W7 Ultimate frequent BSOD

Alex the Cat

Posts: 10   +0
Hello, I've been getting a IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL crash a couple times a day now for the past week or so. The computer I have is nearly brand new, not even three months old with a good chassi with two front fans, one back fan and one large top fan as well as a liquid cooling system for the CPU. This makes me think that overheating isn't the problem but some kind of software fault, or so I can hope.

Actually while writing this for the first time it crashed and I went in and did the 'start with last known good settings' and I guess we'll see how it goes. I'm really not the best when it comes to managing software and this stuff has been giving me a huge migraine lately.

Anyway, I've included the past few minidumps as far as I could, but I'm really at my wit's end here.
 

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As per all three files your issue is with memory corruption. Therefore you’ll need to run Memtest on your RAM.

1. Go to www.memtest.org and download the latest ISO version which is 4.20. It is free and perfectly safe.

2. Burn ISO to a CD.

3. Place CD in your drive and reboot with CD in drive. (You might have to place your drive as first bootable in your BIOS) The test will take over.


There is a Tutorial: How to use Memtest in our Guides and Tutorials forum if you want further information. If you need to see what the Memtest screen looks like go to reply #21. The third screen is the Memtest screen.

Step1 - Let it run for a LONG time. The rule is a minimum of 7 Passes; the more Passes after 7 so much the better. The only exception is if you start getting errors before 7 Passes then you can skip to Step 2.

There are 8 individual tests per Pass. Many people will start this test before going to bed and check it the next day.

If you have errors you have corrupted memory and it needs to be replaced.

Step 2 – Because of errors you need to run this test per stick of RAM. Take out one and run the test. Then take that one out and put the other in and run the test. If you start getting errors before 7 Passes you know that stick is corrupted and you don’t need to run the test any further on that stick.


* Get back to us with the results.
 
Alright, I'll do that.

Also while I'm at it, I checked in on another thread with a similar problem and saw something about old, unused drivers since I just went from one hardware configuration to another.

I went and downloaded Driver Cleaner and removed all my old ATI drivers and reinstalled the right one to start with, but I'm also finding tons of old intel drivers but DC won't take those, is there anything that will?
 
Be very careful when dealing with drivers. See what Memtest does first. As previously stated, corrupted memory was cited as your issue in all three.

I suggest starting this test an hour even two before you go to bed and let it run all night. Check it in the morning but make sure you have at least 7 Passes completed and 10 would be better (or more).
 
Okay, I tried that and I stayed up long enough to see that it ran at least one pass without faults.

When I got back up this morning, memtest had crashed. That can't be good.
 
Do this: Remove your second stick of RAM and leave the other installed in the first slot. If it remains stable for the day swith out your sticks but put the second stick in Slot 1. Repeat.
 
Agh, I wish they'd make cases in which it wasn't a royal pain in the butt to squeeze your fingers into all those tiny spaces just to get to one, tiny part.

But okay, I'll do that and see how it goes...
 
Okay so I haven't had time to pull out a RAM yet, but now I've gotten these IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL errors three or four times in a row. What does that mean, exactly?
 
You need to do the RAM. Corrupted memory will cause all kinds of issues on a system. We need to determine whether or not the memory is good.
 
Update, I pulled a RAM out at while it made my computer a ton slower it seemed to fix the problems... for a while. Then last night I got a crash that went by too fast for me to see what it was, and now I got two more within the space of 20 minutes, one of them saying DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL.

I guess I'll just try pulling the other RAM out and putting the first back in and see what happens.
 
Another update, I ran memtest for about three hours each on both RAM sticks. One came out clean and without errors but the other gave over 34 of them, so I'm fairly certain this is the one that's been causing me all these troubles. Gonna go to the store I bought them at tomorrow and get them swapped for some new ones as the warranty is still valid and I hope it'll work now.
 
Sorry AC for the delay. Iwasn't ignoring you but for two days I couldn't open and read any minidump files due to me setting an option in my firewall. It has now been rectified.

Any error with memtest and you have corrupted memory. Look forward to hearing the results.
 
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