IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

I've been getting increasingly frequent crashes of my Windows XP Home
PC in recent months. Complete and abrupt shut down, with the cryptic,
daunting Error 'Stop 0x0000000A or IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL'. I can't
pin down what causes it, because there are always several major
programs running at the time, including MSIE6, Agent, TextPad, Snagit,
etc, apart from the OS itself. But, FWIW, I'm always online at the
time.

I've done a fair bit of reading and surfing in the past, but wonder if
there are now any up-to-the-minute techniques for isolating and fixing
this please?

CPU = AMD Athlon XP1800+ with 512MB PC2100 DDR memory, m/b = ASUS
A7A266-E,System Chipset = M1647 ALiMAGiK 1 AGP System Controller,
graphics = 64MB NVidia Geforce2 MX, sound = Sound Blaster 5.1 Audio
with Dolby surround and Creative Four Point Surround (FPS1600), modem
= Conexant CXT1035 - HCF 56k v90 (internal), printer = Lexmark Z23,
scanner = Umax AstraSlim 3400 USB.

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

"Terry Pinnell" wrote in message
...
I've been getting increasingly frequent crashes of my Windows XP Home
PC in recent months. Complete and abrupt shut down, with the cryptic,
daunting Error 'Stop 0x0000000A or IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL'. I can't
pin down what causes it, because there are always several major
programs running at the time, including MSIE6, Agent, TextPad, Snagit,
etc, apart from the OS itself. But, FWIW, I'm always online at the
time.

download docmemmory or memtest86 and see if it the ram that has gone bad, or
maybe u have set too agressive timings for the ram.

otherwise it look pretty much like an error message u get when u clock the
pc too far, is it overclocked ?

is ram and fsb in sync?, otherwise set both ram and fsb to the same
frequensy

it could be the combination of programs that u are running , but i find it
unlikely, but just in case try hav only 2 programs running.

u can also download prime95 and test the cpu directly from windows

Lasse

In article , Terry Pinnell
wrote:

I've been getting increasingly frequent crashes of my Windows XP Home
PC in recent months. Complete and abrupt shut down, with the cryptic,
daunting Error 'Stop 0x0000000A or IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL'. I can't
pin down what causes it, because there are always several major
programs running at the time, including MSIE6, Agent, TextPad, Snagit,
etc, apart from the OS itself. But, FWIW, I'm always online at the
time.

I've done a fair bit of reading and surfing in the past, but wonder if
there are now any up-to-the-minute techniques for isolating and fixing
this please?

CPU = AMD Athlon XP1800+ with 512MB PC2100 DDR memory, m/b = ASUS
A7A266-E,System Chipset = M1647 ALiMAGiK 1 AGP System Controller,
graphics = 64MB NVidia Geforce2 MX, sound = Sound Blaster 5.1 Audio
with Dolby surround and Creative Four Point Surround (FPS1600), modem
= Conexant CXT1035 - HCF 56k v90 (internal), printer = Lexmark Z23,
scanner = Umax AstraSlim 3400 USB.

Get a copy of the free memory tester memtest86, from memtest86.com
When you download it, the program will make a standalone bootable
floppy. You can use this program to see if some of your memory is bad.
The program runs your screen in 640x480 mode, and if there are a
lot of errors, the error listing will scroll down the screen. The
acceptance criterion is for your computer to be error free in an
overnight test.

Paul

x-no-archive: yes

Terry Pinnell wrote:

I've been getting increasingly frequent crashes of my Windows XP Home
PC in recent months. Complete and abrupt shut down, with the cryptic,
daunting Error 'Stop 0x0000000A or IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL'. I can't
pin down what causes it, because there are always several major
programs running at the time, including MSIE6, Agent, TextPad, Snagit,
etc, apart from the OS itself. But, FWIW, I'm always online at the
time.

I've done a fair bit of reading and surfing in the past, but wonder if
there are now any up-to-the-minute techniques for isolating and fixing
this please?

CPU = AMD Athlon XP1800+ with 512MB PC2100 DDR memory, m/b = ASUS
A7A266-E,System Chipset = M1647 ALiMAGiK 1 AGP System Controller,
graphics = 64MB NVidia Geforce2 MX, sound = Sound Blaster 5.1 Audio
with Dolby surround and Creative Four Point Surround (FPS1600), modem
= Conexant CXT1035 - HCF 56k v90 (internal), printer = Lexmark Z23,
scanner = Umax AstraSlim 3400 USB.

See this:

http://aumha.org/win5/kbestop.php#0x0a

--
Indeed I am.
Well, you're right about that.
Because it runs counter to the way we read!
Why do you hate top posting so much?

try this link

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;314063

I had a similar problem with a program called bestcrypt when restarting or
shutting down. Now using safehouse without any problem.

The parameters behind the 0x0000000A give you an idea of which program or
hardware it is.

Ps. try not to cross post next time

JxD

JD wrote:

I had a similar problem with a program called bestcrypt when
restarting or shutting down. Now using safehouse without any problem.

For the record, that problem with BestCrypt 7 was with the beta version,
and it was solved way back in 2001, and prior to the official release:

http://www.jetico.com/bcrypt7.htm

--
Indeed I am.
Well, you're right about that.
Because it runs counter to the way we read!
Why do you hate top posting so much?

I have bestcrypt 7.08 (not beta)

Somehow everytime I dismount the container, this IRQL errors appear
everytime. Uninstall it and never got the error again.

Must be incompatible with one of my hardware, because it works fine on my
laptop.

Could not be bother finding out which one. Happy with Samehouse though.
Same job.

JxD

Terry Pinnell wrote:
I've been getting increasingly frequent crashes of my Windows XP Home
PC in recent months. Complete and abrupt shut down, with the cryptic,
daunting Error 'Stop 0x0000000A or IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL'. I can't
pin down what causes it, because there are always several major
programs running at the time, including MSIE6, Agent, TextPad, Snagit,
etc, apart from the OS itself. But, FWIW, I'm always online at the
time.

I've done a fair bit of reading and surfing in the past, but wonder if
there are now any up-to-the-minute techniques for isolating and fixing
this please?

CPU = AMD Athlon XP1800+ with 512MB PC2100 DDR memory, m/b = ASUS
A7A266-E,System Chipset = M1647 ALiMAGiK 1 AGP System Controller,
graphics = 64MB NVidia Geforce2 MX, sound = Sound Blaster 5.1 Audio
with Dolby surround and Creative Four Point Surround (FPS1600), modem
= Conexant CXT1035 - HCF 56k v90 (internal), printer = Lexmark Z23,
scanner = Umax AstraSlim 3400 USB.

Terry

See the following resources for troubleshooting this particular error
message.

Troubleshooting a Stop 0x0000000A Error in Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314063

MVP Jim Eshelmans page:
http://aumha.org/win5/kbestop.htm



--
Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

Please reply to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.

"Ronnie Vernon MVP" wrote:

Terry

See the following resources for troubleshooting this particular error
message.

Troubleshooting a Stop 0x0000000A Error in Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314063

MVP Jim Eshelmans page:
http://aumha.org/win5/kbestop.htm

Many thanks for all the helpful replies, which I'm following up now.

I was aware that it was normally associated with 'hardware problems'
(or their drivers), but that's so generic as to be virtually useless!

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

(Paul) wrote:

Get a copy of the free memory tester memtest86, from memtest86.com
When you download it, the program will make a standalone bootable
floppy.

Paul, Lasse: On running the memtest86 install.bat from a DOS command
prompt in Windows XP Home, when prpgram tries to access the floppy it
gives an error message about being unable to lock for exclusive
access, etc.

Any idea how I get around that please, as I would like to test the
memory as you suggest. BTW, roughly how long should I expect it to
take for this 512 MB Athlon 1800?

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

Terry Pinnell wrote:

(Paul) wrote:

Get a copy of the free memory tester memtest86, from memtest86.com
When you download it, the program will make a standalone bootable
floppy.

Paul, Lasse: On running the memtest86 install.bat from a DOS command
prompt in Windows XP Home, when prpgram tries to access the floppy it
gives an error message about being unable to lock for exclusive
access, etc.

Any idea how I get around that please, as I would like to test the
memory as you suggest. BTW, roughly how long should I expect it to
take for this 512 MB Athlon 1800?


As Paul indicated in the text you quoted, memtest should make a
*standalone* bootable floppy.

In short, boot from the floppy rather than starting up XP and attempting
to access the program/batch file.

--
Mike

Michael Richmann wrote:

Terry Pinnell wrote:

(Paul) wrote:

Get a copy of the free memory tester memtest86, from memtest86.com
When you download it, the program will make a standalone bootable
floppy.

Paul, Lasse: On running the memtest86 install.bat from a DOS command
prompt in Windows XP Home, when prpgram tries to access the floppy it
gives an error message about being unable to lock for exclusive
access, etc.

Any idea how I get around that please, as I would like to test the
memory as you suggest. BTW, roughly how long should I expect it to
take for this 512 MB Athlon 1800?


As Paul indicated in the text you quoted, memtest should make a
*standalone* bootable floppy.

In short, boot from the floppy rather than starting up XP and attempting
to access the program/batch file.

Eh? Boot from *what* floppy? As I indicated in my post, it's the
'bootable floppy' that I'm unable to create! Have you personally
downloaded and installed this utility? If so, then you'll know that
the instructions say:

'To install Memtest86:
- Extract the files from the zip archive
- Open the directory where the files were extracted and click on
"install.bat".
- The install program will prompt you for the floppy drive and also
prompt you to insert a blank floppy.'

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

In article , Terry Pinnell
wrote:

Michael Richmann wrote:

Terry Pinnell wrote:

(Paul) wrote:

Get a copy of the free memory tester memtest86, from memtest86.com
When you download it, the program will make a standalone bootable
floppy.

Paul, Lasse: On running the memtest86 install.bat from a DOS command
prompt in Windows XP Home, when prpgram tries to access the floppy it
gives an error message about being unable to lock for exclusive
access, etc.

Any idea how I get around that please, as I would like to test the
memory as you suggest. BTW, roughly how long should I expect it to
take for this 512 MB Athlon 1800?


As Paul indicated in the text you quoted, memtest should make a
*standalone* bootable floppy.

In short, boot from the floppy rather than starting up XP and attempting
to access the program/batch file.

Eh? Boot from *what* floppy? As I indicated in my post, it's the
'bootable floppy' that I'm unable to create! Have you personally
downloaded and installed this utility? If so, then you'll know that
the instructions say:

'To install Memtest86:
- Extract the files from the zip archive
- Open the directory where the files were extracted and click on
"install.bat".
- The install program will prompt you for the floppy drive and also
prompt you to insert a blank floppy.'

Terry - perhaps the problems with your machine are bad enough to
prevent preparing the floppy from that machine? Could you try
preparing the floppy image on another machine? As I understand
the instructions, the program in the zip file creates a floppy with
no file system. In the floppy, there is enough code to boot just the
test program. The whole idea is the memtest86 program has a very small
memory footprint, and the program is sophisticated enough to "lift
itself up and sweep underneath". That isn't something you can do if
there was an OS running at the same time. This program tests the whole
memory...

So, I see your options as:

1) Go to another machine and prepare the floppy.
2) Investigate preparing a CDROM .iso image version of the program
3) Contact the author of memtest86 and see if he has heard of the
problem before.

A search I tried in Google didn't turn up your symptoms, and the
memtest86 program is very popular. It is possible that whatever
the hardware or software problem is on your machine right now,
it might be interfering with your attempt to diagnose it.

Do you have any programs that interfere or intercept file system
calls ? Could there be another program that writes stuff to every
storage device on the machine, and uses a "lock" to do it ? That
might be another way to track down the symptoms of not being able
to access the floppy for a raw device operation.

Hope that helps,
Paul

Terry Pinnell wrote:

Michael Richmann wrote:

Terry Pinnell wrote:

(Paul) wrote:

Get a copy of the free memory tester memtest86, from memtest86.com
When you download it, the program will make a standalone bootable
floppy.

Paul, Lasse: On running the memtest86 install.bat from a DOS command
prompt in Windows XP Home, when prpgram tries to access the floppy it
gives an error message about being unable to lock for exclusive
access, etc.

Any idea how I get around that please, as I would like to test the
memory as you suggest. BTW, roughly how long should I expect it to
take for this 512 MB Athlon 1800?


As Paul indicated in the text you quoted, memtest should make a
*standalone* bootable floppy.

In short, boot from the floppy rather than starting up XP and attempting
to access the program/batch file.

Eh? Boot from *what* floppy? As I indicated in my post, it's the
'bootable floppy' that I'm unable to create! Have you personally
downloaded and installed this utility? If so, then you'll know that
the instructions say:

'To install Memtest86:
- Extract the files from the zip archive
- Open the directory where the files were extracted and click on
"install.bat".
- The install program will prompt you for the floppy drive and also
prompt you to insert a blank floppy.'


As you like...

As I browse the Memtest page, I note more than one version. So, any
other details you're sitting on or are you assuming we all know them as
well?

Leastways v3.0 installed to a floppy just fine under NT 4.0 SP 6 so it
may just be "yet another XP problem" as it were.
--
Mike

You can do a search on Google for just the stop error or irql error but from
what I have read and saw is that the NVidia is the problem.



"Terry Pinnell" wrote in message
...
I've been getting increasingly frequent crashes of my Windows XP Home
PC in recent months. Complete and abrupt shut down, with the cryptic,
daunting Error 'Stop 0x0000000A or IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL'. I can't
pin down what causes it, because there are always several major
programs running at the time, including MSIE6, Agent, TextPad, Snagit,
etc, apart from the OS itself. But, FWIW, I'm always online at the
time.

I've done a fair bit of reading and surfing in the past, but wonder if
there are now any up-to-the-minute techniques for isolating and fixing
this please?

CPU = AMD Athlon XP1800+ with 512MB PC2100 DDR memory, m/b = ASUS
A7A266-E,System Chipset = M1647 ALiMAGiK 1 AGP System Controller,
graphics = 64MB NVidia Geforce2 MX, sound = Sound Blaster 5.1 Audio
with Dolby surround and Creative Four Point Surround (FPS1600), modem
= Conexant CXT1035 - HCF 56k v90 (internal), printer = Lexmark Z23,
scanner = Umax AstraSlim 3400 USB.

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK