BSO DEATH and IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL

The one thing I love about BSOD is that all the letters are in caps. hehe... Hi all, I own an ASUS S96J (=Z96Js with a lower res screen). Up until yesterday, I was running a dual boot of Windows XP Home edition and Windows XP x64 on my laptop (which has Core 2 duo T7200). I was starting to get some instability - I got a few BSOD's (like 3) while in 32 bit Windows - and I was starting to get a little cheesed. So I was like ok I'll back everythign up and re-zero my HDD, repartition HDD etc. format and install windows. So I did that, and everything was peachy. Then I said goodnight to my baby and put it to sleep (standby via closing screen). And I woke up this morning to my dismay another BSOD as soon as I opened up the screen and then the grande finale - the inability to POST. When I turned on the comp I got a response out of some of the LEDs including the DVD-RW drive, and the HDD was solid. I was like WTF (what the frick). so I phoned NCIX which is where I bought the computer and they said two things - Windows XP x64 sucks/is unstable, and then because it wouldn't POST they suggested swapping my RAM slots. So I did and then it posted, and booted up, and then it was in Windows and it shut down again. and wouldn't post. so I re-swapped the RAM sticks again and here I am typing on it and have been able to type this message. (btw I finally found ALL 64 bit drivers for XP x64)

Anyways I feel very sketchy about it - are there any tests I can run that might help me determine the problem? Also I'm guessing that since I am running the comp now my ram slots clearly are not permanently damaged, but yeah any advice on how to prevent this rancid instability. Here are my specs btw (also note the RAM - did I make a mistake getting the value-select higher frequency RAM?)

ASUS S96J
Processor: Core 2 Duo T7200 @2.00 GHz
RAM: Corsair value-select 1x1 GB stick @667MHz (PC2-5300)
HDD: Seagate Momentus 5400.2 80 GB
Video Card: X1600 Mobility Radeon
BIOS: 1201
OS: Windows XP Professional SP1 X64 w/ all updates

Thanks for any feedback

 

i would use memtest86 to see if you have faulty ram. to me, it sounds like ram is the problem. i got the same bsod and error message when my ram went bad.

 

hmm right now I don't have 32bit windows running. guess I'll install that now...

 

you don't need 32-bit windows. just dl the iso, burn the rom and make sure that your setup boots to cd.

 

Oh I didn't realize you could dl an ISO I thought it was just an app... I needed to put the 32 bit version on anyways tho - so it's formatting I'll post the info I get from the memtest after I finish installing Windows... thx for the replies...

 

its not always memroy related but that be the first thing i would look to
http://www.memtest.org/download/1.70/memtest86+-1.70.iso.zip
http://btotech.com/store/support/support/isocreate.htm

 

thanks for the links... I am running the test now - 36% done (Pass 36%). I don't really think the memory's turfed yet. But it's kinda weird, firstly, it detects my chipset as Intel P965 - I thought the chipset was 945GM. actuallhy I'm quite positive about that. Also it detects that the RAM is 166 MHz (DDR332) and is DDR-I. Both of these are incorrect, it's 667 MHz, and DDR2. Is this normal - it's half the value. does it only read it as DDR - I guess DDR332 corresponds to DDR2667, but still. also it detects CAS as 3-2-2-0 = weird. anyways I am thinking there was just a bit of static buildup. Hopefully it is all gone now...

 

dont sweat the incorrect descripts that is normal. memtest coding needs to be changed
Static built up? if only that was a real problem with these laptops....

 

hmm strike that last post. It made it to 38% and hung (7:15 time) didn't report an error, but the fact that it froze seems to me to be kind of a bad thing. I'm running the test again... it's at 36% again now. 37... (still going) 38... 39 ok hmm it's goin good now.

If not static buildup then what. what else would swapping and reswapping the RAM do? I didn't drop the laptop or anything like that, so the RAM wasn't loose. (43% and still goin)

I know the RAM was the problem because as I described above, I swapped and reswapped and went from not being able to make POST to booting up completely. Don't know why it happened though...

 

try one module at a time.

 

Only have 1 module. anyways I ran it and it made it through a pass with no errors (and didn't hang this time). the system seems to be stable again now.

 

actually, it is recommended that you run memtest overnight (i.e. many passes).

also, just so you know, my experience with bad ram was almost exactly like yours. i got the bsod. reseated my ram, everything worked fine or awhile. then my computer crashed again. reseated ram and worked fine again....then crashed, with a shorter time between bsod. i eventually ran memtest and my computer would freeze. i did have one pass that was 100% okay...then a bsod. reran memtest and then got a few errors and went ahead and bought new ram. but most likely your ram is still under warranty so you could probably get another one for free.

 

yeah, I'll run it overnight tonight (need to use it during the day). I bought the computer in January so it's still under warranty. PITA to get it sent in - I've had for like two months. If it's messed up will it report an error or freeze like it did last time? But yeah you're probably right; usually computer's problems only go away for a short time - although now it seems to be extremely stable. hehe if only they'd replace my 1 GB with 2x1GB

 

well it made it through 25 passes with no errors. it hung today in windows... i just dont know what the problem is...

 

hrmm....

try hdtune to test out your hd health.

 

wd has their oilar iso tester same as hitachi. it is possible you have bad secotors infact it is likely. windows can "hang" due to bad secotors

 

good suggestion, but hdtune = all green/no errors. note that I just recently reformatted (zeroed) my hard drive. do you mean sectors? what on earth is a secotor (you made the same spelling twice). i'll try using seatools diagnostics later

 

**** i wasn't even drunk!
Go to the manuf website of your drive and download their iso for testing your hdd.

 

lol are you comparing with your current state?
my post:

yours:

hehe thanks anyways...

 

i am a better drunk then i am a speller that's for sure