin and get another.

Cheers again Kitty for the pointer,
and good luck Romo.

Regards,
Rob

P.S.: As an afternote, windows repair did the trick for me. Thanks again. Rob
 
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