irql_not_less_or_more interrupting repair install

Toast · 06-25-2009, 09:43 AM

Over the past few days I've been randomly getting a blue screen error that says IRQL_Not_Less_Or_More.

The stop codes are: 0x00000018, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, and 0x804f42ca

What I've been able to determine so far is that it's usually a driver problem, or a problem with bad ram. Several days ago, a new driver was put out for my video card (a GeForce 6600), and updating the driver for that seemed to fix it for about a day.

Then I got a bad virus of some kind. The first thing it did was create several copies of something called F.exe that I couldn't get rid of by ending the process. So I tried to go online to diagnose the problem better. Unfortunately, my firefox would only return address not found no matter where I tried to go. So I tried unplugging and plugging back in my ethernet connection with no effect. I tried resetting my router to no effect. So then I tried rebooting just to see if that did anything. When I rebooted it was as if the boot couldn't complete. I could see my wallpaper and move the mouse, but there were no desktop icons and no start bar. Right clicking didn't do anything either. So I rebooted into safe mode and ran my virus scanners.

They came up with a couple things and managed to delete them. I reboot again and still the same thing. No desktop icons, no start bar, no right clicking. I thought about doing a system restore, but found out that all of my restore points were gone.

So it seemed to me that doing a repair install might be the best way to fix this. All of my restore points were gone. I couldn't connect to the internet, even in safe mode, to more properly diagnose the problem, and now that I've got my laptop up and running what I'm finding out so far isn't helping.

So I start the repair install and it goes fine up until about 75% of the way through when the IRQL error occurs and interrupts it. I've tried it a several times now and each time the error occurs somewhere between 75% and 95% of the way complete for the repair install.

I've also tried swapping to an older video card, but that doesn't seem to make a difference. Although I don't know if it would anyway, I figured it was worth a try.

Now that I have an incomplete windows, I can't even boot into safe mode. At least, I haven't been able to so far.

Any suggestions on how to fix the IRQL error so that the repair install can complete?

bluestarultor · 06-25-2009, 10:18 AM

That's fucked up, man.

I dunno, it's possible that that virus screwed some major stuff up. Barring any enlightening advice from anyone else, I might just format the drive fully if possible or take it into a professional if not. They should be able to zero it out if nothing else.

I've honestly never heard of anything like this before.

Azisien · 06-25-2009, 10:33 AM

I struggled with this BSOD for about two years, though with less frequency than you. And I didn't have a virus that I could detect, so the jury is out on that one...

However, as far as my experience went, I ended up doing some in-depth tests on my RAM (I believe the program is called memtest?) and found out they were toast. I replaced the RAM, updated all my drivers, reformatted and I was back to a slightly tolerable PC.

Really though, my troubles didn't end until I bought my brand new one and built it myself.

Based on the existence of this virus, really my only suggestion is to skip repair install and just annihilate that hard drive, and pray it didn't infect more important hardware. Then go from there.

Eltargrim · 06-25-2009, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azisien

Based on the existence of this virus, really my only suggestion is to skip repair install and just annihilate that hard drive, and pray it didn't infect more important hardware. Then go from there.

While I third the suggestion, the part that I bolded is full of wat. Seriously though, if you have access to another computer male yourself a Linux live-cd (I recommend Ubuntu) and recover any important files (and be fucking picky; no need to infect a fresh install). After that is done, nuke the drive and start afresh. Good luck, and if problems persist, it's a ram issue.

Actually, I'm kind of inclined to suspect a ram issue anyway, because iirc a repair install makes use of default drivers on the windows cd. Obtain and run memtest86+ and see what results you get.

Nikose Tyris · 06-25-2009, 12:03 PM

hey Toast, you have wireless internet, don't you?

unattach your wireless card/USB dongle.

That's the motherfucker giving you the error.

P.S. If I'm right somebody owes me a god damned sandwich at this point.

Toast · 06-25-2009, 01:02 PM

No, I don't have wireless internet.

Unfortunately, the only other computer I have is an outdated laptop that doesn't have a cd burner. I suspect that this also means I can't create an iso image for the memtest cd.

What I'm going to do next is try to do the repair install with one stick of ram at a time, see if that changes anything. I'll also see about disconnecting the network card and see if that does anything.

Thanks for the help so far, and if anyone has any further ideas I'd greatly appreciate it.

Nikose Tyris · 06-25-2009, 01:10 PM

...that's odd.

The only component that should indicate a NOT LESS OR MORE is Wireless or Lan networking, and on board usually doesn't fry.

You're certain you don't have anything attached for networking? Like, remove even the Lan card if you can, but if it's an Onboard LAN outlet you're fucked.

Vault Of Thrones · 06-25-2009, 03:08 PM

As for backing up your files, you can make bootable thumb drives for a Linux distro if you don't have a CD burner. The page I found describing it is here. It definitely sounds like something in your machine is toast though, and the best option for your hard drive is probably to get your files off, reformat, and reinstall.

Toast · 06-25-2009, 03:47 PM

Ok, yeah. the network card is an onboard one, so no help there. Removing one stick of ram at a time didn't seem to make a difference. This is what my afternoon has been like:

Approximate time for setup to complete is 1 minute.... blue screen of death. And then the sound of me slamming my head into my desk (not literally).

I tried booting up normally just to see what it would do and it starts out fine and gets to the windows xp screen with the sliding bar at the bottom, but then blacks out for almost a minute and comes up with the same screen, only this time the sliding bar is replaced by a "please wait" message. And nothing happens after that.

I can now get into safe mode however, so I'm going to be backing up as much information as I can. I'll also see if I can update the driver for my network card, although I don't have much time before class so that part will have to wait until later tonight.

This may or may not be relevant, but some of the time the BSOD error is coming up as Driver_IRQL_Not_Less_Or_More and sometimes as just IRQL_Not_Less_Or_More. The stop codes are slightly different too. Is there a significant difference between them? I didn't notice previous to my posting the first time, but it could have been one or the other every time I got the error while trying to do the repair install.

Thanks for the help so far.

Nikose Tyris · 06-25-2009, 07:57 PM

For reference:

Your motherboard has an error that's causing the stop code. that's what the NOT LESS OR MORE is. You're going to need a new Motherboard.

Grab a new hard drive while you're out too. as a just in case. All told, it shouldn't be more then $300 to get about the same gear or better then you were using.

06-25-2009, 09:43 AM	#1
Toast Existential Toast Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Georgia Posts: 440	irql_not_less_or_more interrupting repair install Over the past few days I've been randomly getting a blue screen error that says IRQL_Not_Less_Or_More. The stop codes are: 0x00000018, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, and 0x804f42ca What I've been able to determine so far is that it's usually a driver problem, or a problem with bad ram. Several days ago, a new driver was put out for my video card (a GeForce 6600), and updating the driver for that seemed to fix it for about a day. Then I got a bad virus of some kind. The first thing it did was create several copies of something called F.exe that I couldn't get rid of by ending the process. So I tried to go online to diagnose the problem better. Unfortunately, my firefox would only return address not found no matter where I tried to go. So I tried unplugging and plugging back in my ethernet connection with no effect. I tried resetting my router to no effect. So then I tried rebooting just to see if that did anything. When I rebooted it was as if the boot couldn't complete. I could see my wallpaper and move the mouse, but there were no desktop icons and no start bar. Right clicking didn't do anything either. So I rebooted into safe mode and ran my virus scanners. They came up with a couple things and managed to delete them. I reboot again and still the same thing. No desktop icons, no start bar, no right clicking. I thought about doing a system restore, but found out that all of my restore points were gone. So it seemed to me that doing a repair install might be the best way to fix this. All of my restore points were gone. I couldn't connect to the internet, even in safe mode, to more properly diagnose the problem, and now that I've got my laptop up and running what I'm finding out so far isn't helping. So I start the repair install and it goes fine up until about 75% of the way through when the IRQL error occurs and interrupts it. I've tried it a several times now and each time the error occurs somewhere between 75% and 95% of the way complete for the repair install. I've also tried swapping to an older video card, but that doesn't seem to make a difference. Although I don't know if it would anyway, I figured it was worth a try. Now that I have an incomplete windows, I can't even boot into safe mode. At least, I haven't been able to so far. Any suggestions on how to fix the IRQL error so that the repair install can complete? __________________ “How dare you! How dare you stand there acting like your brand of suffering is worse than anybody else’s. Well, I guess that’s the only way you can justify treating the rest of us like dirt.” ~ Major Margaret Houlihan (Mash) “If we’re going to be damned, let’s be damned for what we really are.” ~ Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

06-25-2009, 01:02 PM	#6
Toast Existential Toast Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Georgia Posts: 440	No, I don't have wireless internet. Unfortunately, the only other computer I have is an outdated laptop that doesn't have a cd burner. I suspect that this also means I can't create an iso image for the memtest cd. What I'm going to do next is try to do the repair install with one stick of ram at a time, see if that changes anything. I'll also see about disconnecting the network card and see if that does anything. Thanks for the help so far, and if anyone has any further ideas I'd greatly appreciate it. __________________ “How dare you! How dare you stand there acting like your brand of suffering is worse than anybody else’s. Well, I guess that’s the only way you can justify treating the rest of us like dirt.” ~ Major Margaret Houlihan (Mash) “If we’re going to be damned, let’s be damned for what we really are.” ~ Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

06-25-2009, 03:08 PM	#8
Vault Of Thrones A Threat to the District Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: /dev/null Posts: 444	As for backing up your files, you can make bootable thumb drives for a Linux distro if you don't have a CD burner. The page I found describing it is here. It definitely sounds like something in your machine is toast though, and the best option for your hard drive is probably to get your files off, reformat, and reinstall. __________________ Twitter!

06-25-2009, 03:47 PM	#9
Toast Existential Toast Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Georgia Posts: 440	Ok, yeah. the network card is an onboard one, so no help there. Removing one stick of ram at a time didn't seem to make a difference. This is what my afternoon has been like: Approximate time for setup to complete is 1 minute.... blue screen of death. And then the sound of me slamming my head into my desk (not literally). I tried booting up normally just to see what it would do and it starts out fine and gets to the windows xp screen with the sliding bar at the bottom, but then blacks out for almost a minute and comes up with the same screen, only this time the sliding bar is replaced by a "please wait" message. And nothing happens after that. I can now get into safe mode however, so I'm going to be backing up as much information as I can. I'll also see if I can update the driver for my network card, although I don't have much time before class so that part will have to wait until later tonight. This may or may not be relevant, but some of the time the BSOD error is coming up as Driver_IRQL_Not_Less_Or_More and sometimes as just IRQL_Not_Less_Or_More. The stop codes are slightly different too. Is there a significant difference between them? I didn't notice previous to my posting the first time, but it could have been one or the other every time I got the error while trying to do the repair install. Thanks for the help so far. __________________ “How dare you! How dare you stand there acting like your brand of suffering is worse than anybody else’s. Well, I guess that’s the only way you can justify treating the rest of us like dirt.” ~ Major Margaret Houlihan (Mash) “If we’re going to be damned, let’s be damned for what we really are.” ~ Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

06-25-2009, 10:33 AM	#3
Azisien wat Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 7,177	I struggled with this BSOD for about two years, though with less frequency than you. And I didn't have a virus that I could detect, so the jury is out on that one... However, as far as my experience went, I ended up doing some in-depth tests on my RAM (I believe the program is called memtest?) and found out they were toast. I replaced the RAM, updated all my drivers, reformatted and I was back to a slightly tolerable PC. Really though, my troubles didn't end until I bought my brand new one and built it myself. Based on the existence of this virus, really my only suggestion is to skip repair install and just annihilate that hard drive, and pray it didn't infect more important hardware. Then go from there.