... get an all blue screen full of text that includes a message
Driver_irql_no_less_or_equal

Further down it has a string of numbers that start
Stop:0x000000D1

Is all this supposed to help me fix it?

So far as I can recall the only new software or hardware, is an upgrade to Norting Internet Security (from NIS 2003) and installation of the software for an Olympus digital camera that we gave our boy for Christmas.

I don't defrag often, but the computer is seeming slow and I thought this would speed it up.

The hard disc is 35% free on a 40gb total, but it is about 5 years old and the PC is used a lot, so could it be this slowing things down if it's on the way out?

 

Nope, that means your computers fucked mate. Its known as the blue screen of death.

 

Seriously?

 

it means there is deffo an issue. It doesnt happen for nothing. It could be related to recent installations, any new hardware ie memory etc or it could just be mullered. Try entering the top line of the error message on the blue screen into google, it may give you an indication of where the problem lies.

 

try this link - http://forumz.tomshardware.com/softw...pict10993.html

I used to get this on my machine and it was heat related, it just decided to reboot on me whenver it felt like giving up. The intervals got progressively shorter between crashes. I moved the PC forward about a foot to get better airflow round the back, fitted a PCI exhaust card and its been fine since.

Try removing any recent hardware as well. If this doesn't fix, the easiest thing would be to back up all your data (docs, mp3's etc) and then rebuild the PC from scratch.

Cheers

Matt

 

hmmmmmm computer running slow after installing Norton....

Think you probably answered your own question there mate

 

This blue screen only appears when trying to defrag. Apart from being a little slow it all works fine apart from that.

The Norton 2003 worked well and I've never had a virus, but it must be either this, the camera software or the PC itself causing the problem.

 

trust us its not a problem wtih defrag its a problem with the hardware.

something's either set up wrong, or faulty

 

You have a problem dude. Blue Screen of death doesnt come up for the fun of it.

 

Try defraging in safe mode.

 

looks like faulty RAM, but as said, check out that site mentioned above

 

i agree with richard that RAM's the likely culprit.

other common ones are CPU settings incorrect so its not running at the right clock/multiplier, and hard drive jumpers set wrong so theyre both on primary or something similar

or good'ol fasioned overheating

 

Wouldn't be a RAM problem if Norton wasn't on it though.

Norton is a RAM hog - causes more problems than it solves and there's software out there 10times better FOR FREE!

 

uninstall Norton and run defrag.

If it works, then problem solved, but I still think its a RAM hardware problem though.

And I agree, Norton is shite IMO.

 

Uninstall Norton

Good luck

Not being nasty but he dont sound like the most geeky computer head

 

I've never come close to being described as a computer-head, geeky or otherwise.

I just want the damned thing to work and have no interest in knowing HOW it works!!!!

 

It'll be the driver for the Olympus digital camera that is causing the problem. Go onto the Olympus website and download and install the latest version driver for that camera and you should be sorted

 

Righto,

1) What version of Windows are you running ?

2) When you say the computer is running slow, do you mean from instant power on, or when trying to open applications ?

3) A BSOD does not immediately indicate a hardware failure.

 

1) Win XP Home

2) Just generally moving between applications and differnt windows (eg from forum to message and back)

3) Happy to hear that.

I hope it is the camera software and I will start with that one, then over the weekend I plan to remove things one by one, until it will defrag OK.

Also going to remove the Zip, CD and DVD drives and reinstall them - I can't see another way to rename them.

 

Trust me Norton is your problem

BSOD is not a hardware issue

CPU settings aren't going to be the problem if the computer has been running fine.

Camera won't be an issue either it will use minimal resources.

NORTON is a resource hog - it is well known that it slows computers to the brink of death, has poor effect and isn't worth the space in which I wrote this.

Go get your self some decent GNU (general license) software and if you need help finding it send me a pm

 

Kia,

i've been a "geek" since i was 5 years old, and a qualified MS professional, and have been working with windows systems my entire woking life, so i feel i'm qualified to comment.

it depends entirely on the message you get, that particular message is normally caused by a hardware issue. theyre just more commonly software issues because people f**k their home PCs up and corrupt vital windows diles and get BSOD crashes more often

I disagree 100%, CPUs get HOT, they also get hotter than normal if they are running at different clock speeds and multipliers than their standard settings. Incorrect CPU clock settings are a COMMON cause of crashes among the amateur PC DIYer

The Ammount of CPU time and Memory resources will not be relevant in crash situations. Computers can quite happily cope with high resource usage, whats the CANT cope with is badly coded or currupt drivers etc. which cause memory leaks, crashes, etc. etc. it could be a tiny 1K driver for a mouse for all it matters to its relevance to crashing...

i agree it is resource hungry! i wont use it anymore. however its unlikely thats its causing the issues (unless it's corrupted some hook dll or similar)

 

Right,

click start, go to run, and type in msconfig, click on the startup tab, and then print screen and post up some screen shots of what is displayed

 

depends how old you are now though I'm a life long geek long before windows was dreamt of lol

mmmm I'll compromise on that one - hard ware failure ususlly results in failure to boot period rather than a BSOD though.

I don't think he's taxing that pc that much in all honesty - if he too was a geek and was hammering daily or a serious online gamer then maybe but for the joe average who surfs the net a bit - the CPU being overclocked isn't really even going to be noticed.

True true one reason for always keeping things up to date as possible but in this instance I think it unlikely (gut feeling) unless it is an incompatibility issue with something else he's got on there.

I've solved quite a few BSOD's and other PC related issues purely by removing all traces of Norton.
It has some major issues and memory leaks and isn't really the best for it's purpose. Again yes you can do worse than having Norton and honestly you're better to have that than nothing but with the quality of free software (legally free software) then you can also do much better.

From the sounds of it you'd love our "office" hahaha
home lan with dmz cisco 3600series external, 2600 series internal.
WAMP http server in dmz, mail server under construction, linux server.
Full sun sparc station, Bay stack, hub and switch, various bt equipment.
3800 series cisco router sat doing nothing for time being.

 

Generally, a hardware failure will give you more warning then a BSOD. BSOD is usually windows throwing a paddy over something. Fatal Exceptions, Illegal Operations etc, etc. You'll probably find that despite all the trouble shooting and diagnosing under the sun, it will still benefit more with a wipe it clean and start again.