Help Diagnosing BSOD

A BSOD comes up at random. Sometimes when I do a scan, sometimes while browsing. Can somebody please help me fix this.

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Technical Info

*** STOP: 0x000000D1 (0x00000002, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0xF76B6ED0)
*** NDIS.sys - Address F7B6ED0 base at F76B3000; Datestamp 41107ec3

This can be caused by faulty RAM. I would run a diagnostic test on the RAM.

http://www.memtest.org/

I ran the memtest installed in my PC for over an hour. No errors found. Should I use the one you provided instead?

You need to let it run longer than that. Leave it overnight - or for at least 8 hours.

Probably a stupid question but is there a difference between the memtest that boots from a CD/floppy with the one that doesn't have to?

I posted in another thread too.
I used to have this problem as well, especially during gaming. I searched for a long time for solutions, everything points to RAM problems. I was suspecting it could be faulty RAM. Luckily that didnt seem to be the case. After some experimenting, it turned out to be underpowered RAM.

Some solutions online suggest that this is due to underpowered power supply. But it could be much simpler than that. At least for me I know for certain the PSU was good.

The way I fixed it was going to BIOS and change the voltage setting for the RAM. As it was, the settings before were indeed underpowered by the RAM's specs on the website.

After increasing it to the voltage level to spec, I have not experience those random BSoD's telling me IRQL less than or Equal to. This lasted for many months now (it used to be quite frequent) and still worked fine until my current computer troubles, which probably has nothing to do with ram.

Since different motherboards have different BIOS interface and diff RAM have diff specs, I cannot specify exactly what you should change it to or how; or if this even applies to you, though the symptoms are similar to what I endured back then. That said, perhaps you might want to give it a try and see if it helps? (also, ask the great people here to help if you dont know how to properly configure BIOS. I researched extensively when I did it, and still there were unexpected issues that prevented me from even booting. It was quite scary, so you should definitely get help if you don't know for sure to save some headaches.

If you want to try this, I'd suggest specifying your exact RAM model, check its official website for its specs for voltage (or ask people here..?)
The brand of mobo so people here can know what your BIOS look like, to better guide you through the process.

I hope you resolve this annoying problem; It took me 2 years on and off to finally get rid of it. I hope you don't need to.

EDIT: By the way, I ran memtest back then, and instead of failing, it just froze; tried it many times and it just freezes. Even bad ram should fail, but my situation was so bleak it just froze. But the problem turned out to be much frightening and was relatively easy to solve.

Edited by xenoss, 01 October 2009 - 06:35 AM.

There are differing programs which have the word "memtest" in them.

The one that you should be running...is Memtest86+, available at the link supplied by Budapest. This program needs to be run from either floppy or CD.

Louis

There are differing programs which have the word "memtest" in them.

The one that you should be running...is Memtest86+, available at the link supplied by Budapest. This program needs to be run from either floppy or CD.

Louis

Thanks for your reply. I ran it overnight and found 0 errors. However when I went back to Windows I got a new BSOD.

The problem seems to be caused by the following file: Fastfat.sys
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

Technical Info
*** STOP: 0x00000050 (0xAB3A1A47, 0x00000001, 0xF76FFAF4, 0x00000000)
*** Fastfat.sys - Address F76FFAF4 base at F76F7000 Datestamp 41107eb7

For info only (do not follow any instructions on webpage for download, fix, etc.): http://www.file.net/process/fastfat.sys.html

Louis

Location and size fits the description. What exactly was I supposed to do?

Affirm or eliminate it from consideration as a malware item...you did this by checking the file size and location.

Since fastfat.sys is a system file, you could run sfc /scannow to check for damaged/missing system files...or you could try a repair install of XP to accomplish the same purpose.

How To Use Sfc.exe To Repair System Files - http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/43051/how-to-use-sfcexe-to-repair-system-files/

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install - http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Louis

Data on the original file cited in original post, http://www.file.net/process/ndis.sys.html

Edited by hamluis, 04 October 2009 - 09:16 AM.

NDIS.sys fits the description too.

I did the part with the i386 folder but I can't run sfc properly. When I enter sfc.exe /scannow I only see a black box that appears for a second then closes. Why is that?

Edited by reayl, 05 October 2009 - 07:13 AM.

The command itself is sfc /scannow, not sfc.exe /scannow.

Edit: sfc.exe /scannow will also work .

My experience is that your system needs to have chkdsk /r run and/or then defragged...when system commands don't execute properly from the Run box.

Louis

Edited by hamluis, 05 October 2009 - 10:43 AM.