I hope this is the right place to post this, but I have been having major issues with my computer. I'm not too savy in the computer lingo, but for the past few days I have gotten the Windows XP "DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" blue screen for different issues that seems to be related to Nvidia.

The first screen I got was the "DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" Blue Screen that had to do with "nvnrm.sys". I updated drivers, but it did not help, because after that I got the same "DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" screen but this time it had to do with "nvgts.sys". Some people have told me this is a known issue.

I also sometimes get a "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" blue screen but with no "DRIVER" text before it.

I am running on Safe Mode With Networking right now and it hasn't happened yet...

I hope someone can help with this problem.

Hi and welcome to the forums!

I found this. Not sure if it will help, but it seemed to have helped other users. If it does not help, others will be by to offer suggestions. Hope you get sorted out

I would update the Nvidia drivers, If the make of your pc is an HP? Nvidia and HP don't play well together. The motherboard may also be in need of an update. In 1 case here not long ago. replaced?

I don't have an HP computer.

I do believe you have a hardware prob. with the graphics card & the Nvidia chips... did you try going to the Nvidia site and finding your make & model and update the drivers..?? and what is the make And model?

Well I put this computer together myself. Do you know how I can find out my hardware info?

Not all of it, you post above Nvidia! Which is the brand name of your graphics card? As for the model -- you have no invoice?
Because you might have to take a look at the graphics card & post whatever info on here. There are a few here who can look it up... as can you with Nvidia company on there website.

You can find your motherboard info as well as your graphics card info using CPU-Z. Just download and install it then run the program and post back the results. Unfortunately though, IRQ errors can sometimes be difficult to diagnose but it's worth a shot, and drivers are the first place to look.

CPU-Z TXT Report
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Binaries
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU-Z version 1.52.2

Processors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of processors 1
Number of threads 2

APICs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Processor 0
-- Core 0
-- Thread 0 0
-- Core 1
-- Thread 0 1

Processors Information
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Processor 1 ID = 0
Number of cores 2 (max 2)
Number of threads 2 (max 2)
Name AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
Codename Windsor
Specification AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+
Package Socket AM2 (940)
CPUID F.B.2
Extended CPUID F.4B
Brand ID 4
Core Stepping BH-F2
Technology 90 nm
Core Speed 2210.1 MHz
Instructions sets MMX (+), 3DNow! (+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, x86-64
L1 Data cache 2 x 64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L1 Instruction cache 2 x 64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L2 cache 2 x 512 KBytes, 16-way set associative, 64-byte line size
FID/VID Control yes

K8 Thermal sensor yes





Chipset
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Memory Type
Memory Size 1024 MBytes

Memory SPD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------


Monitoring
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mainboard Model M2N-MX SE (0x00000257 - 0x02B3ACAC)

LPCIO
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardware Monitors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------


PCI Device
-------------------------------------------------------------------------


DMI
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

DMI BIOS
vendor American Megatrends Inc.
version 0201
date 05/01/2007


DMI Baseboard
vendor ASUSTeK Computer INC.
model M2N-MX SE
revision Rev x.xx
serial MS9874353456379863

DMI System Enclosure
manufacturer Chassis Manufacture
chassis type Desktop
chassis serial Chassis Serial Number

DMI Processor
manufacturer AMD
model AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+
clock speed 2200.0 MHz
FSB speed 200.0 MHz
multiplier 11.0x

DMI Memory Controller
correction 64-bit ECC
Max module size 4096 MBytes

DMI Memory Module
designation DIMM0
size 1024 MBytes (double bank)

DMI Memory Module
designation DIMM1

DMI Port Connector
designation PS/2 Mouse (internal)
designation PS2Mouse (external)
port type Mouse Port
connector PS/2

DMI Port Connector
designation PS/2 Keyboard (internal)
designation Keyboard (external)
port type Keyboard Port
connector PS/2

DMI Port Connector
designation USB1 (internal)
designation USB1 (external)
port type USB
connector Access Bus (USB)

DMI Port Connector
designation USB2 (internal)
designation USB2 (external)
port type USB
connector Access Bus (USB)

DMI Port Connector
designation USB3 (internal)
designation USB3 (external)
port type USB
connector Access Bus (USB)

DMI Port Connector
designation USB4 (internal)
designation USB4 (external)
port type USB
connector Access Bus (USB)

DMI Port Connector
designation USB5 (internal)
designation USB5 (external)
port type USB
connector Access Bus (USB)

DMI Port Connector
designation USB6 (internal)
designation USB6 (external)
port type USB
connector Access Bus (USB)

DMI Port Connector
designation USB7 (internal)
designation USB7 (external)
port type USB
connector Access Bus (USB)

DMI Port Connector
designation USB8 (internal)
designation USB8 (external)
port type USB
connector Access Bus (USB)

DMI Port Connector
designation LPT Port (internal)
designation LPT 1 (external)
port type Parallel Port ECP/EPP
connector DB-25 male

DMI Port Connector
designation COM Port (internal)
designation COM A (external)
port type Serial Port 16550A
connector DB-9 male

DMI Port Connector
designation Audio Mic In (internal)
designation Audio Mic In (external)
port type Audio Port
connector Mini Jack (headphones)

DMI Port Connector
designation Audio Line In (internal)
designation Audio Line In (external)
port type Audio Port
connector Mini Jack (headphones)

DMI Port Connector
designation Audio Line Out (internal)
designation Audio Line Out (external)
port type Audio Port
connector Mini Jack (headphones)

DMI Port Connector
designation SPDIF (internal)

DMI Port Connector
designation PRI IDE (internal)
connector On Board IDE

DMI Port Connector
designation FLOPPY (internal)
connector On Board Floppy

DMI Port Connector
designation FRONT PNL (internal)
connector 9 Pin Dual Inline (pin 10 cut)

DMI Port Connector
designation CHASSIS REAR FAN (internal)

DMI Port Connector
designation CPU FAN (internal)

DMI Port Connector
designation SATA1 (internal)

DMI Port Connector
designation SATA2 (internal)

DMI Extension Slot
designation PCIEX16
type A5
populated yes

DMI Extension Slot
designation PCI1
type PCI
width 32 bits
populated no

DMI Extension Slot
designation PCI2
type PCI
width 32 bits
populated no

DMI OEM Strings
string[0] 001BFC336F1D
string[1] To Be Filled By O.E.M.
string[2] To Be Filled By O.E.M.
string[3] To Be Filled By O.E.M.

DMI Physical Memory Array
location Motherboard
usage System Memory
correction None
max capacity 4096 MBytes
max# of devices 2

DMI Memory Device
designation DIMM0
format DIMM
type unknown
total width 64 bits
data width 64 bits
size 1024 MBytes

DMI Memory Device
designation DIMM1
format DIMM
type unknown


Graphics
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of adapters 0

Graphic APIs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------


Display Adapters
-------------------------------------------------------------------------


Software
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Windows Version Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
DirectX Version 9.0c

OK, looks like you've got an ASUS Motherboard with an NVIDIA chipset and integrated GPU (Graphics Processor), meaning that your graphics card is actually part of your motherboard .

1. Go here
2. On the left side of the web page you'll see a small search box that says Input Model Search
3. Copy and paste M2N-MX SE into the search box and click Search Info
4. Select M2N-MX SE
5. Download the latest BIOS and install it, reboot if asked to do so
6. Grab the latest drivers for the graphics chip and motherboard from here (I warn you, it's a pretty big download) but don't install them yet.
7. Click on Start and select Control Panel
8. Select Add\Remove Programs and uninstall your current NVIDIA and Nforce drivers and reboot if asked to do so
9. Install the drivers you downloaded and post back with info on how it's working

It seems as though the BIOS that I downloaded saved a ZIP file to my desktop. I extracted it and it gave me M2NSE501.ROM. How do I install it? Windows won't open the ROM file.

Sorry about that, I thought it was an installer. You'll need to navigate back to that page with the downloads for your board and look under BIOS-Utilities and download the Afudos BIOS update tool V2.36. Run it and it will ask where the rom file/bios file is, just browse to the rom file and select it and let the utility update your bios .

Hmm. When I click it I get this message:



I click ignore, and nothing happens.

Do you know what the problem is?

Looks like your AV (Avast!) is holding it up. To get around it disconnect your computer from the internet by unplugging the ethernet cable then disable Avast! and try installing it again. Let me know how it goes.

That's interesting because I don't even remember the last time I ever used Avast. Is there any solution to this problem? I get similar messages when I try to open a video editing program as well.

Are you getting that exact type of error message indicating that Avast! has something to do with it or are the file names always different and for different programs?

If you don't use Avast! any more and have replaced it with a different AV then follow the instructions here to remove the remnants of it from your system.

If you're getting these types of errors often then there are 2 likely causes I can think of, either a corrupt hardrive or bad ram. I'll give you some tools to check both:

Run a Disk Check:

• Click on Start and select My Computer
• Right click on C: and select Properties
• Click on the Tools tab
• Under Error-checking click on the Check Now... button
• Under Check disk options check the box next to Automatically fix file system errors and the one next to Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors
• Click on the Start button
• Answer Yes when it asks if you want it to be scheduled to run the next time you restart your computer
• Reboot your PC and let the Disk Check run to completion

Try running some programs again and see if there are still errors. If there are, proceed to the next step

Run MEMTEST86+:

• Download MEMTEST86+ from here and save it to a safe location and extract the .iso file to a location where you'll be able to find it, such as your desktop
• Burn the ISO to disc Note: if you're not sure how to do so then take a look at the tutorial posted here
• Once you get the CD burned reboot your computer and use MEMTEST to check your ram for issues. Let it run through at least 2-3 full cycles to make sure there are no errors as they don't always show up on the first run

Let me know how it all goes and if you're still having the same issues.

Thanks .

When I tried the Disk Check, it ran to steps 4-5 then quickly went to a blue screen and restarted, and did the same thing. Now it is frozen on the safe mode driver check screen with nothing happening, so I have to use my old laptop to post this. Everytime I restart it goes right to the Disk Check and goes to the steps 4 & 5, goes to blue screen and repeats, so now I cannot even get on Safe Mode With Networking.

Could this be a RAM issue or something more serious? I ran a system restore and it brought back my computer for about 10 mins and just froze on me. Now I am left not knowing what to do.

are you able to run Run MEMTEST86 ?? Because back up around post # 7 - is about the time I went to get exile360 to look over your issue? memtest will check your memory/ram - I'll leave you in his hands.

It sounds like your hard drive is having issues . You should visit the hard drive manufacturer's website and find their disk diagnostic utility to test the drive and if it's bad then I'd recommend backing up your data by using an external hard drive enclosure and connecting it to your laptop via USB.

But I cannot get on the computer now. If I try safe mode, I get this screen that freezes the whole time:



And if I go into regular mode it either starts the disk check, and restarts itself at step 4 or 5 with a quick blue screen, or doesn't startup all together.

Yes, I was suggesting you do the items in my previous post on the laptop. The diagnostic disk won't install, it's a bootable disk so Windows doesn't need to load for it to check.

What brand is your hard drive in the desktop (Western Digital, Maxtor, Hitachi, Seagate, Samsung etc)? Let me know and I'll find you the appropriate bootable disk to test it as well as give you additional options for backing up your data. If your desktop has a second hard drive with enough free space you can boot from a disc and copy the data from your faulty drive to the second drive.

I have a Seagate 500GB hard drive.

I had 2 sticks of RAM. I tested one stick, and the computer wouldn't even start up, I tested the other and the computer would start up, but it would either go to the safe mode driver freezing screen or it would keep re-starting the computer when the disk check would go to step 4-5.

Would it be worth trying a chkdsk c: /r from a BartPE boot disk?

I have sometimes found that this method is able to complete a chkdsk when a normal chkdsk will not run to completion.

Just a thought.

How do I find that?

I am beginning to think this may be a RAM issue. Is that a possibility? I mentioned above that I had tested my RAM.

Ram is certainly a possibility, especially considering the test you did but I still suspect there may also be an issue with your hard drive as well. To test the ram use the Memtest link I gave above. Download the ISO file and use the tutorial I linked to on burning a disc image. All you need is the laptop that's working and a blank CD. Boot your desktop from the CD once you've burned it as indicated in the tutorial then run the tests on your desktop's ram to find out if it has errors. If it does, then you'll know for certain that your ram has issues.

You can download SeaTools, the bootable CD made by Seagate for testing their hard drives here. You'll burn it to CD the same way you burn the Memtest disc. Boot from it and use it to run tests on your hard drive to determine if it's failing as well.

I am running MemTest right now as we speak, and it has gone to pass 2 and found 0 errors so far. I wonder if I should do this test with only one ram stick or if its ok to have both...

I hope there will be no problems with SeaTools. If there is, is there a possibility that I may lose my files? I wouldn't want that to happen.

Running it with both sticks in is just fine because it checks each one individually . As for SeaTools, it won't do any damage to your files, it's just going to let you check the drive. Just run the diagnostics with it once you're done with Memtest .

Ran MemTest with no errors, but cannot seem to get Seatools to startup.

It's possible that the CD didn't burn properly or the file is corrupt. You can try redownloading the ISO I linked to and burn another copy or you can download and burn DFT and use it instead. It's a good tester as well, but isn't specifically geared towards Seagate drives like SeaTools is so it can't check certain manufacturer-specific components of the drive, but it should tell you if the drive has problems overall .

I did a quick test with that DFT and it said "Completed Successfully". Not sure what that means but I am doing an "Advanced Test" now. See what happens...

The advanced test gave me the same "Completed Successfully" message. I can see it doesn't give you a straight "Yes" or "No" answer to if the drive is messed up or not.

It would show error codes if it didn't, and wouldn't say "Completed Successfully", although you might want to try SeaTools again since it's a Seagate drive as it will be able to check Seagate-specific features and components of the drive to determine if they're ok.

Aside from that, you can see if your system will boot with 1 stick of ram (as you said it wouldn't post with one of them but would with the other) to see if it's a bad stick or dimm slot on the motherboard.

I will test the RAM now... I'll explain what happens when I turn the system on.

Stick #1: Starts up on the left slot, but re-starts with blue screen after the WINDOWS XP black screen shows up. Upon restart, it goes to the "Safe mode" select screen. Does the exact same thing on the right slot.

Stick #2: Computer turns on, but nothing loads up on the screen when used on BOTH the left and right slots.

Ok. It sounds like stick #2 is bad. As for the boot issues, leave only stick #1 in either slot (don't insert stick #2) and boot up and select Last known good configuration if the option is there then see if the PC will boot without a BSOD. If it does then please do the following:

Turn off forced restart after system failure:

• Click on Start and right click on My Computer and select Properties
• Under Startup and Recovery click on the Settings button
• Under System failure uncheck the box next to Automatically restart
• Click on Ok then click on Apply and click Ok

When I go to "Last Known Good Configuration", it does the same thing as it usually does (Has a quick blue screen and restarts).

Sounds like it's time to go with marktreg's suggestion. Note: You'll need a Windows XP Retail disc to do this, a manufactuer's recovery disc will NOT work Please follow the instructions in GT500's tutorial posted here. To build a Bart's PE disc please refer to the information here.

Does the XP disc have to be the one you used to install XP?

No, but it's helpful if it's the same version (ie Home, Pro etc).

Alright, I will go searching for it.

Ok, good luck. Hopefully you'll find it . There's more that the Recovery Console can do as well. If you can figure out which driver is preventing the boot and causing the blue screens you can disable it using the instructions here where it describes the Disable command.

I believe I already have a recovery console on my PC. It can be chosen for about 2 seconds between: Recovery Console, and Windows XP professional. I think I had it installed when I had troubles in this thread: http://www.malwarebytes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=23905&hl=

Excellent . That will make this much easier then (hopefully ). Just boot to the Recovery Console and run a Checkdisk as detailed in GT500's tutorial and see if that helps. Let me know how it goes and if it doesn't correct the problem we'll move on to other options.

I was able to stop the Windows Disk Check when I tried restarting it in normal mode. Everything loaded up fine, Malwarebytes wouldn't work and neither would Avira, but that's expected due to me using the System Restore that one time.

I am beginning to think more and more that this is indeed a RAM problem. I was able to use Windows good for a few moments, but when I started using programs like AIM or Firefox, it would either freeze, or have the quick blue screen and just re-start all over again.

Ok, change the auto-restart setting as detailed in this post and if you wouldn't mind please do the following:

Please do the following so that I can take a look at the crash logs from your BSOD's:

• Please copy and paste the following text in the Code box exactly as written into notepad (not wordpad or any other text editor):
  
  CODE
  md "%userprofile%\desktop\dumps"
  xcopy /e "%windir%\minidump" "%userprofile%\desktop\dumps"
• Once you've done that click on File and select Save As...
• In the Save dialogue box click on the drop down menu next to Save as type and select All Files
• Name the file grabdump.bat (the .bat extension is very important)
• Save the file to your desktop and double click it to run it.
• Once it finishes there will be a folder called dumps on your desktop, right click on it and hover your mouse over Send To and select Compressed (zipped) Folder
• Attach the dumps.zip file you just created to your next post

That will help me narrow down if there is any common thread causing the crashes (although I do suspect as you do that it's Ram related).

I did that, but the dumps folder was empty.

Ok, check the settings and make sure it's set to write debugging information (it'll be in the same dialogue box as the Automatically restart setting) and that it's set to do at least Small dumps and that it's directory is set to %SystemRoot%\Minidump. This way it should create them, at least in the future (it's always good to have it set this way for analysis when things go bad ).

I am not sure if this is any help... but have you tried to boot without any ram? I do not think that is possible though.

If I use the XP disc, do I go to: r) Recovery Menu?

Yes, you want the Recovery Console . Here's a quick guide for you:



Note: this information quoted directly from Geeks to Go!.