Random Reboots- Bad Memory? STOP error and IRQL_Not_Less_Or_Equal

[TReminga]

I setup my machine to list any STOP signals sent to it vs
automatically rebooting. Upon doing so, the next day my box rebooted.
I searched Microsoft's support site and had trouble making heads or
tails of what I should do next. I was hoping someone would be able to
help decode this for me. The blue screen read as follows:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

***STOP: 0x0000000A (0x00000004, 0x00000002, 0x00000001, 0x904EFAEB)

I know I have one stick of RAM that is bad, I plan to pull it out
tonight, and replace it with some empty crimms (since I use RDRAM). I
am wondering if the memory is at fault, or one of the things at fault.
What does the above message mean? I read the Microsoft support
documents, and really do not know what to do next. I am a fairly
computer savvy person, but I couldn't follow what the document was
saying (might just be too late for my brain to work)
Do I need to pull the bad memory, and reinstall the OS? Is there a
possiblity that the problem is both the bad memory, and now a corrupt
OS?

I just don't know where to look, or what hardware to pull. I thought
it might have been my USB drivers or something along those lines, but
I unstalled and disabled all of that, plus I have NOTHING plugged into
those devices any ways. All of my hardware seems to work. I find that
my system crashed a lot more inside Outlook Express and IE. I am
running Service Pack 1 on Windows XP if that helps...

Here is my original message- including system stats...
***********************************
"Here are the stats I have for my machine:
P4 2.53ghz
Gigabyte GA-8IHXP Rev 2.1
4x PC1066 Samsung 512MB RDRAM rimms
Creative Labs Live! Value
Gainward GeForce4 128MB Ultra video
Promise TX1000 IDE RAID card
1x IBM 120GB Deskstar
3x various 120GB hard drives- spanned with Promise card
Linksys 802.11g wireless adaptor

All drivers seem to go on fine.

My problem:
The system is very unstable, usually when I am using IE. I will click
a link and presto the box will reboot itself. It usually happens once
a day, sometimes twice. I rarely go for a day without it rebooting-
unless the box is unused. There have been times it also reboots itself
at night while I sleep- so it does not HAVE to be under load.

I have run memtest86 on my memory and have found one faulty module. I
plan to pull it out. Every time though the system reboots it comes
back with an Microsoft Recovered from Error message. It always blames
a Device Driver for the problem, but never tells me what device driver
caused the error. I would have pulled the RAM already but I did not
have the crimms to put into the slots. I am wondering if others have
this same problem?

Are there any other memory tests I can run besides memtest86? I
switched the memory around and the errors continued to follow the
stick, so I know which one it is. I have heard that there are other
memory test apps out there.

Would faulty memory cause Windows to report that device driver error?
Any help would be great, I am SO sick of such a flaky box!"
****************************************

Thanks in advance for any and all help! I don't care if it is the
processor, motherboard or whatever. I will replace it, cause I am SO
sick of these reboots.
Tom

 

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

First things first, you already know you have a bad ram stick, that's the
most likely culprit. If after removing it you still get the error, it's
indicative of a hardware issue, if not bad ram then the need for updated
drivers:

Open Control Panel, open Administrative Tools, open Event Viewer, look for
errors corresponding to the crash, double click the error, the information
contained within may give a clue as to the
source of the problem.

Assuming you have an XP CD and not a recovery CD, place the XP CD in the
drive, when the setup screen appears, select "Check System Compatibility,"
the report it generates may point to problem hardware or software on your
system. If you do not have an XP CD, you can download this application
known as the Upgrade Advisor from the following site:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/advisor.asp
Note: If you have access to a broadband connection it might be best to
download using that as this is a rather large download.

Check for the latest drivers for your hardware, especially your graphics
card and soundcard and all peripherals connected to your system. No not use
Windows Update for this, go to the device manufacturer's web sites and if
you install updated drivers, ignore the message about drivers being unsigned
by Microsoft.

 

[Alex Nichol]

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

***STOP: 0x0000000A (0x00000004, 0x00000002, 0x00000001, 0x904EFAEB)

I know I have one stick of RAM that is bad, I plan to pull it out
tonight, and replace it with some empty crimms (since I use RDRAM). I
am wondering if the memory is at fault, or one of the things at fault.
What does the above message mean?

Almost certainly the bad memory - that is what would be suggested as the
most likely if you had not said you knew you had some. Bad RAM is plain
bad news in XP.
Alternatively a fault in the code of a driver

See the possibilities linked at
http://aumha.org/win5/kbestop.htm#0x0a