[Naean]

Okay, I've been using Windows Vista Home Premium on my computer for at least two years, and can safely say it's a piece of shit operating system.

Performance issues, way too many compatibility problems, and randomly having certain programs go into "not responding" or "stopped working" mode periodically (Programs which never did this once when I used Windows XP Professional on my old computer.) really annoy me, but not nearly as much as when Windows Vista decides to BlueScreen on me for no apparent logical reason.

Over the past 8 months or so, the BlueScreen errors have been getting more and more common, to the point where I cannot fucking stand it any more. I desperately want to uninstall Vista and replace it with Windows 7 Ultimate, but I just cannot afford it, and quite frankly I'd rather not use a free cracked/hacked/whatever version of it, in case Windows Updates don't work, or I get "not genuine" related issues, or what have you.

The most common BlueScreen error I get is DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, although I occasionally get a PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA error, too. When I first got Windows Vista with my new computer, there were no BlueScreens for a good 9 to 10 months, but then I suddenly started to get them on the odd occasion. I hoped that they would go away, and maybe updates from Windows Update would fix them for me, but no. It's just got more and more common over time, and now, I've seriously had enough. I've never had BlueScreen errors happen so much with any Microsoft O.S. other than Vista. I don't honestly know how Microsoft could fuck up an operating system so much. It seems most of the apparent "security and stability updates" I've been installing have not been helping improve my system at all. If anything, those updates have made Vista more bloated, unreliable, and laggy. (The time it takes me to log on is appallingly slow.)

I am simply looking for a definite solution to fix -- or at the very least -- significantly tone down the likelihood of Vista BlueScreening on my computer. It usually only happens when I'm playing a game, using Skype, or rendering something in Sony Vegas Pro. On very rare occasions, I've had BlueScreens occur when simply browsing the Internet using Firefox.

I've already searched on Google, and also Microsoft's website, but I couldn't really find any solutions to my problems. It could be a fault on my part, but a lot of me thinks the BlueScreens are down to Vista's crappyness.

I'm running on 3.00 GB of RAM, 32-bit Windows Vista Service Pack 2, with an AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+ at 3.12 GHz. My computer brand is ASUS.

So, yeah. Any help or advice on this would be extremely appreciated, thanks. I'm sick and tired of these errors beyond belief.

This post has been edited by Naean: 07 June 2011 - 06:31 PM

[Azu]

"When in doubt, ram out". Basically, try take out each of your, like 1gb at time and see if you still get BSOD. As well as other hardware.

This post has been edited by Azu: 20 April 2011 - 11:27 AM

[Naean]

"When in doubt, ram out". Basically, try take out each of your, like 1gb at time and see if you still get BSOD. As well as other hardware.

How exactly do I take out my RAM, 1 GB at a time? Physically, or via an application on my computer? If you mean physically, I have no clue how to do that.... Also, isn't there a more practical solution, like something I can do on computer software-wise, rather than hardware-wise?

This post has been edited by Naean: 20 April 2011 - 12:02 PM

[Super]

Well that's an error I don't miss at all. Usually happens when you done gone and messed up trying to install new or modded drivers, although some programs end up causing the problem. Something about calling upon the same input channel, hence why it says 'NOT LESS OR EQUAL'. I had it explained to me and what it basically ends up as is that you either screwed up, or your operating system has thought itself to death, as Windows is apparently known to do(I'm quoting someone else from half memory, sooo..).

What I did was up and replace the operating system with Vista from XP. 'Course, now that laptop has it's own host of problems and hasn't been used in some time.

TL;DR you put something on your Vista some eight months ago that clashed with a mandatory command and is causing your computer to seize. Either try and find and remove it and hope things get better, or your OS has deteriorated and you need to wipe it and start over. Or upgrade and keep your files.

...There could be a better way, I'm not familiar with the other error you got.

[Ell678]

When I had Vista, I recall seeing this. In my case, it was just Vista being shitty and after 3 (yes, 3 consecutive re-installs in one night) it stopped, but many months later it happened again, but not very often, only in heavy use. Super hit the nail on the head. However, I would suggest before wiping your system, try deleting your most recently installed drivers (graphics cards, etc) through safe mode and reinstall them. If it still happens, it's time to reinstall Vista. Or 7 :P

[angryzor]

Those IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL errors are usually caused by a borked driver. PAGE_FAULTs are more serious though and usually point in the direction of faulty memory, like Azu said.
So, no, the best solution would really be to try removing your RAM modules one by one and see if the BSOD's stop. And maybe your video card if you have a separate video card... If they stop then that piece of hardware is clearly faulty.
What you can also do to test your memory, is burning memtest86+ (http://www.memtest.org/#downiso) to a CD or install it on a USB flash drive, then rebooting from that disk or flash drive.

If they don't, ... well then the best solution would be to just reinstall your OS.
If that's not an option you can post a system info dump so we can help you better. This is a listing of every hardware in you PC, all running programs and a lot of other stuff (no hard disk contents of course). You may still find it an unacceptable breach on your privacy though, so I'm definitely not saying you _have_ to do this. You can generate one of those under Programs > Accessories > System tools > System information. Click File > Save... and post the resulting file.

This post has been edited by angryzor: 20 April 2011 - 01:30 PM

[Naean]

Thanks for all of your responses so far.

I don't want to do anything too drastic like re-installing my operating system or wiping the contents of my hard disks, simply because I really don't fancy re-installing god knows how many applications and hardware drivers, re-configuring the settings for them, etcetera. I may just have to wait until I have enough money to get Windows 7....

Also, here's my System Information File.
Hopefully it can be of some use.

[Techokami]

Have you tried getting the latest drivers? Windows Update is good about delivering drivers easily.

[Naean]

Have you tried getting the latest drivers? Windows Update is good about delivering drivers easily.

I install every single update I get from Windows Update (And have always installed every update since day 1.), and have checked numerous times in Device Manager for hardware updates, only to find that I'm already up to date with everything.

Also, I just went and checked for new solutions in Problem Reports and Solutions. Well lookie here:

I'll see what I can see....

Edit: Didn't find any useful information in those Problem Reports and Solutions links. Oh well.

This post has been edited by Naean: 20 April 2011 - 02:01 PM

[angryzor]

Have you tried getting the latest drivers? Windows Update is good about delivering drivers easily.

I install every single update I get from Windows Update (And have always installed every update since day 1.), and have checked numerous times in Device Manager for hardware updates, only to find that I'm already up to date with everything.

Also, I just went and checked for new solutions in Problem Reports and Solutions. Well lookie here:

I'll see what I can see....

Edit: Didn't find any useful information in those Problem Reports and Solutions links. Oh well.

I see "device driver problem found". Did it say in which device's driver? :P

If not, you really should run that memtest86+ test first. The next step would be the tedious 'try disabling that device', 'try disabling that device' so it's best to get the faulty memory possibility out of the way first. Note that this does take some time though.
Also, next time you get a BSOD, write down the driver the system crashed in ("seems to be caused by the following file: XXXXX.SYS" and at the bottom "XXXXX.SYS - Address 0xXXXXXXXX bla bla bla").

This post has been edited by angryzor: 20 April 2011 - 02:23 PM

[Naean]

I see "device driver problem found". Did it say in which device's driver? :P

Sadly, no specifics. This is all it said:


Also, I'll run that memtest86+ thing now. How exactly do I run it? I want to make sure I do this right.

[angryzor]

Well if you have a flash drive just insert it in your PC, empty it and download and install the auto-installer for pendrives, otherwise you'll have to download the iso and burn that to a CD or DVD with any CD burning software (use the burn ISO function, don't just make a data CD and copy it).

Then reboot while the CD or pendrive is still in your computer. It should maybe ask if you want to test or if you want to boot from disk, in that case say yes and it should start a very lengthy process of memory checks. Eventually it should tell you if it found any problems.

[Naean]

Well if you have a flash drive just insert it in your PC, empty it and download and install the auto-installer for pendrives, otherwise you'll have to download the iso and burn that to a CD or DVD with any CD burning software (use the burn ISO function, don't just make a data CD and copy it).

Then reboot while the CD or pendrive is still in your computer. It should maybe ask if you want to test or if you want to boot from disk, in that case say yes and it should start a very lengthy process of memory checks. Eventually it should tell you if it found any problems.

Just to double check, do I need to burn the downloaded ISO ZIP file as it is, or uncompress the ISO ZIP and just burn the mt420.iso file inside it?

[Overlord]

Burn the .iso, and reboot your computer with it in the drive. Let it run for a few hours, you should know by then if it's finding errors.

[Naean]

Burn the .iso, and reboot your computer with it in the drive. Let it run for a few hours, you should know by then if it's finding errors.

Thanks Overlord, and thank you angryzor, for your help.

I'll get back here when everything is done, and post my results.

This post has been edited by Naean: 20 April 2011 - 04:55 PM