BSOD - IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (Windows 7/64 Bit)

[KleptoDaGod]

So I keep getting the "blue screen of death" and this has been going on for some months now. Ever since the computer started crashing I've been using it in Safe Mode w/ Networking which also crashes but very rarely. And it seems to crash at random moments, so I can't really pinpoint any particular programs that may be causing the crash so I was hoping someone here could shed some light on my problem and maybe even give me a solution or at least point me in the direction of one. Any help will be appreciated.

I've attached the 5 most recent minidump files along with a picture of the blue screen error itself.

 

[Mark56]

These minidumps are a bit inconclusive as they point towards windows drivers which are rarely the cause. There is however a hint towards the hard drive and as with most BSOD's memory can be the cause. Follow these two guides to test you hard drive and memory and let me know how you get on.

Identify the make of your hard drive and then use one of the links below to get the manufacturers diagnostic for ISO CD. Burn the image file to a CD, boot the PC with the disc in the drive and run the diagnostics. You first need to set the CD drive to 1st in the boot order in the Bios setup.

If you do not have an image burner use this free software to make the CD.

http://www.isoimageburner.com/



ExcelStor: http://www.excelstor.com/eng/support.php?sub_id=3

Hitachi/IBM: http://www.hitachigst.com/support/downloads/

Samsung: http://www.samsung.com/global/business/hdd/support/downloads/support_in_es.html

Seagate, Maxtor & Quantum:http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads

Western Digital:http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?lang=en

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Toshiba Fujitsu: http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Path=SoftwareUtilities#diagnostic

Please provide the model number of your drive if it is Toshiba Fujitsu for further instructions, this does not run on Windows 7. I would suggest the use of the diagnostics from the Seagate link as this will work on all makes of drive and on any OS.

Power off the PC and remove the mains connection, always touch the metal of the case with your hands to avoid any static electricity from causing component damage. (On laptops ALWAYS remove the battery before removing or replacing memory modules). Remove all your memory modules. Clean the contacts with a soft rubber (up and down not from end to end) then insert just one module and reboot to test for any change in performance. Repeat this for every module one at a time and run for at least 24 hours (or until an error occurs) with memory intensive programs, playing games or a video. Obviously if you only have one module this cannot be done, but you should still remove and clean the module and reseat it and test.

If you only have one stick download this to test it. http://www.memtest.org/

You need to scroll down the page until you see the three blue screenshots. Just below is the list of downloads for Memtest86+ V4.20. Click on Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)and save to your desktop, When the download is complete right click the file and select Extract Here and burn the image to a CD. In windows 7 right click the extracted file, select Open With, then select Windows Disc Image Burning Tool then follow the prompts. For all other versions of windows (if you do not have an ISO burner) download this free software. http://www.isoimageburner.com/

Boot the PC into the Bios setup and set the CD/DVD drive to 1st in the boot sequence. Insert the disk in the drive then reboot and the disc will load into dos. Leave the test to run through at least 8 cycles.

The memtest will not be 100% accurate but should easily detect any major faults.

 

[KleptoDaGod]

Alright, thanks for giving it a look. I'll get on that momentarily and let you know.

 

[KleptoDaGod]

These minidumps are a bit inconclusive as they point towards windows drivers which are rarely the cause. There is however a hint towards the hard drive and as with most BSOD's memory can be the cause. Follow these two guides to test you hard drive and memory and let me know how you get on.

Ok so I finally got around to getting some blank discs and running both the memory test and the hard drive test. Neither gave me any errors but my computer still crashes so I don't know what to make of it. Any other suggestions I should try?

 

[Mark56]

Did you follow the guide to test your memory without using Memtest?

Memtest does miss minor faults so unless you only have one stick of RAM the most conclusive test procedure is to run the PC on each individual stick of RAM one at a time. You may find there is only one stick that will produce crashes.

If you get crashes with every stick 'then' the test becomes conclusive.

Please attach any recent minidumps, after the date of the last ones you attached.

 

[KleptoDaGod]

Ok I'm not home at the moment but I'll try that later tonight. I'm curious though, could it have anything to do with Windows 7? I previously had Windows Vista and my computer didn't start crashing until I upgraded to Windows 7. My first crash literally came after I upgraded and started up my computer for the first time and it's been crashing ever since.

 

[Mark56]

You might have got a quicker solution to this if you have said in your opening post that this problem has only happened since upgrading. Chances are you have installed some incompatible drivers. Check all the additional drivers you installed after upgrading and make sure they are all for Windows 7 64bit. Most Vista drivers will be OK with Windows 7 but not all of them. Check you chipset drivers, graphics and Network card if you have one.

 

[KleptoDaGod]

Well I checked Device Manager and all of my drives appear to be up to date.

Edit: I added my latest 5 minidump files. Hopefully that helps.

 

[Mark56]

First thing you should do is install this important update which may solve some of the problems. Then make sure you keep Windows Update turned on.

http://windows.microsoft.com/installwindows7sp1

Did you previously have a 64bit version of Vista? Had you checked that the system was compatible with 64bit?

Please provide the system specifications, make, model, motherboard, hard drive make plus IDE or SATA, CPU and memory.

I'm just analysing the minidumps and will post back with the results.

 

[Mark56]

I've just been through the minidumps and a driver called ataport.sys came up in a few of them. This points towards the hard drive or the related drivers.

Pleae check that you have the latest motherboard chipset drivers installed for windows 7 64bit.

After I get the answers to my previous post we can continue.

 

[KleptoDaGod]

First thing you should do is install this important update which may solve some of the problems. Then make sure you keep Windows Update turned on.

http://windows.microsoft.com/installwindows7sp1

Did you previously have a 64bit version of Vista? Had you checked that the system was compatible with 64bit?

Please provide the system specifications, make, model, motherboard, hard drive make plus IDE or SATA, CPU and memory.

I'm just analysing the minidumps and will post back with the results.

I couldn't install Service Pack 1. When it got to the "configuring Service Pack 1 for Windows" part the computer just kept crashing. I even went through several crashes in Safe Mode just to successfully cancel and revert the configuration process.

My uncle helped me build this computer a few years ago. I originally had 32-bit Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1. Before he installed Windows 7 64-bit I asked if it would be a problem going from 32-bit Vista to 64-bit 7, which he said it wouldn't be a problem at all. So I didn't bother checking if my system was compatible with 64-bit.

My hard drive is WDC WD3200AAKS-00G3A0 ATA Device (298 GB)
Processor - Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU E5200 @ 2.50GHz 2.50GHz
RAM - 4.00GB
System - 64-bit Operating System

 

[Mark56]

Those specs should be fine with 64bit.

How many passes did you run memtest for? It needs to be run for at least 8.

If you did do 8 or more then try removing one of the RAM sticks and see if the crashes continue. If they do, swap the sticks and see how it runs on the other one. I am assuming you have 2 X 2GB sticks installed. If you have 4 X 1GB sticks then just run the PC on each stick individually one at a time. You might find you only get crashes on one of the sticks.

Look up the model of RAM stick you have and find out what the recommend voltage is. Then check in your Bios to see what voltage the RAM is set to, change it if it is wrong.

You didn't answer my earlier question, did you install the chipset drivers for Windows 7 64bit?

If these checks find nothing then run Driver Verifier, as follows.

For windows XP - Click on Start and then Run. Type verifier into the box and hit the Enter key.
For Vista and Windows 7 - Click on Start and type verifier into the search box then click on verifier in the list that pops up.

Driver Verifier Manager will open.

Select the first choice "Create Standard Settings" and click on the "Next" button.

Now select "Automatically select all drivers installed on this computer" and click on the "Finish" button.

A box will appear asking you to restart the PC for the changes to take effect. Click on "OK" and reboot the PC.

To stop Auto reboot so you can read the error message do this for Windows XP:
Click the Start button, right-click My Computer, click Properties, click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
Under System Failure, uncheck the "Automatically restart" check box.

And do this in Windows 7 and Vista:
Click Start, select 'Control Panel' select 'System' in the left pane select 'Advanced System Settings' in the box select the 'Advanced' tab then under 'Startup and Recovery' select 'Settings.' In the box under 'System Failure' uncheck 'Automatically Restart'.

If the PC reboots normally then there is no problem with any of the drivers. If you get a blue screen straight away it will name the faulty driver. If you are absolutely certain that the named driver is OK then make a note of it.

You will then have to go back into the Verifier and instead of selecting all drivers select "Select drivers from a list". Click on "Next" and the list of drivers will appear. Select them all apart from the one you know to be OK. Click on "Finish" and reboot.

Once you have identified the faulty driver or confirmed that there are none go back to the first page of the Driver Verifier Manager and select "Delete Existing Settings" and click on "Finish"

If you can't reboot normally to change the settings, boot into safe mode and do it from there. You may have to force a shut down by holding in the power button.

 

[KleptoDaGod]

I didn't install any chipset drivers. I just basically let my uncle do everything until Windows 7 was installed.

As for the memory test, I let it run for 8 passes. I also just tried the Driver Verifier and immediately got a blue screen after restarting the computer. Unfortunately now Windows isn't starting up anymore. When I turn on the computer I get "Reboot and Select proper Boot device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key_". I have no idea what to do at this point.

I skipped checking the RAM sticks because I figured I'd leave opening up the computer as a last resort for fear of messing something up. I'm not as knowledgable with computers as I'd like to be.

I took a picture of the blue error screen. I don't know if it'll help anything but I'm attaching it to this post.

 

[Mark56]

That crash is a C4 which means the Driver Verifier detected a violation.

Boot into Safe mode and switch the Verifier off then go back into Normal mode and post the latest minidump.

If you cannot get into Safe mode then go to Command Prompt from the Advanced Boot Menu, at the prompt type Verifier /reset (include the gap before the slash) and hit the Enter key, then it should reboot into normal mode.

Hopefully the minidump will name the driver or we will have to go through further runs with Driver Verifier to isolate the problem.

The good news is I think we are onto something.

 

[KleptoDaGod]

How do I bring up the Command Prompt? At the moment I'm unable to do anything. Upon start-up I keep getting the same message: "Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key_". I can't even press F8 and get to the safe mode menu. The most I can do right now is go into BIOS/Setup. This all started after the Driver Verifier crash.

 

[Mark56]

Not sure what has gone wrong here but it sounds as if the Master Boot Record has been damaged. Follow this guide to reapir it.

Get your Windows 7 installation DVD and put it into your drive.
- Then restart your computer.
- Press a key when you are prompted.
- Select a language, a time, a currency, and a keyboard or another input method, and then click Next
- Click Repair your computer
- Click the operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next
- In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Command Prompt
- Type bootrec /rebuildbcd and then press ENTER

• If Bootrec runs successfully, it will present you with the installation path of a Windows directory. To add the entry to the BCD store, type Yes . A confirmation message appears that indicates the entry was added successfully.

• If Bootrec cannot locate any missing Windows installations, you must remove the BCD store, and then you must re-create it. To do this, type the following commands in the order shown below: (Remember to press ENTER after each command)

bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup

ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old

bootrec /rebuildbcd

- Restart the computer.

 

[KleptoDaGod]

Alright I'll give that a try now and let you know if it works.

 

[KleptoDaGod]

Ok so I loaded the Windows 7 installation disc and got as far as Repair your computer. When I'm asked to select the operating system I want to repair, there's nothing to choose from so I don't know where to go from there.

I tried Startup Repair but that didn't seem to help anything.

Edit: Actually prior to the Startup Repair, when I got to the part where I'm asked to select an operating system to repair (and nothing came up), I clicked Next and was asked to load drivers. I clicked Ok and under Computer my C Drive wasn't showing up. After the startup repair nothing still comes up when I'm asked to select an operating system to repair, but my C Drive at least shows up now when I go to load drivers. I'm not sure if this helps anything but I thought I'd point that out just in case.

Edit: Ok so I decided to skip choosing an operating system and went straight to the Command Prompt. I typed bootrec /rebuildbcd and pressed Enter. It came back with "Total identified Windows installations: 1
[1] C:\Windows
Add installation to boot list? Yes(Y)/No(N)/All(A):Yes
Element not found." I don't know what went wrong. It scanned successfully but everytime I type Yes I get "Element not found." Any thoughts?

 

[Mark56]

Ok, try the second part of the instruction to remove the BCD store and recreate it.

I must add that I have advised many people to use Driver Verifier and this is the first time this has happened, I have never known it to cause a problem like this one, but sorry for the trouble it's caused. I'll do my best to get you out of this. Have you got any important documents or any photo's, music, etc that have not been backed up?

Did you try the reset command for verifier that I mentioned earlier?

 

[KleptoDaGod]

Just about 250GB+ worth of movies and about 20GB of music I don't really want to lose. Unfortunately none of it is backed up.

I'll try the second part of the instruction now.

 

[KleptoDaGod]

Still no luck

 

[Mark56]

First try this guide from microsoft which uses a variation on the commands to rebuild the boot sector. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392/en-us

And this solution below is all I have left, if it does not work then start thinking about making a back up and what you are going to store it on. The files on your hard drive should still be ok but if this last fix fails then a reinstall is going to be needed, either this hard drive has a fault that the diagnostics missed or the OS has become corrupted or possibly it has an infection which might explain why it went of the rails when Driver Verifier was used.

The hard drive can be removed from the PC and hooked up to another desktop PC or, any other computer using a USB hard drive adapter (about €10) to remove all your important files. You should always keep back ups on a seperate hard drive (internal or external) or on DVD's. The hard drive is one of the most likely parts of the PC to fail, none of them last indefinately and all it takes is a bad virus infection or mechanical failure of the drive and you could loose everything if you don't have a back up.

1.Put the Windows 7 installation disc in the disc drive, and then start your computer.
2.Press any key if you are prompted to boot from the DVD.
3.Select a language, a time, a currency, a keyboard or an input method, and then click Next.
4.At the next screen click on Repair your computer (do not click on Install now).
5.Next screen select Use Recovery Tools at the top of the box. (Ignore the message about the operating system not being listed. If it is listed select it). Click on Next.
6.In the System Recovery Options box, click Command Prompt and a box will open.
----------------------------------------------

Then follow this to get the disk set to active. Each command you type at the diskpart prompt will receive confirmation.

7. At the prompt type diskpart Hit Enter and wait for DISKPART > to appear.

8. Then type list disk Hit Enter (It will show a list of the disks, 0 through to how many disks are installed).

9. Now type select disk # (the '#' represents the number of the disk e.g. you would type select disk 3 to edit disk number 3) Hit Enter

10. Now type list partition Hit Enter

11. Select which partition to use by typing select partition # (you need to select the partition that the operating system you are trying to repair is installed on, again replace the # with the appropriate number).

12. Now type active Hit Enter (typing inactive will reverse the setting)

13. Now type exit Hit Enter then type exit again to close the command prompt.


Then remove the windows disc and click on Restart at the bottom of the System Recovery Options box.

If it still fails to boot you will have to go back and repeat instructions 1 through to 6 and click on Startup Repair under System Recovery Options and let it run. This time around you should see the operating system listed at step 5.

The Startup Repair routine may need to be run a few times before it completes the repair so leave the disc in and follow the prompts. Do not hit any key when prompted to boot from the CD, it will automatically go back to the Startup Repair routine. It should finally boot back up to the desktop but after the fourth attempt move on to the next stage.


Go back again through the instructions 1 to 6 and select the Command Prompt. Then follow this next stage, type each command as follows, hitting Enter after each line.

Bootrec.exe /FixMbr

Bootrec.exe /FixBoot

Bootrec.exe /RebuildBcd

After this third command you will get a message that would give the impression there is no Windows installed, don't worry, it always displays the installed OS as '0'. As long as it says "Operation Completed Successfully" then all is well.

Next, type exit and hit Enter to close the box and click on Restart.

That should do the trick! However if you still can't start Windows, then follow step 1 to 6 again and type this command.

Bootsect.exe /nt60 all /force
Type exit to close the box and click on Restart.

Make sure you type all the command lines exactly as written including any spaces between characters, all can be typed in lower case.

 

[KleptoDaGod]

Ok my operating system is finally showing up in System Recovery Options. Also I followed every step, all of which was successful except Windows still won't load. When I start up the computer it says "BootMGR is missing, press ctrl+alt+delete to restart". I'm attempting the last command now that you gave. Hopefully it works.

 

[Mark56]

Sounds like it's getting there, fingers crossed. The error message means it can see the OS but still can't find the Boot record, but that's an improvement.

Did you follow this:

The Startup Repair routine may need to be run a few times before it completes the repair so leave the disc in and follow the prompts

Did you repeat the Startup repair up to three times?

If that final command does not do it then go back to the Startup repair and just let it run, DON'T hit any key when prompted to boot from the CD just let it do it's thing.

 

[KleptoDaGod]

So it seems nothing worked. I'm still getting "BootMGR is missing".

Ok I'll run the startup repair again. I only ran it once because the first time it ran the OS finally showed up so I just proceeded to the command prompts.