Vista HP giving a IRQL LESS OR NOT EQUAL bsod. Awful screenshots inside.

MikeHunt79 · 26 Apr 2012 at 05:12

I've been given a laptop which wont get past the login screen, just instant BSOD.

Safe mode works so I done a scandisk, but the drive seems ok.

WHat else can I do to try and fix this?

Is there any point in memtest, p95, etc. or would this be a software rather than a hardware fault?

Screenshots:

lord filbuster · 26 Apr 2012 at 05:28

Probably a driver issue if it boots into safe mode. Try using msconfig in safe mode to disable all startup programs and non microsoft services, then enable them one by one to see what is causing it.

MikeHunt79 · 26 Apr 2012 at 06:48

lord filbuster said:
Probably a driver issue if it boots into safe mode. Try using msconfig in safe mode to disable all startup programs and non microsoft services, then enable them one by one to see what is causing it.

Good idea, it actually BSOD's even if you just leave the login screen up so I'm guessing it's more likely to be a driver as opposed to a startup program.

Is it possible that this could be caused by a virus of some sort?

lord filbuster · 26 Apr 2012 at 07:30

Possibly, but I'd guess a virus could probably still load in safe mode as well. May as well load a virus scanning cd too.

MikeHunt79 · 26 Apr 2012 at 08:14

lord filbuster said:
Possibly, but I'd guess a virus could probably still load in safe mode as well. May as well load a virus scanning cd too.

I'm burning an updated version of UBCD4win right now, so soon I'll know for sure if there is a virus or not.

I've tried disabling all the non Microsoft services in ms config along with all the startup programs, so I'm guessing it's either a dodgy driver or a virus.

I'll update this thread when the virus scan is done, they usually take forever

MikeHunt79 · 26 Apr 2012 at 10:28

Ok, it's been scanning for a few hours now and its already found 10+ viruses.

Looks like this may be more of a pain to fix than I first thought.

lord filbuster · 26 Apr 2012 at 11:00

Oh well, at least you know what the problem is. It might be easier to just nuke it and get a fresh install going though.

BigBoy · 26 Apr 2012 at 13:26

Would be easier to format and start again if its that infected!

Copy all that needs saving to a usb stick and blitz it, if you still get the BSOD I would say the ram needs looking at.

As a side note have you checked to see if the CPU fan is still working? IRQ error can also be linked to overheating.

MikeHunt79 · 26 Apr 2012 at 14:15

Ok, virus scan took around 4 hours, and it found 3 trojans:

C:\Program Files\Hewlett-Packard\HP Quick Launch Buttons\QLBMedia.exe: Trojan.Fakealert.Sesh FOUND

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Works\wksdb.exe: Trojan.Zbot-19898 FOUND

C:\SwSetup\MSWorks\02\PFILES\MSWORKS\WKSDB.EXE: Trojan.Zbot-19898 FOUND

So, I've backed up those files to a USB stick, wiped them from the hard drive and rebooted and it still BSOD's!

Maybe this could be a hardware fault after all?

Anyway, I took out the mains adaptor and popped the battery out for around 10 mins, and then turned it on again, and things seem to be working ok now with no BSOD, so maybe the CPU is getting a little toasty.

I'll try setting all the power options to max performance, find something like speedfan to monitor temps and give it a few runs of superpi or something, then I'll know for sure if it's hardware or software.

Still, at least there's a few less trojans on there now.

smogsy · 26 Apr 2012 at 15:52

if its still the same BSOD there is a easy way to find the culprit.

note down the last memory address
Example 0x000004FGD

then go into device manager right click properties & look at the memory devices memory address for that same string of numbers/letters. Then you ll find that thats the device thats causing the IRQ issue. repeat to see if any others have the same Memory address.

this only normally happens if 2 devices are trying to use the same or restricted addresses. delete their drivers & reinstall Reboot Repeat this for each device. they will no longer be on the same memory address.

Kotu · 26 Apr 2012 at 15:56

bluescreenview will tell you which driver if it is that, ive usually found irq errors like that to be faulty ram though

SpaghettiOs · 26 Apr 2012 at 22:07

Use something like WhoCrashed, BlueScreenView, or good old WinDBG to find the cause of the BSOD.

MikeHunt79 · 27 Apr 2012 at 00:28

Ok, the last memory address is 0x8424883c, I'll grab bluescreenview and see what I can find, thanks.

I've tried Prime95 stability tests for both CPU and Memory now and I'm 99.9% sure it's a software issue.

MikeHunt79 · 27 Apr 2012 at 01:03

Ok, it seems that the files causing it to crash are pretty important Windows files:

Will Windows repair fix this or will I have to obtain these files from another working machine running VIsta HP?

BigBoy · 27 Apr 2012 at 01:19

you can try doing a sfc.exe /scannow in an elevated command prompt will need a vista disk in the drive, but to be honest the system will never be as good or run as well as a clean system!

lord filbuster · 27 Apr 2012 at 01:20

Windows repair should replace the majority of the system files. It's worth a shot.

Kotu · 27 Apr 2012 at 01:43

i would throw in a chkdsk /f as well as doing the sfc /scannow, no harm in running memtest for a short while as well. Bear in mind that prime95 doesn't use *all* the ram so it might still show as stable even though it might have skipped a part of the ram which could cause a crash.

Azuse05 · 27 Apr 2012 at 01:55

Kotu said:
bluescreenview will tell you which driver if it is that, ive usually found irq errors like that to be faulty ram though

Ditto, but one thing at a time

MikeHunt79 · 27 Apr 2012 at 05:15

Ok, an update.

I managed to find another god forsaken computer that is also running Vista HP, and I copied those 3 files highlighted in red (HAL.DLL, etc.) from it.

I then tried to copy these files on to the broken system, but it said access denied (oh noes!).

However, HAL.DLL managed to copy across, and when I rebooted, some sort of Windows startup repair thingy came up, said it couldn't do anything.

So I then replaced the original backed up HAL.DLL, and things now seem to be working, just with all non MS services disabled and no startup programs.

I'm not trying to get things back to normal. I guess it tried to fix itself, and almost pulled it off. I'd still take XP over VIsta however.

BigBoy said:
you can try doing a sfc.exe /scannow in an elevated command prompt will need a vista disk in the drive, but to be honest the system will never be as good or run as well as a clean system!

Now things are up and running again I've done this and after around 20 mins or so it said something like "everything is ok" but with some random jargon.

Kotu said:
i would throw in a chkdsk /f as well as doing the sfc /scannow, no harm in running memtest for a short while as well. Bear in mind that prime95 doesn't use *all* the ram so it might still show as stable even though it might have skipped a part of the ram which could cause a crash.

Already done scandisk/chkdisk, and memtest86 for around 2 hours. I'm pretty sure the hardware is stable, as I've been using LiveCD's without issue.

SpaghettiOs · 27 Apr 2012 at 11:38

Just because those files are related to the crash doesn't necessarily mean they are 'causing' them. Many hardware or driver faults manifest themselves as BSODs related to core windows files. It seems more likely to be drivers given what you've said about LiveCDs.

Try going to Windows\System32\Drivers, order by date, look for the oldest drivers and update them.