My computer is on the fritz. so frustrating. pretty much as soon as it starts up and i go to do anything, it takes me to the blue screen of death!!! most of the time i'll get a messege that says, IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL Not sure what the hell that means. The computer seems to work ok in Safe Mode so far (thats what im using now) but as soon as i boot up regularly, it takes me to the blue screen. O.S. is Win XP PRO i've ran a couple of malware programs etc and everything comes up clean. i've also tried a system restore with the same results. Any Thoughts?????

Whilst in safe mode do the following. Press Start > Run and type msconfig when the window loads go to the STARTUP tab and deselect everything - you can enable them again if needed at a later time. then press apply, ok and restart into normal mode. see if this works. it could be a software related issue or a hardware. this will hopefully determine its its software. let us know if it works. your might also want to look at your event logs and see if anythng has been recorded. also check inside the machine to see if your RAM, Graohics card etc are seated properly. Lastly would be a good idea to disconnect all devises from the machine ie external harddrives, usb drive, except you mouse and keyboard. give these a try and come back with results. Bunty

hey guys, ive done pretty much what everyone has suggested, ive unplugged all my usb components and that didnt work, ive done a system restore to several different dates, didnt work, opened up my computer took out my ram, made sure they were all clean and put back in correctly and that didnt work either. i've also went into "start" "run" typed in msconfig, clicked on the startup tab and unchecked all the boxes and tried to start up windows, and that didnt work either. i tried to repair using a win xp disk, but it says the version im using currently is newer then the one on the CD and i would have to reinstall the older version first. i really dont want to do that, and i dont want to format my HD if i can help it. i have alot of programs not to mention music and pics that i dont want to loose. and i dont have an external HD either. however when i do start up normally, i keep getting a messege pop up that says something along the lines of, the system has recovered from a serious....... blah blah and then it give me these two lines as a problem that i could sent to microsoft if i wanted.. they are, c:\docume~1\owner\locals~1\temp\wer7ce4.dir00/mini101509-01.dmp and c:\docume~1\owner\locals~1\temp\wer7ce4.dir00/sysdata.xml pretty much after that pops up my computer freezes and goes to the blue screen. not sure if that has anything to do with it or not, just throwing it out there. any other suggestions?

Error Message: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL Explanation: This Stop message indicates that a kernel-mode process or driver attempted to access a memory address to which it did not have permission to access. The most common cause of this error is an incorrect or corrupted pointer that references an incorrect location in memory. A pointer is a variable used by a program to refer to a block of memory. If the variable has an incorrect value in it, the program tries to access memory that it should not. When this occurs in a user-mode application, it generates an access violation. When it occurs in kernel mode, it generates a STOP 0x0000000A message. If you encounter this error while upgrading to a newer version of Windows, it might be caused by a device driver, a system service, a virus scanner, or a backup tool that is incompatible with the new version. User Action: This error usually occurs after the installation of a buggy device driver, system service, or BIOS. To resolve it quickly, restart your computer, and press F8 at the character-mode menu that displays the operating system choices. At the resulting Windows 2000 Advanced Options menu, choose the Last Known Good Configuration option. This option is most effective when only one driver or service is added at a time. If you encounter this error while upgrading from Windows NT 4.0 or earlier, it might be caused by a device driver, a system service, a virus scanner, or a backup tool that is incompatible with the new version. If possible, remove all third-party device drivers and system services and disable any virus scanners prior to upgrading. Contact the software manufacturers to obtain updates of these tools. For additional error messages that might help pinpoint the device or driver that is causing the error, check the System Log in Event Viewer. Disabling memory caching of the BIOS might also resolve this error. You should also run hardware diagnostics supplied by the system manufacturer, especially the memory scanner. For details on these procedures, see the owners manual for your computer. If your system has small computer system interface (SCSI) adapters, contact the adapter manufacturer to obtain updated Windows 2000 drivers. Disable sync negotiation in the SCSI BIOS, check the cables and the SCSI IDs of each device, and confirm proper termination. For enhanced integrated device electronics (EIDE) devices, define the onboard EIDE port as Primary only. Also, check each EIDE device for the proper master/slave/stand-alone setting. Remove all EIDE devices except for hard disks. If the message appears during an installation of Windows 2000, make sure that the computer and all installed peripherals are listed on the Microsoft Windows 2000 Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) on http://www.microsoft.com. For more troubleshooting information about this Stop message, refer to the Microsoft Knowledge Base at http://support.microsoft.com/support.