Random BSOD after upgrade: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

[riceisright]

I recently had my hard drive replaced and my OS upgraded to windows 7 64-bit. It was previously 32-bit but came with a 64-bit key so was intended to run with this OS in the first place.

Since I got the upgrade my pc has been randomly crashing with a BSOD "driver_irql_not_less_or_equal" error. At least once I also got an error mentioning something about kernel data. I've upgraded the drivers for all of the processors, the BiOs, and video card and the memory, yet am still getting crashes.I have no idea what is going wrong.

If anybody can give me any help with this, I'd appreciate it. I'm very hesitant to take this in to a PC repair shop, as the last time I did so it was held up for over a week, and I need this computer in order to do my job.

I uploaded the MEMORY.DMP file to skydrive and linked it below. If anyone can parse it out and help me identify my problem, they have my immense gratitude.

(Also, my wireless connection will randomly drop off for a couple minutes at a time. I'm not sure if these problems are related.)

Link to memory dump: https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=5AED522E8D1EB0E8!107&authkey=!APft3pYB5pUwauw

 

[TrainableMan]

It keeps telling me to login when I try to download your DMP file. Could you just Zip it and then use the advanced reply and attach the zip here on w7forums?

 

[riceisright]

Sure thing. Sorry about the error. Have also attempted to include a public link below in case attachment is unsuccessful.

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=5AED522E8D1EB0E8!107 - DMP file

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=5AED522E8D1EB0E8!108 - ZIP file

Edit: The attachment has failed because even zipped the .dmp file exceeds the forum's attachment size limitations. The raw file is 400mb, and compressed it's 100mb. Not sure why it's so large.

 

[riceisright]

Started a rapidshare account and uploaded the zip file there. Hopefully this will be more successful.

http://rapidshare.com/files/2483790199/MEMORY.zip

 

[TrainableMan]

Yeah, I don't know how to use that. It took 10 minutes just to download from Rapidshare and locked up my computer when I tried to open it.

How to enable small memory dumps.

 

[riceisright]

Thank you for your help so far. I have followed your steps and enabled small memory dump. I will post the file the next time I experience a crash.

 

[zigzag3143]

Just in passing this MEMORY.DMP was Related to BCMWL664.SYS 802.11 Network Adapter wireless driver from Broadcom Corporation. Yours is ~2 years old.

I would re-install the newest driver available and just to check run a system file check to verify the OS files.

To run a system file check (SFC)
Open an elevated cmd window (Go to start>type CMD>right click and run as administrator)


Type SFC /scannow


You may have to run this up to 3 times.


Let us know the results at the end
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/ht/sfc-scannow.htm

 

[riceisright]

I have updated the driver for the wireless device (to the best of my knowledge), and run scannow several times always getting the result: "Windows Resource Integration did not find any integrity violations."

I haven't had a crash again for a couple of days, since I altered the specs for dmp files. Am still keeping an eye on the situation.

 

[riceisright]

Had another crash after updating my drivers. Have attached to this post. The memory.dmp file is still very large, and I pulled this one from "minidump." I hope it has something to go on.

 

[TrainableMan]

Your DMP still points to Networking. I don't have the tools or experience to read DMPs and pinpoint it down to your bcmwl664.sys Broadcom network driver like Zigzag but based on his diagnoses I can see it is still old ... dated: 2/15/2011 3:58:59 AM.

Unfortunately, from the looks of the drivers available for the Vostro 3700 there may not be any newer available. All the network drivers I see there are from 2010. Where did you get the driver you installed?

My guess is that you may have gotten the driver from Dell but then Windows update installed this 2/15/2011 driver which it considers a newer driver for your system and perhaps, if this is the latest driver and it doesn't work, what you really need is the older but more stable driver from 2010 ???

I would like you to disable the switch that tells Windows Update to treat Recommended updates the same as Critical Updates

and then reinstall the network driver from Dell.

Note that because the Recommended updates (mostly drivers) will no longer be automatically installed, you will need to periodically run Windows Update manually and look over the recommended updates, skip or hide ones for networking, but you may want to install the others.

As I said this is just a hunch.

 

[riceisright]

I have continually run the sfc/scannow system scan with no reported errors, and I went to the Dell website to update/reinstall all of my network drivers. One of these things seems to have helped with the crashes, as I haven't had one in over a week.

However my laptop's internet connection still drops at random every 5min-2hrs. It will stop working for around 3min or more, then start up again. There is no apparent cause, and it happens whether I am on a wired or wireless connection. I don't think it's router related as it also happens at my office or any public network. I've tried turning off windows firewall, but this seems to have no effect. I don't know if this is the right forum for advice on this problem, but again, any help is appreciated.

 

[riceisright]

Something else to note is that the connection seems to work fine in safe mode with networking.

 

[TrainableMan]

For your network connection dropping issue, try this:
Go to Control Panel > Device Manager and find your Network Adapter. Double click on it to open the Properties and select the Power Management Tab. Make sure "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" is NOT checked.

 

[riceisright]

Thanks for the advice, though I had tried this already. I've made sure this is not checked on "DW1520 Wireless-N Half-Mini Card" and "Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller." (The two entries for bluetooth devices have no power management settings.) Neither change seems to have solved the problem, though.