IRQL issue

[Jeremy McCarter]

This may be a common complaint; I can't scan the
knowledge base, however, because my system will probably
crash before I get very far.

For some time, and increasingly frequently, my system
(Windows XP on a Dell Inspiron 8100) flips to a blue
screen, error msg: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. It's up for
about two seconds, then reboots. There are different
variations: sometimes it says a specific file has failed,
but that's the most frequent.

A tech support person once told me the only way to solve
this was to format my hard drive and reload Windows. This
seems like an absurd oversimplification. I have a
reasonably good grasp of Windows and think there's gotta
be some way to fix this problem short of dumping the
whole thing and starting over. Any solutions would be
much appreciated.

Jeremy

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

This is almost always some hardware or driver issue. Be sure your drivers
are up to date, check the device manufacturer's web sites for updates,
graphics card, soundcard, etc. If that fails to resolve it, you may have to
disable or remove devices one by one to find the problem.

Also, check the Event Viewer. Open Control Panel, go to Administrative
Tools, select Event Viewer, look for errors that correspond to the time when
the problem occurred, double click the error, the information contained
within may give a clue as to the source of the issue.

In addition, open Control Panel, open System, go to the Advanced tab, click
Settings under Startup and Recovery, remove the check from Automatically
restart under System Failure. This will cause the system too blue screen.
In your case, it will stop the reboot giving you a chance to see the entire
blue screen message which may also give a clue as to the source of the
issue.

 

[Slobodan Brcin]

Thanks, Michael. The only device that seems to give me

trouble on its own (apart from the maddening IRQL
crashes) is the monitor, which every now again coughs up
an error with a file called nv4_disp (or something like
that--again, the blue screen is up for about a second, so
I've never gotten a good look at it). Might this be the
culprit? Or just a kind of bonus bug on top of the
original one?

File names nv4_disp or something like that, who need this file when we can
use standard VGA driver?
That was a Joke.

nv4_disp.dll - NVIDIA Video Driver
nv4_mini.sys - NVIDIA Minidriver

So as you can see those are only two files required from 60+ files from
NVIDIA they are video driver/minidriver pair.

Try following:
1. Download new drivers for motherboard chipset and install them.
2. Download new detonator drivers from NVIDIA, and install them.

If this doesn't help, check.

1. If you overclocked processor, memory or even if you are not, try lowering
setting in BIOS.
2. Check cooling fans (processor temperature).
3. You may have dust, or loose contacts on motherboard, try cleaning PC, or
and reconnect everything.
4. Check if your memory or processor are not damaged.
5. Scan for viruses.
6. Reinstall windows as last possible option.


Try remembering what you did before problem first occurred.

1. You added new hardware,
2. Had power loss.
3. Installed new driver/software.
4. Moved computer.
etc.

Best regards,
Slobodan

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

It sounds as though you are having problems with the drivers for your nVidia
graphics card. The drivers are probably either corrupted or out of date.
If removing and reinstalling those drivers don't resolve the issue, check
the card manufacturer's web site for the latest drivers for your card.