Serious PC Problem

James79 · 28-04-2006, 23:04

Wondering if anyone could help with this?? Another Dell PC problem within a month!!! Now getting peeved!!!

Switched the PC on this evening and was greeted with a blue screen with white writing saying the following:

Quote:

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow the following steps.

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware/software manufacturer for any windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use safe mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.

I then rebooted as per instructions to (a) see if the problem would go away after a restart, and (b) reboot into Safe Mode to either Go Back to a previously saved configuration or remove software that had been installed (although no problems had been noticed since any installs).

Technical Info

XXX STOP: 0X000000D1 (0X00000034, 0X00000002, 0X00000000, 0Xf73f0fEf)
XXX iastor.sys - Address f73f0fef base at f73DE000
Date Stamp 426d0c8c

The first reboot resulted the same blue screen being displayed. A second reboot with an attempt to launch Windows in Safe Mode took what seems like forever but eventually displayed the same blue screen with the following additional information.

Quote:

Beginning Dump of physical memory.
Physical Memory Dump Complete.
Contact your system administrator or technical support group for assistance.

I seriously am at my wits end here - havent a baldy notion as to what the problem is - whether its software or hardware, although the reference to "physical memory" may indicate a problem with the hardware - memory in particular??

Thanks in advance for any assistance with this!!

Should I send Dell Support an email now??

James

Graham M · 28-04-2006, 23:09

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL can relate to memory or driver problems, try starting your computer with only the basic devices required for it to function plugged in, keyboard, mouse monitor. Have you installed any new hardware lately and have you changed any drivers?

Druchii · 28-04-2006, 23:12

Definitely send dell support an email now, containing exactly what happened, what the BSOD said, etc.

I'm afraid i can't really help.

James79 · 28-04-2006, 23:21

Cant get access to the PC until tomorrow morning, but I'll try what you say!! There havent been any hardware installations - the last one was the replacing of a hard drive that had begun to fail. DELL eventually replaced this and it was just over a month ago.

See:
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...ad.php?t=44295

Would there be anything else to indicate that the error is caused by a hardware problem??

J

MovedGoalPosts · 28-04-2006, 23:23

If you are confident, you could open the case up and check memory and all cards are securely seated in their sockets. BSOD messages can be extremely hard to track down.

Have you recently made any changes, hardware or software to the PC?

If you've got support / warranty with Dell give them a call (good luck with the language barrier).

Alleni · 28-04-2006, 23:26

Had exactly the same problem about three months ago, spent 3 days dealing with Dell Support had them confused by it.

In the end they talked me through a re-install of windows but this failed, won't not even allow a re-installation of Windows.

They ended up taking my PC away and replaced the Hard drives and memory, I was told that the Hard Drives were corrupt!

Gareth · 28-04-2006, 23:46

The iastor.sys referenced in the BSoD is Intel's SATA controller, that's causing the crash, but without MS debugging kit installed to look at the memory dump, you're not gonna get any more info.

Just Googled it and there's a thread at experts-exchange that discusses this, and points to another forum also. Someone suggests changing the HDD from AHCI mode to ATA, and re-installing Windows. Here's the post... http://www.msusenet.com/archive/topi...870511989.html

Personally, though, I'd send it back to Dell to resolve.

nffc · 28-04-2006, 23:54

I'd go with either RAM or HD if this is even HW. Could equally be a dodgy driver.

James79 · 29-04-2006, 12:12

Ive just sent an email to Dell Support. Stating everything I said in my opening post.

Tried to start it again normally this morning, thought things were looking positive as it started to run CHKDSK and seemed to do so successfully.

Unfortunately, the Blue screen came up again.

Tried booting into Safe Mode and this appear (Blue screen again):

Quote:

STOP: C0000218 Unknown Hard Error
Unknown Hard Error
Beginning Dump of Physical Memory
Physical Memory Dump Complete
Contact System Administrator or Technical Support Group for further assistance.

Gareth · 29-04-2006, 12:30

Good job it's still under warranty... chase Dell up. Do they have 24/7 support?

James79 · 29-04-2006, 12:59

The 24/7 Technical Support that you refer to is a combination of online and telephone support.

I found this out just over a month ago when one of my hard drives that was RAID configured was giving warnings of impending failure. I phoned on a Saturday early afternoon, lo and behold, they were closed. I emailed and got a response soon thereafter.

To be honest, I prefer to email. For one thing, there is no language barrier to cross, and secondly, Im not waiting on hold for 10 - 20 mins at best for someone to talk to me! Also, you actually get a hard copy of what you should be doing. Ive already got a hard copy to my email this morning. But I think it was an automatic response because it stated that as my query contained certain text (referring to the error codes "0X000000D1") the email was sent out - to try what is advised (rather alot) then if it doesnt work, reply to the email.

If its software, apparently this isnt covered by warranty - then Im gonna have to get someone to have a look at it and pay them for the privilege of fixing the PC - thats not even a year old yet!!

"They dont make 'em like they used to" I gave my 8 year old computer to my 6 year old niece, and its still going - albeit very slowly!!

J

Gareth · 29-04-2006, 13:02

Well, if it's any consolation, I've had that exact same error message (STOP: C0000218 Unknown Hard Error) when a hard drive was on its way out, so for hardware issues you'll be covered. Still an annoyance though.

nffc · 29-04-2006, 13:29

I'd back up everything (you should have already done this) and then reinstall XP. That way, they can't claim it is software because you have a clean install.

And you will probably need to ring.

29-04-2006, 14:27

Personal experience - 9 times out of 10, the bsod "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" is failing ram. You could run memtest or the windows memory diagnostics software to check for yourself.

James79 · 29-04-2006, 15:23

Problem is - running most (I assume) of these tests requires windows to have been loaded - nothing will load whatsoever! Just loads and then the blue screen appears.

I bought the PC with 12 months interest free credit, therefore I had 12 months to pay it off. Guess what!! Ive about two or three months left on this - so if DELL dont sort the problem out, I might have to withold payment, although this may backfire on me. But I believe that I have been given sub-standard hardware.