How do you troubleshoot an irq_not_less_or_equal?

[news.rcn.com]

I have this Dell Inspiron 8200 system which I have been using for a year or
so. There have been no significant changes recently besides updating
Windows/MicrosoftUpdate and Firefox. The Visioneer scanner behaves
erratically but they don't have any support and don't seem to issue new
drivers which sort of implies to me that they think their drivers should
work with Windows. (I don't use any Roxio CD burners)

Suddenly I have started receiving the error message irq_not_less_or_equal.
I have read up on what causes it and can see that it is completely
non-specific.

It seems only to occur when there is not much or nothing at all going on on
the computer. It occurred over the week end while I was away and I get it
about once every week or two.

Once it referred to the ntoskrnl.sys file but usually it doesn't BS that
specifically. It doesn't occur at any specific time, such as when I start up
or shut down. (I have run sfc /purgecache and scannow along with spybot,
adaware and AVG all to no effect)

Once it MAY have been prompted by WinFaxPro, of which I have version 10.03.

Is there any way of diagnosing this please? Should ccleaner find the fault?
Or do I have to use a gigantic number of applications like memtest to test
each and every part of the hardware and software for failing components and
drivers? Memtest always seems to run for a few days without error so I got
sick of running it very often and being without my computer, - the 1.7GHz
computer with 768 Meg RAM IS syrupy slow but I never figured out what causes
this! I am running a fixed-size 968 Meg swap file on D: (Not sure if it
would improve much if I increased it to twice the size of the RAM.)

The only other problem I have is that 2-3 times a week Firefox suddenly
shuts down unexpectedly, I usually keep about 5-10 tabs open. (I almost
never use IE7 any more, though it does of course update itself with
MicrosoftUpdate)

(Sorry if I am looking for a quick answer to what may be quite a difficult
problem. Is anyone aware of any recent critical update which has affected
any particular driver which may have worked properly in the past?)

 

[Gerry]

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms793589.aspx

Do you have a backup copy off computer of any important data files?

Please post a copy of the Stop Error Report.

Disable automatic restart on system failure. This should help by
allowing time to write down the STOP code properly. Right click on
the My Computer icon on the Desktop and select Properties, Advanced,
Start-Up and Recovery, System Failure and uncheck box before
Automatically Restart.

Do not re-enable automatic restart on system failure even after you have
solved the problem as it's better disabled. Check for variants of the
Stop Error message.

An alternative is to keep pressing the F8 key during Start-Up and select
option - Disable automatic restart on system failure.

Please post copies of all Error and Warning Reports appearing in
the System and Application logs in Event Viewer for the last boot. No
Information Reports or Duplicates please. Indicate which also appear in
a previous boot.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning
of the error, information regarding Event ID, Source and Description
are important.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us

Part of the Description of the error will include a link, which you
should double click for further information. You can copy using copy
and paste. Often the link will, however, say there is no further
information.
http://go.microsoft.com/fw.link/events.asp
(Please note the hyperlink above is for illustration purposes only)

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.

cCleaner is not a tool I would use for discovering what is the problem.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Guest]

I have this Dell Inspiron 8200 system which I have been using for a year or
so. There have been no significant changes recently besides updating
Windows/MicrosoftUpdate and Firefox. The Visioneer scanner behaves
erratically but they don't have any support and don't seem to issue new
drivers which sort of implies to me that they think their drivers should
work with Windows. (I don't use any Roxio CD burners)

Suddenly I have started receiving the error message irq_not_less_or_equal.
I have read up on what causes it and can see that it is completely
non-specific.

It seems only to occur when there is not much or nothing at all going on on
the computer. It occurred over the week end while I was away and I get it
about once every week or two.

Once it referred to the ntoskrnl.sys file but usually it doesn't BS that
specifically. It doesn't occur at any specific time, such as when I start up
or shut down. (I have run sfc /purgecache and scannow along with spybot,
adaware and AVG all to no effect)

Once it MAY have been prompted by WinFaxPro, of which I have version 10.03.

Is there any way of diagnosing this please? Should ccleaner find the fault?
Or do I have to use a gigantic number of applications like memtest to test
each and every part of the hardware and software for failing components and
drivers? Memtest always seems to run for a few days without error so I got
sick of running it very often and being without my computer, - the 1.7GHz
computer with 768 Meg RAM IS syrupy slow but I never figured out what causes
this! I am running a fixed-size 968 Meg swap file on D: (Not sure if it
would improve much if I increased it to twice the size of the RAM.)

The only other problem I have is that 2-3 times a week Firefox suddenly
shuts down unexpectedly, I usually keep about 5-10 tabs open. (I almost
never use IE7 any more, though it does of course update itself with
MicrosoftUpdate)

(Sorry if I am looking for a quick answer to what may be quite a difficult
problem. Is anyone aware of any recent critical update which has affected
any particular driver which may have worked properly in the past?)

Please read the below articles, then we need this info:
1- Try to capture the error message ( the exact wording) by turning the
Turn OFF/Unchecking the "Automatically Restart" as described on the link
below.
2- Look in the event viewer for error message(X) and post them in your next
post.
3- Look in Device manger for any malfunctioning/Conflicting Devices.
4- Any new added Hardware/Software on the system.
5- What Protection software you have installed on this system now, other
applications will much of help for any helper to visualise your issue beside
the error messages.

0x00000000,0x0000001A,0x00000000,0xFC873D6C) IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL***
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/ntwrkstn/reskit/execmsgs.mspx?mfr=true
Uncheck 'Automatically Restart":
http://www.mvps.org/marksxp/WindowsXP/bsod.php
Stop error message in Windows XP with Service Pack 2: "STOP 0x0000001a:
MEMORY_MANAGEMENT" or "STOP 0x0000000a: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929338

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308427&sd=tech

Try to use the Verifier.exe command to see which Drivers not Verified on
your system:
How to Use Driver Verifier to Troubleshoot Windows Drivers
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/244617/en-us

How to perform a clean boot in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310353
A description of the Safe Mode Boot options in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315222/en-us
HTH.
nass

 

[news.rcn.com]

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms793589.aspx

Do you have a backup copy off computer of any important data files?

No, they are scattered all about my hard drive in gigantic quantities: I Do
have a BASIC backup of recent files and some photos backed up onto CD

Please post a copy of the Stop Error Report

I dont recognise the jumbled numbers and figures adn havent kept a record of
what they say: I will do so when I next get a BSOD. Is there any particular
part of the screen which means any more than any other?

Disable automatic restart on system failure. This should help by
allowing time to write down the STOP code properly. Right click on
the My Computer icon on the Desktop and select Properties, Advanced,
Start-Up and Recovery, System Failure and uncheck box before
Automatically Restart.

(It doesnt automatically restart and I DO have the time to write down
anything you say is important)

Do not re-enable automatic restart on system failure even after you have
solved the problem as it's better disabled. Check for variants of the
Stop Error message.

An alternative is to keep pressing the F8 key during Start-Up and select
option - Disable automatic restart on system failure.

Please post copies of all Error and Warning Reports appearing in
the System and Application logs in Event Viewer for the last boot.

There arent really any errors in the event log: Everything looks fairly
normal for a restart. There is however one error which is on efax: On
restarting the computer it seems to be automatically trying to send a fax
with efax messenger Plus which is something I have never used! In any
event, it tells of a failure to initialise Printer Auto Send because a
suitable Send eith eFax messanger Driver could not be found. Other than
that they are all normal start items starting up with Windows. It calls me
NT Authority\SYSTEM and the event ID is 32. As a possible one time event, I
cant imagine that is causing a sudden error some days or weeks after the
system has started?

No

Information Reports or Duplicates please. Indicate which also appear in
a previous boot.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning
of the error, information regarding Event ID, Source and Description
are important.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us

Part of the Description of the error will include a link, which you
should double click for further information.

What I think is the link doesnt do anything when I click on it)
You can copy using copy

 

[Gerry]

If you want help that is not based on guesses you are going to have to
grasp the nettle and post complete copies of Error Reports.

Does the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) occur during the boot process or
later?

If you get a BSOD you should find a report in the System Log in Event
Viwer referring to the same event. Whilst you may have to wait for the
next BSOD assuming you can remember roughly the time the last BSOD
occurred then you should be able to find the Report and copy it into a
further post here.

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[relic]

I have this Dell Inspiron 8200 system which I have been using for a
year or so. There have been no significant changes recently besides
updating Windows/MicrosoftUpdate and Firefox. The Visioneer scanner
behaves erratically but they don't have any support and don't seem to
issue new drivers which sort of implies to me that they think their
drivers should work with Windows. (I don't use any Roxio CD burners)

Suddenly I have started receiving the error message
irq_not_less_or_equal. I have read up on what causes it and can see
that it is completely non-specific.

It seems only to occur when there is not much or nothing at all going
on on the computer. It occurred over the week end while I was away
and I get it about once every week or two.

Once it referred to the ntoskrnl.sys file but usually it doesn't BS
that specifically. It doesn't occur at any specific time, such as
when I start up or shut down. (I have run sfc /purgecache and
scannow along with spybot, adaware and AVG all to no effect)

Once it MAY have been prompted by WinFaxPro, of which I have version
10.03.
Is there any way of diagnosing this please? Should ccleaner find the
fault? Or do I have to use a gigantic number of applications like
memtest to test each and every part of the hardware and software for
failing components and drivers? Memtest always seems to run for a
few days without error so I got sick of running it very often and
being without my computer, - the 1.7GHz computer with 768 Meg RAM IS
syrupy slow but I never figured out what causes this! I am running a
fixed-size 968 Meg swap file on D: (Not sure if it would improve
much if I increased it to twice the size of the RAM.)
The only other problem I have is that 2-3 times a week Firefox
suddenly shuts down unexpectedly, I usually keep about 5-10 tabs
open. (I almost never use IE7 any more, though it does of course
update itself with MicrosoftUpdate)

(Sorry if I am looking for a quick answer to what may be quite a
difficult problem. Is anyone aware of any recent critical update
which has affected any particular driver which may have worked
properly in the past?)

Google:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=irq+not+less+or+equal

Microsoft:
http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&q=Irq+not+less+or+equal

 

[news.rcn.com]

If you want help that is not based on guesses you are going to have to
grasp the nettle and post complete copies of Error Reports.

Does the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) occur during the boot process or
later?

If you get a BSOD you should find a report in the System Log in Event
Viwer referring to the same event. Whilst you may have to wait for the
next BSOD assuming you can remember roughly the time the last BSOD
occurred then you should be able to find the Report and copy it into a
further post here.

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.

I dont want to appear ungrateful while YOU are trying to help ME, but I
have done this: The event viewer discloses no untoward events. The BSOD
appears while the computer is running and usually while I am not doing
anything on it. NOT on boot or shut down. Not when I am trying to access
some application or piece of hardware which might point to some problem with
a driver.

The only error message on restart is that it seems to be automatically
trying to send a fax with efax messenger Plus which is something I have
never used It tells of a failure to initialise Printer Auto Send because a
suitable Send with eFax messanger Driver could not be found. It calls me NT
Authority\SYSTEM and the event ID is 32. When I double click the two pages
logo, nothing happens.

No event logs are created when it Blue Ecreens, possibly because the whole
computer freezes too quickly when this screen appears. There may be a dmp
file somewhere but again I doubt it? (There is a 35 kb .dmp file in WinFax
data from 11.45 this morning but there was no crash at that time)

 

[Gerry]

"When I double click the two pages logo, nothing happens." It does
happen. It is just that that there seems to be nothing happening. What
happens is that the whole text of the Report is added to your Clipboard.
If you have any empty document open and place the cursor in the
document, right click and select paste it pastes the report into your
document. You are not the first to not realise what is happening.

Given that you are talking about a driver try copying the Report for
Event ID: 32.

Did you uninstall efax messenger Plus through Add / Remove Programs in
Control Panel or did you use some or method to remove it? I am assuming
it has been removed?

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Tom Simchak]

I have this Dell Inspiron 8200 system which I have been using for a year or
so. There have been no significant changes recently besides updating
Windows/MicrosoftUpdate and Firefox. The Visioneer scanner behaves
erratically but they don't have any support and don't seem to issue new
drivers which sort of implies to me that they think their drivers should
work with Windows. (I don't use any Roxio CD burners)

Suddenly I have started receiving the error message irq_not_less_or_equal.
I have read up on what causes it and can see that it is completely
non-specific.

It seems only to occur when there is not much or nothing at all going on on
the computer. It occurred over the week end while I was away and I get it
about once every week or two.

Once it referred to the ntoskrnl.sys file but usually it doesn't BS that
specifically. It doesn't occur at any specific time, such as when I start up
or shut down. (I have run sfc /purgecache and scannow along with spybot,
adaware and AVG all to no effect)

Once it MAY have been prompted by WinFaxPro, of which I have version 10.03.

Is there any way of diagnosing this please? Should ccleaner find the fault?
Or do I have to use a gigantic number of applications like memtest to test
each and every part of the hardware and software for failing components and
drivers? Memtest always seems to run for a few days without error so I got
sick of running it very often and being without my computer, - the 1.7GHz
computer with 768 Meg RAM IS syrupy slow but I never figured out what causes
this! I am running a fixed-size 968 Meg swap file on D: (Not sure if it
would improve much if I increased it to twice the size of the RAM.)

The only other problem I have is that 2-3 times a week Firefox suddenly
shuts down unexpectedly, I usually keep about 5-10 tabs open. (I almost
never use IE7 any more, though it does of course update itself with
MicrosoftUpdate)

(Sorry if I am looking for a quick answer to what may be quite a difficult
problem. Is anyone aware of any recent critical update which has affected
any particular driver which may have worked properly in the past?)

I'm having VERY similar problems on my Dim 8400 running MCE. For
seemingly no reason the computer goes to the BSOD, and there is some
arcane reference to a (hex?) file.

About half the time there is a reference to a driver; the other half, no
reference to anything at all.

I've been told that it is more likely a problem with Windows than
anything else...the NTFS equivalent to the FAT could be corrupted,
although it could also be an impending HD failure.

Ain't life fun!!!

Tom S.
Houston, TX

 

[Phydeaux]

Read thru the three parts of Ken Schaefer's Causes and debugging page:

http://www.adopenstatic.com/cs/blogs/ken/archive/tags/Debugging/default.aspx

Download and install WinDbg.exe

 

[relic]

I'm having VERY similar problems on my Dim 8400 running MCE. For
seemingly no reason the computer goes to the BSOD, and there is some
arcane reference to a (hex?) file.

....and you supplied even less information than the OP.

 

[Mhzjunkie]

Tom Simchak spewed out this bit, and i'll scatter a few bits myself:

I'm having VERY similar problems on my Dim 8400 running MCE. For
seemingly no reason the computer goes to the BSOD, and there is some
arcane reference to a (hex?) file.

About half the time there is a reference to a driver; the other half,
no reference to anything at all.

I've been told that it is more likely a problem with Windows than
anything else...the NTFS equivalent to the FAT could be corrupted,
although it could also be an impending HD failure.

You might be having some sort of driver problem.

--
Mhzjunkie

1 PRINT "Windows Vista ERROR"
GOTO 1
END

 

[news.rcn.com]

"When I double click the two pages logo, nothing happens." It does happen.
It is just that that there seems to be nothing happening. What happens is
that the whole text of the Report is added to your Clipboard. If you have
any empty document open and place the cursor in the document, right click
and select paste it pastes the report into your document. You are not the
first to not realise what is happening.

Given that you are talking about a driver try copying the Report for Event
ID: 32.

Oh that is what that means! Sorry to have made you explain that: The
clipboard paste is:
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Print
Event Category: None
Event ID: 23
Date: 8/13/2007
Time: 1:24:20 AM
User: NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
Computer: LESEC8200
Description:
Printer Auto Send with eFax Messenger Plus on DUOPOLY2 failed to initialize
because a suitable Send with eFax Messenger Plus driver could not be found.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
although I dont see how this explains anything further than I didn in my
last two messages?

Did you uninstall efax messenger Plus through Add / Remove Programs in
Control Panel or did you use some or method to remove it? I am assuming it
has been removed?

I dont know because Iwas unaware that it was even there: I dont remember
installing or uninstalling it and it certainly isnt there now unless
Add/Remove programs calls it something else

 

[news.rcn.com]

although it could also be an impending HD failure.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that when I took the hard
drive out last week it was actually TOO hot to the touch? (Yes, I do have
the i8KFANGUI software fan installed which supposedly keeps the temperature
down to about 55.)

 

[Gerry]

This is the programme in question:
http://www.efax.com/en/efax/twa/page/download

This term "DUOPOLY2" has me puzzled as the only references searches
using Google make no connection.

Using Autoruns can you find any references to eFax Messenger or
DUOPOLY2?

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Autoruns.mspx

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Ron Martell]

I have this Dell Inspiron 8200 system which I have been using for a year or
so. There have been no significant changes recently besides updating
Windows/MicrosoftUpdate and Firefox. The Visioneer scanner behaves
erratically but they don't have any support and don't seem to issue new
drivers which sort of implies to me that they think their drivers should
work with Windows. (I don't use any Roxio CD burners)

Suddenly I have started receiving the error message irq_not_less_or_equal.
I have read up on what causes it and can see that it is completely
non-specific.

You must not have read the correct pages then. See, for example,
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms793589.aspx

That page tells you that the 4th parameter reported with the STOP code
for this error is the "Adress which referenced memory". In other
words, that is where the accident happened.

With that information you can now determine which specific device
drive was at fault, which will be the one that is using the memory
address specified in parameter 4.

Identifying the cause of STOP errors using PSTAT & Excel

Many times when a STOP error occurs the information provided does not
specifically identify the application, device driver, or other
component file where the error occurred. However the 4 parameters
associated with the STOP (bugcheck) code will very often include one
that is the address where the error occurred. You first need to look
up the detailed information about the specific STOP code in order to
determine if the address is included and if so which of the 4
parameters has the address.

You can identify the meaning of each of the parameters for your
specific STOP code at:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms789516.aspx

The second step in the procedure is to identify the addresses that
each active process is being loaded at. The PSTAT utility will
provide this information. On some systems the PSTAT utility may
already be present. Check this by opening a Command Prompt window
(Start - Run - CMD) and entering the following command:

PSTAT /?

If PSTAT is not on your computer you can download it free from
Microsoft. The download is called "Windows XP Service Pack 2 Support
Tools" and it is available from
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...76-9BB9-4126-9761-BA8011FABF38&displaylang=en
With PSTAT installed on your computer the next step is to open a
Command Prompt window again (Start - Run - CMD) and generate a report
with PSTAT. Because you need to copy part of the information from
this report (and only part) it is best to create the report as a text
file. In the Command Prompt window enter the following command:

PSTAT > C:\JUNK\PSTAT.TXT

You may change C:\JUNK\ to whatever drive and folder that you want to
save the report into.

Now open the saved file in Notepad. Start - Run - NOTEPAD
C:\JUNK\PSTAT.TXT

Scroll down the file, about 80% of the way to the end of the file and
you will find a head line:

ModuleName Load Addr Code Data Paged LinkDate

It is the information from this line to the end of the file that we
want to copy from this file and save as a separate file. Select the
block of text and copy it to the clipboard. Open a new notepad window
and paste the clipboard contents into it. Save this file under a
different name. I use PSTAT2.TXT and put it into the same C:\JUNK
folder.

Now launch Microsoft Excel and use File - Open to bring the PSTAT2.TXT
file into Excel. Excel will automatically parse the file into
columns. Once this is done use DATA - SORT to sort the entire
spreadsheet based on the value in Column B (Load Addr).

It is now a simple task to read down the addresses until you find the
highest value that is less than the address where the error occurred.
That module (name in column A) is the prime suspect for the cause of
your error.


Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2008)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Guest]

yes i have a question for all you out there. I have a Compaq rf4000 lap top
and every time i try to shut down windows i get this blue screen Error
message IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR EQUAL then it tell me to Disable Bios memory option
such as catching or shadowing

stop_oxooooooooa(oxoooooobo,oxoooooooz,oxooooooo,ox8o4ee24b)

can it anyone tell me what this mean or how to fixed it?

 

[Gerry]

Tim

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms793589.aspx

http://aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.htm

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot

You need more information to identify the cause. What is unusual is that
your error is occuring on shutdown. Most usually occur on start up or
whilst the computer is running.

What changes did you make to hardware and software immediately prior to
the problem first occuring? How long has the problem been going on? How
are you now turning off the computer?

What appears on the next line after the error code?
stop_oxooooooooa(oxoooooobo,oxoooooooz,oxooooooo,ox8o4ee24b)

Disable automatic restart on system failure. This should help by
allowing time to write down the STOP code properly. Right click on
the My Computer icon on the Desktop and select Properties, Advanced,
Start-Up and Recovery, System Failure and uncheck box before
Automatically Restart.

Do not re-enable automatic restart on system failure even after you have
solved the problem as it's better disabled. Check for variants of the
Stop Error message.

Are there any yellow question marks in Device Manager? Right click on
the My Computer icon on your Desktop and select Properties,
Hardware,Device Manager. If yes what is the Device Error code?

Check Event Viewer for Error and Warning Reports in the System and
Application logs.

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.

Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to
Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files.

Try running HD Tune(freeware).

Download and run it and see what it turns up.
http://www.hdtune.com/

Select the Info tabs and place the cursor on the drive under Drive
letter and then double click the two page icon ( copy to Clipboard )
and copy into a further message.

Select the Health tab and then double click the two page icon ( copy
to Clipboard ) and copy into a further message. Also do a full surface
scan with HD Tune.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~