Serious computer problem, someone please help!

Heather LouAnna

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BSOD (Blue screen of death) and my computer rebooted. The blue screen had lots of info for me, and I wrote some of it down. At the top, it said "DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" and then it said "STOP 0x000000D1".

Oh, for the love of God. YOU DO NOT HAVE A VIRUS.

Every little thing that happens, people think it's a virus. Do you know how often people get viruses...EVER? I speak to at least 80 individuals a day, fixing their computers, and I get a virus about once every three months. It never happens. Ever.


I was happy that at least one person in the thread got it right. I'm in technical support and I work in the leading support in the world. Yes, I'm cocky about it. I do my job damn well. Listen to me carefully.

You are experiencing a driver problem.

It's nothing to do with anything you've installed. You are having a driver problem.

Vista is new and everyone is going to have to catch up to it. Many systems do not have the proper drivers created for Vista yet. Many computer companies have modified their XP drivers *ok* in Vista, but they're not the full drivers.

So how do we know which driver is causing this? We're going to have to update them all, just to be sure. That means you need to know what hardware you have. Do you have an invoice with the original system configuration with the internal components listed?

Basically, your drivers are as follows.

Chipset
Audio
Video
Modem (if applicable)
Wireless network (if applicable)
PC slot (if applicable)
On-board Network (that's your wired internet)
Touchpad
Bluetooth (if applicable)

All of these drivers can be found on your manufacturer's website.

Let's go on a journey, shall we? Let's say you have to wipe your hard drive and start fresh. Your hard drive is now blank. You format the drive and install Windows Vista. Your computer boots up and it looks like everything's ok. You can see and you have sound. Everything is NOT ok. You have to install the drivers. The drivers are like the software for your hardware. Windows will install default drivers for all your hardware, so they work, but they're not working to their full potential until you download the driver for it. What you're experiencing is a driver that is probably not properly installed or is not ready for Vista.

First, let's look under the Device Manager to see if we have any "bangs."

Click on the Vista "Pearl" aka where the start menu is.
In that little search field, type in "Device Manager."
You should be able to see if from there.

Or you can right click on My Computer
Go to Properties
Now go to the Hardware tab
Now go to Device Manager.

Do you have any yellow questions marks under here?
Do you have any red X's?

(You probably don't.)

This list you see here shows all the drivers for your hardware (except the video is under Add or Remove Progams).

What you need to do is find links to all the drivers for your system on the manufacturer's support site. I suggest that you uninstall the drivers before reinstalling them. You will need to got to the Device Manager and right click on them, individually, and delete them.

Don't do them all at once. Do one at a time.

Start with the video driver. Go to the Vista Pearl and then go to the Control Panel. Add or Remove Programs. Find the Nvidia driver and uninstall it.

Now I have a questions for you: Do you ever use your system in a docking station and how long have you been receiving the BSOD?
 

Mr. Snakey

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I was never prompted to burn recovery disks. I was when I got my desktop, but my desktop runs XP, not Vista. I can't find anywhere on the computer to burn a hard copy of a recovery disk. There is a system restore program on here, but it doesn't work apparently. I already tried it earlier today. It did it's restore thing, but when it tried to reboot, it was unable to start... so then another program came up... I can't remember what it's called, but it's basic job is to fix startup issues. I ran that, and then the computer booted properly, but nothing had been changed... no restore took place. Everything was exactly the same.
If your computer is fine just let it go. If its working fine dont update drivers. Run a good Virus program and defragment and check for spyware.
 

Heather LouAnna

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And for everyone else...

Know how to use your computer.

To Make your system run faster
First, let's reconfigure your startup configuration.

Go to Start,
Then to Run.
Type in msconfig.
This will bring you to the System Configuration Utility.
Go to the far right tab that says Startup.
Disable All.
There are all the programs that open as soon as you turn on your computer. Many of them you aren't using. Most of them, you don't even know are on.
Now let's go to the next tab over, Services.
Be sure to chec the box on the bottom left that says Hide All Microsoft Services.
Now choose Disable All again.
Now click OK.
It'll tell you that you need to restart to make any changes. RESTART.
Once you reboot and get back into Windows, you'll get a popup that says "You've used the system configuration utility."
Check the box that says Don't Show Me This Again and choose ok.

Is you system running any faster?

You may find that you actually want some of those programs to turn on as soon as you turn on your computer. I know I like to have AIM on all the time, so I like that to be part of my startup. If you think you may want some of that stuff running, go back to Start>Run>msconfig and check any of those boxes you want. Click ok, restart, and choose don't show me this again. Voila.

Free Space

How much free space do you have? Double click on My Computer and then right click on the C drive and go to Properties. It'll show you how much space you've used.

If you don't have a lot of free space, maybe you want to...

Add or Remove some Programs
Go to Start,
Then the Control Panel.
(If you see something on the left side that says Switch To Classic View, click on it.)
Now go to Add/Remove Programs
Go down the list and Remove anything you think you don't want.
Restart Windows once you're done.

Try doing a Disk Cleanup (You want to do this at least once a month)

Go to Start,
Then All Programs.
Now Accessories.
and then System Tools.
Go to Disk Cleanup.

Choose to do a disk cleanup on the C drive (or any external hard drive you may have connected).
Wait a second while it compresses old files
It'll bring up some things with boxes next to them.
Check them all and choose OK.
Give it awhile.

Disk Defragmenting (You want to do this at least once every three months)

Go to Start,
Then All Programs.
Now Accessories.
and then System Tools.
Now go to Disk Defragmenter.

You want to do this at night, because it may take over an hour. Your hard drive is about the size of a paperback book. Think cheesy dimestore love novel, where Raul has sex with Jennifer in the stable while her husband it out tending to the horses in the field. Your hard drive looks like a record player inside that novel sized box. There's a disk and a head that comes out and reads stuff. Think of that disk as a brick wall. Everytime you download something, you're adding a brick. Everytime you delete something, you're removing a brick, but you're taking them out from different places. You're making holes in the wall. So, now all your data is spread out over the drive. The Disk Defragmenter moves all the bricks to the bottom and takes all the holes out. Your disk reader head doesn't have to physically move as far to retrieve data and thus your drive is physically in better shape. It doesn't get as physically worn out as easily.
 

IntoxicatingToxin

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I don't know what a docking station even is... so I'm going to assume no on that one. I've been receiving the BSOD for a few days now... maybe 5 days, tops? It occurs randomly. It doesn't seem to relate to anything I do. I tried to get on Nvidia's site to update the driver, but I can't figure out what version I have. Device manager doesn't seem to want to give me that info, or I can't seem to access it. Oh, and there are no red x's or yellow question marks in my device manager list.
 

booboo12

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I was never prompted to burn recovery disks. I was when I got my desktop, but my desktop runs XP, not Vista. I can't find anywhere on the computer to burn a hard copy of a recovery disk. There is a system restore program on here, but it doesn't work apparently. I already tried it earlier today. It did it's restore thing, but when it tried to reboot, it was unable to start... so then another program came up... I can't remember what it's called, but it's basic job is to fix startup issues. I ran that, and then the computer booted properly, but nothing had been changed... no restore took place. Everything was exactly the same.

Did you go here?:smile::

Start Button-type "recovery" (no quotes) in the search field.-Click Recovery Manager-Click Advanced Options -Click Recovery Disk creation

Also, yes Vista has a way to repair itself but what I was talking about was essentially a snapshot of how your computer worked before it left the factory is stored on a hidden part of your hard disk.

HP Notebook PCs -  Using HP Recovery Manager 

This stuff is just for future reference, everyone who says it's a driver issue is correct.
 

sjprep06

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If there are no warnings about any device in your system, leave it alone. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I have a program that tells you detailed information about everything in your system but it is discontinued. The only way I could send it is to email it but that's about it.
 

Heather LouAnna

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I don't know what a docking station even is... so I'm going to assume no on that one. I've been receiving the BSOD for a few days now... maybe 5 days, tops? It occurs randomly. It doesn't seem to relate to anything I do. I tried to get on Nvidia's site to update the driver, but I can't figure out what version I have. Device manager doesn't seem to want to give me that info, or I can't seem to access it. Oh, and there are no red x's or yellow question marks in my device manager list.


Your driver interface may be totally different....and you're using Vista...But I have an Nvidia as well, so let's hope it's the same. Right click on the background picture on your computer and go to Properties. This opens the system's display properties. Go to the Settings tab, now go to Advanced. Do you see anything for Nvidia under here that may tell you exactly what model card you have?

If you don't see it there, try looking for Nvidia under All Programs.

Try clicking on the Vista Pearl and then just doing a search for Nvidia.

You should really know what kind of card you have. You should know what you paid for.

If it just started five days ago, let's try doing a System Restore.
Go to the Vista Pearl and then All Programs.
Go to Accessories
Now System Tools
Now System Restore.

Pick a day a week or two weeks ago, before this problem occured.

This will not effect any of your data.
 

Heather LouAnna

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If there are no warnings about any device in your system, leave it alone. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I have a program that tells you detailed information about everything in your system but it is discontinued. The only way I could send it is to email it but that's about it.

Just because you don't have any bangs in the device manager, doesn't mean the drivers are functioning properly. It just means that the system sees the hardware and can communicate with it.

Meg, do not install any programs to try to figure out what this issue is. It's a driver.
 

IntoxicatingToxin

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I tried a System Restore, it didn't work. It ran, then tried to reboot, and the computer wouldn't start... so some other program started and fixed my restart issue, but when the computer booted, it hadn't changed. However, I did just find NVIDIA Control Panel. Whew! So now I at least know what I have.

*EDIT* My NVIDIA Control Panel says I have "GeForce Go 6100"... that isn't an option on NVIDIA's site.
 

Heather LouAnna

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It ran, then tried to reboot, and the computer wouldn't start... so some other program started and fixed my restart issue

Welcome to the world of Vista.

Keep that Vista reinstall disc nearby, you're going to need it to run repairs in the future. Trust me.
 

sjprep06

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Just because you don't have any bangs in the device manager, doesn't mean the drivers are functioning properly. It just means that the system sees the hardware and can communicate with it.

Meg, do not install any programs to try to figure out what this issue is. It's a driver.

Quite true. But that is still no reason for her to start updating things because there may be an issue....
 

IntoxicatingToxin

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Welcome to the world of Vista.

Keep that Vista reinstall disc nearby, you're going to need it to run repairs in the future. Trust me.

What reinstall disc? I don't have one. I will make one someday, I suppose, now that I know that I can... but I don't want to make one until I fix my current issue.
 

IntoxicatingToxin

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Lol sure it is. How long ago did you get your system, Meg? It doesn't hurt to update the drivers, ever.

Flash your BIOS too.

I got the system in August. I don't know what Flashing the bios means... I reset it earlier today, if that's what you mean?
 

Heather LouAnna

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What reinstall disc? I don't have one. I will make one someday, I suppose, now that I know that I can... but I don't want to make one until I fix my current issue.

Oh. My. God.

lol One really important thing with Vista is to have the Vista reinstall disc. You need to get a copy of that disc. You should have received one with the system.

You don't need a Windows disc to fix this problem. I toldja. It's a driver. It's probably the video driver. Uninstall it from add/remove programs, reboot, and then reinstall it from the Nvidia site.

The fun thing about random bluescreens is that you don't know if the issues is resolved until it does it again.

Did I mention that a lot of computer companies aren't creating full drivers for Vista? Their modifying their XP drivers so they work ok in Vista...and then just throwing them out there.

Dude, you should have got a Dell.
 

Heather LouAnna

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I got the system in August. I don't know what Flashing the bios means... I reset it earlier today, if that's what you mean?

The BIOS is the "software" (it's actually firmware) for your motherboard. A new revision of it comes out about once every few months. If you're having a problem connecting an external device (your video card, though saldered to your motherboard, is actually considered an external device) then it's a good idea to update the system BIOS. If you got the system in August, there's probably a new revision out already. Go to your manufacturer's site. It's under the drivers somewhere.

You can see what version of the BIOS you're running when you boot up the computer. Try it. Reboot and when you see the manufacturer's logo (Dell, HP, whatever..) read the scren carefull to see what function key you're supposed to hit to enter the System Setup. Your system setup is the BIOS. It'll tell you what revision it is.

BUT........This probably has nothing to do with your problem though. Uninstall and reinstall the damn video driver. lol

Here's the wiki on BIOS: BIOS - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 

IntoxicatingToxin

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Oh. My. God.

lol One really important thing with Vista is to have the Vista reinstall disc. You need to get a copy of that disc. You should have received one with the system.

You don't need a Windows disc to fix this problem. I toldja. It's a driver. It's probably the video driver. Uninstall it from add/remove programs, reboot, and then reinstall it from the Nvidia site.

The fun thing about random bluescreens is that you don't know if the issues is resolved until it does it again.

Did I mention that a lot of computer companies aren't creating full drivers for Vista? Their modifying their XP drivers so they work ok in Vista...and then just throwing them out there.

Dude, you should have got a Dell.

I didn't get a recovery disk when I bought the laptop. They don't seem to do that anymore. I bought a desktop a year or so ago and it didn't come with one either, but I was prompted when I first turned it on to make one... my laptop never prompted me to do that - until the creation of this thread, I wasn't even aware that I COULD do that.

I edited one of my posts earlier, but I guess everyone missed it - apparently the product I have is too old? I don't know. It's not on NVIDIA's driver update list, though. I have GeForce Go 6100. They only have the 7 and 8 series on their driver update list.
 

HazelGod

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It sounds like you have a Virus.

Yeah...it's called Vista.

I edited one of my posts earlier, but I guess everyone missed it - apparently the product I have is too old? I don't know. It's not on NVIDIA's driver update list, though. I have GeForce Go 6100. They only have the 7 and 8 series on their driver update list.

One nice thing about nVidia is their unified driver architecture. The updates for the 7 and 8 series chipsets are backward-compatible with the 6 series.