i just bought a new MSI 745 mobo, 1600+XP Athlon CPU, and a stick of Micron IC Chipset 256mb DDR266 2100. I tried fresh installing XP PRO and everytime during the installation i get the BSoD telling me this:
"IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL". not understanding the problem i turned off the pc and tried to restart the install.....noooooope, infact it wouldnt turn on. i waited till the next day bc i was tired and it booted again....but then it gave me the stupid error....i have updated the BIOS but nothing helped

I figured that it could be the RAM so i switched it into my other pc and the ram gave me some kernalNT error and rebooted before it got to into XP everytime which tells me that the new ram i got is now junked or it was junk on arival....im too afraid to put my ram from my other pc, that i know works, in the new mb bc im not sure if it will get ruined like the other did...if that that was the case

could this just be a case of DOA ram or is this probably somthing else????

any input would help a lot...thanks

It's most likely a faulty RAM module. Where did you purchase it? I've come across my fair share of shady on-line stores selling junk to the EU...

I could be your RAM. At least, that is what happened to me last week. Due to heat within the computer, 1 (the largest) module broke down.

I bought new modules, this time NOT a no-name brand, but Kingston, and my systeem is running perfect now. Although the module destroyed the contents of my 40gb HD with a wrong write method, I'm pleased my systeem is running again.

i got the ram from googlegear.com. its good to hear that someone else has had this same thing happen...i thought that i did something unknowingly. sometimes online shopping can really blow. hopefully i can get my money back. thanks for the feedback

Moral: NEVER boot an OS with untested memory.

You can get a free bootdisk-based tester from http://www.simmtester.com

Prang

Rob de Boer, how do you know that heat destroyed the memory modules?
i am also having a HELL of a lot of problems with my ram (replaced almost 6 lots of 256DDR2100 now...) and im wondering what else it could be (replaced just about everything else in the pc to try and get it working properly)

I have noticed my ambient temp is rather high, do you know how high is too high? or how to go about stopping ram from overheating?

Well...
I shut down my computer, tried to remove the module en burned my fingers (well... it was about 80 degrees celcius).
The other module inside the computer were not that hot, they were hot, but about halve the heat of this module.

Sooo... heat?

the modules could become this hot because of the flat cables of the harddisks were blocking air-flow. I installed another blower in my computer to generate some extra flow inside the computer and installed better memory modules.

I just built a new pc last night for a client.

Asus A7N266-vm
2x256 pc2100
standard floppy and cdrom


Of course everything is built onto this mainboard.

So... I started loading win2k pro. I let it do its thing. I came into the office this morning, and wah lah, i had the error you guys are describing.

Did i mention this is a micro atx case and mainboard? if not then it is.

I took out one of the ram chips and it was hot as hell. I then preceded to boot the pc up and it worked like a champ. I then reinstalled the ram module i removed and believe it or not, the pc is working fine.

I'm gonna have to hook up some more fans to blow directly on the chipset and memory. Cuz boy they get smoking hot.

Hi,

I have a system with an ASUS A7N266-VM also with 256 Meg 2100 DDR. I am experiencing very slow maximise/minimise operations and the system seems to 'save up' key and mouse operations the do them all at once. Someone suggested that I may have a RAM fault, though no messages are generated. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Mike

that should say 'they do the key/mouse operations all at once".

Thanks,

Mike

I had the same problem
I switched my soundcard and i do't have the problem anymore

Gigabyte GA-7VAX
AMD Athlon XP 2000+
256mb DDR PC2700
GeForce4 Ti4200 128mb AGP 8x
Hercules Gamesurround Muse 5.1 DVD

Thanks for the tip, I will try changing the sound card. It is embedded in this mobo, so I will disable it and install an old PCI one I have in the drawer.

Cheers,

Mike

Here's a thought:-
Quality control is an expensive execise.You test maybe 1/10, 1/20, 1/50, or maybe if your really cheapo, one in a hundred of what you sell,dependant on the cost of the item/sale profit. It's often cheaper to sell the kit (stick of ram) untested and let the returns department deal with any warranty replacement than it is to test every stick. WE'RE DOING QUALITY CONTROL FOR CHEAPO RAM SUPPLIERS!. The problem is we don't always know we've got a duff stick,especially if it's not the only new bit of kit fiited at the time.
Anyone agree with me?

Dave

Do not waste time looking for ghosts. This error is no a broken or bad memory. This error is produced by IRQs sharing ( or bad sharing by NTKernel ). Generally BSOD errors relative to IRQs ( like this ) are envolved with ATI and NVIDIA drivers. Sometimes soundcards ( SB always ).

I've can reproduce this error with an 9700 ATI video card, SB Live and an system with no FREE IRQs ( SB shares irq (18) with NIC and ATI shares IRQ (15) with secondary ide channel trying to run games using Open GL suport. Directx X support do not produce this error ( at least for me ).

I think ATI drivers are guilty ( ati with SBLive ). If i remove SB form system I have not this error.

I hope this post may help you.

Regards

Sausalito.

The best way to prevent device/IRQ conflicts is to install your expansion cards one at a time AFTER installing your OS. Just start out with your barebones system (mobo, chip, memory, CD-ROM, and video) and install your OS. Then install things like sound cards, network cards, etc. one at a time after that. Will prevent nearly all device conflicts.

I'm getting this error on a barebones system while trying to install WinXP. I get through the driver loading, but as soon as it prompt to "hit return to install", withing 5 secs I've got the irql_not....blah blah. Anyone seen this? It can't be drivers, it's a clean HD. I've switched ram and video cards and that doesn't help. Any ideas?

I would try updating your bios.

I did update the bios last night to 1009 (latest). It didn't help. Thanks.

Did you set your settings in your bios to default config? You should try that.

@Rob Norris:

Try the fallowing (it's only a workaround but...):
try to 'underclock' (opposite of overclock) your HW (CPU,RAM) for example by reducing the FSB. This worked for my system. (AMD TB 1400 @ 1260, FSB 120).
As said its just a workaraound.

If anyone knows why this helps, please post.
Does it mean that my processor is damaged? RAM and MoBo are OK.

I built a new PC recently and got this message when istalling windows XP. I stripped the machine to bare bones and still got the same nessage. After mucking about for days with it I took it to the shop where I bought most of the parts from. They said it was because of my system fan (Akasa AK842cu) and sold me another fan (not sure of make, big copper one) and the system worked.

Unfortunately, after 2 months the problem seems to be back so now I am totally confused. My ram has been tested in another machine and there seemed to be no problem.

I have also installed all windows update packages with no effect and windows XP says that I have no IRQ clashes. Should certain hardware have lower or hiogher IRQs then other pieces of hardware ?