First BSOD, how do I determine what it was?

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Kil4Thril

2[H]4U
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Sep 21, 2003
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I was switching users, and it screened with an IRQ Less Than or somethingorother- I couldn't read it in time. Where is a log, and how do I read it to find the source of the problem?
 
First and foremost, one of the first steps everyone should do on their PCs is to disable the Automatic reboot feature in the System Properties.

However, that will only help with any future errors, so for now, you can check your event logs.
 
I found nothing under "critical", and yeah, I had forgotten about the auto reboot :(

How do I read the memory dump .DMP file?
 
Check this article out. It describes how to read the DMP files.



As far as that error you mentioned... it may have been IRQL Not less or equal. Thats a common error that dying RAM will generate. When you have some time, let memtest run for a bit to rule that out. I'm not saying it is your problem, but it's worth letting it run while you're sleeping to verify the RAM isn't bad.
 
It says that my crash was likely caused by memory corruption. My memory has been cooking all day with 0 errors. I wonder what caused the corruption? The machine was left overnight with IE running, and a busy Yahoo mailbox open. I wonder if one of those killed it?
 
IRQL NOT LESS THAN EQUAL can be caused by tons of things. Drivers, hardware problems, overclocking stability, ram errors, usb peripherals.. you get the point. Just ignore it unless it starts becoming a real problem.
 
I'm thinking it was a Flash Error. The only browser crashes I ever get are on FLV pages, and I think Yahoo's mail has Flash running. Me and the Mrs. will have to discuss leaving that running.

An oddity, after I restarted, the machine was sluggish as hell. Another reboot and it's back to normal. :confused:
 
I ran some utilities on my HDD's, and I did get errors. Can this be the cause? I will replace the main one anyway (older Hitachi 80gb), likely with a WD 640. Is there a free "Ghost" program that I can do a bit-for-bit copy so I don't need to completely reinstall? Also, does anyone offer quantity discounts and good prices on these drives? I could actually use 5 or 6.
 
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