bsod on startup

so i'm not quite sure what has happened to my laptop...i was using it normally earlier today...put it to sleep and put it on charge in my room...next time i come to it it's off, and now when I try turning it on it gets a blue screen on the windows startup!

the blue screen i'm getting is saying:

IRQL_not_less_or_equal

and it isn't citing anything specific for the problem

I have also tried putting in the windows DVD and used the repair function...only to be told that the problem cannot be fixed automatically.

I have also tried starting in Safe Mode...but the computer either freezes or gets a blue screen a few seconds after the last line showing is crcdisk.sys

Occasionally, when trying to start up normally, the computer will freeze the very first time the windows loading bar gets to the 2/3's mark (this is also the same time it will get a blue screen)

When I try starting up using the last working configuration, I never get a blue screen, but the computer freezes while windows is loading, again when the windows loading bar gets to the 2/3's mark for the first time.


What are my options now? Is there anything I can do to fix this or will I likely have to reinstall Windows (I'm really hoping I won't have to do this...)? I wish I could provide more details to try to isolate the problem...for all I know my computer might've woken up and then automatically installed some sort of update...an update which is the cause of this problem...but because it would have only happened automatically I can't tell you what updated.

I'm not afraid to use command prompt to fix the problem if necessary.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

Do you have more info other than "IRQL_not_less_or_equal", such has some hexadecimal codes ...?

 

"IRQL_not_less_or_equal" is almost always a driver issue. Since you did not install a new driver, I am going with an existing driver was corrupted.

Pop your dvd back in and choose COMMAND PROMPT

at the command prompt type
chkdsk c: /p
< enter >


Let it run, it will take a while. Try and reboot

 

yes there is a code. i'm not with my laptop at the moment but when i get home i will find out what the exact code is

i've tried this...no luck

 

I would try this:

Go to the BIOS, disable wifi
Reboot - check for the IRQL error

If no error, then the wifi card is to blame.

You can try this for all devices you can disable in the BIOS. For everything else that is non-essential to the computer booting, you can disable things in the device manager (boot into safe mode if necessary).

 

i've tried this too already, no dice

i disabled everything, not just wifi, and it still didn't work

 

Did you try System Restore? I think it should be an option on the same menu from which you tried system repair. Or you can press F8 at bootup and it may give you a system restore option.

 

Just checking on your status...any codes?

 

i don't have any restore points saved

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Technical Information:

*** STOP: 0x0000000A (0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFD8, 0x0000000000000002, 0x0000000000000000, 0xFFFFF80002253EC1)


Worst case scenario, I'll have to reinstall Windows. It will be a pain to do so which is why I'm trying to avoid it as much as possible, but if I have to do it it won't be the end of the world.

i'm going to take out some ram and see if that fixes anything (update)--> it didn't fix anything

 

I actually think I know what caused the problem! I just remembered that the antivirus program I use had installed a newer version and wanted me to restart my computer. I had installed the update about a week ago and didn't remember to restart my computer. When my computer turned off, I guess it went through the whole restart procedure, which is then when everything went kaput.

So is there any way for me to roll back or deactivate my antivirus/its respective drivers?

the antivirus program in question is avast

I have access to command prompt and I even think to My Computer

 

I think i'm just going to reinstall Windows.

I'll just install on top of my current installation for now, buy an external drive and backup everything I want (this is a great excuse to get an external drive...I've been thinking about getting one for a while now), and then format and do a completely clean install of Windows.

Thanks for the help

 

did you try launching system restore by booting off the Vista DVD?