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37506
Studio 1737 & Blue Screen of Death
I recently (November 8, 2008) purchased a Studio 1737, which has worked flawlessly for me. Last night, I got ready to head to bed, and, before it would shut down, it wanted to install 3 updates from Microsoft. I let it do the install and headed to bed, knowing it would shut down when it's finished.
I got up this morning to check my email before I went to work, and when I try to turn on the computer, I get a blue screen of death.
The stop error is 0x0000000A. IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL.
I did not install any new hardware. Aside from the Windows Updates, I installed no new software.
On one reboot, I got a different stop error: 0x000000FE. BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER.
I tried to let Windows do the startup recovery, but it didn't find any problems... I was able to boot into safe mode, but I didn't do anything from there.
I only had a short time to work on it this morning, and now I'm at work, and pondering what steps I should take when I return home. I'm hoping I can get somewhere with this without having to call into tech support (I'm not a patient person, so calling in and waiting on hold and working through things over the phone are a last resort for me!).
I figured my first attempt would be to restore to a point before the updates were installed last night, on the assumption that something in those updates conflicts or corrupts.
If anyone has any other suggestions, I'm open to possibilities. I did some quick googling this morning, and some people in the past have reported that the IRQ Stop error cropped up in conjunction with internal wireless cards going haywire, but I didn't see anyone with a Dell reporting that at any point...
Sharkie_Fan
5 Posts
1
January 14th, 2009 21:00
I hit F12 at startup and let it go through the diagnostics - 40 minutes worth, or so. Everything comes up OK, but still blue screen of death.
System restore from the "startup repair" wouldn't work - gave me an access denied error. System restore from Safe Mode worked OK, but still got the blue screen.
So I booted up to the internet and started doing some more googling. After some digging, I came across a forum and a poster was having the same problem I had. And he went through the same steps I had with the same results - system restore did not resolve the blue screen of death. His next step was to boot into safe mode, loading a driver at a time, until he found the offending driver - his Intel A/G wireless card. He reinstalled the driver, and all was well with the world again.
Since I'd seen other posters earlier in the day attribute this stop code to a faulty wireless card, and this guy solved his problem with a new driver, I logged onto the Intel site and got the latest drivers for the wireless card installed in my Studio 17. Rebooted after reinstalling the driver, and I'm back up and running.
husky0894
1.6K Posts
0
January 14th, 2009 09:00
The IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error is commonly the result of a drive with bad sectors that is failing. Power on, press F12, load the Dell diagnostics and run the extended (NOT just the quick) test on the hard drive.
Sharkie_Fan
5 Posts
0
January 14th, 2009 10:00
I've got a sneaking suspicion that it will come back as OK, given that the computer is only 1 month old, and doesn't have very many hours on it.
But for the sake of being thorough, though, I'll certainly do the diagnostics and see what they say.
Joseph S
4 Posts
0
February 17th, 2009 08:00
Hello Sharkie Fan,
I'm having the same blue screen problem after the Vista Update as well. My computer is one month old as well. Blah!
Just wondering if you've been blue screen free after installing the new driver.
Hoping that will be my fix as well.
Do I get the driver on the dell support page and is there a name/code for the driver so I can search it easily? Maybe the discussion thread you mention has more info. If you could forward the link to it that would be awesome.
Any help would be greatly appreciated as Dell tech support told me to call Dell software support. That was an disappointing answer as you have to pay $130 bucks upfront without any guarantees of fixing the problem.
Kinda bugs me as they were the one that installed Vista on the computer. Why install Vista if there are going to be these kind of software issues. Some better testing of the product is needed before they ship this computers out for sale. (Sorry going on rant... )
So again your help or anyone else's on the forum would be great!
Joseph S
4 Posts
0
February 17th, 2009 09:00
Hi Sharkie_Fan,
Took me awhile to figure out BSOD (blue screen of death).:emotion-1: I'm by no means a tech savy person newbie in this forum.
I haven't that problem while running IE.
But I will give the driver update a try. Question is which one do I download?
So I've gotten as far as the Dell Support Driver Download section of their web page. And chosen my 1737 with a 64 Bit operating system. Then I go to the Network Drivers drop down. I have so many choices. Which one is it?
Also I will definitely pick up a back up/new hard drive. Better be safe then.....
Let me know how your tech service call goes. Hope they are more helpful with you then they were with me.
Sharkie_Fan
5 Posts
0
February 17th, 2009 09:00
Unfortunately, I have NOT been blue screen free since updating the driver.
I've had the same blue screen return a couple of times - easily fixed by reinstalling the same wireless driver.
I also had a new blue screen that had something to do with a corrupt HTML dll somewhere, and a repair installation of Vista fixed that.
In my original inquiry, there were some suggestions that the hard drive was going bad. When fighting with the second blue screen (I'd pop the BSOD as soon as I opened IE or Firefox and tried to access a website), I thought I was going to have to reformat and reinstall, so I started copying some stuff off of my computer to our network - my documents, etc, etc. I was unable to copy a few files because they gave me a read error... which would lend credence to the hard drive having issues.
It almost seems as if there's something going on with the hard drive, and it's manifesting itself in corrupted files here and there that give the blue screen of death.
I'll probably call tech support next weekend when I have time to sit and troubleshoot the problem with them and see what comes of it. Personally, if they suggested I spend $130 on a service call - which has no guarantee of success - at this point in time, I'd try picking up a new hard drive and see if that solves anything. For me, it's a low risk situation because I'd use the second drive as a backup for photos/music (which I store in multiple places, so if something went silly with the "original" drive, I still have the data elsewhere....)
jwoods0325
3 Posts
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May 10th, 2009 19:00
jrg76
3 Posts
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May 24th, 2009 00:00
I'm having a problem that sounds similar. I've got a new Studio 1737 (about five weeks old) running Vista Home Premium, and I've been seeing a similar blue screen on startup, before the Windows icon appears. Haven't had a chance to take detailed notes on the error message, but the startup repair program tells me there is an error, but it can't fix it. I reset the system to its factory state, and the problem went away. Then, after I installed some software (Office, Firefox, etc., plus some Windows updates), the problem reappeared.
Now, I have successfully restored to a restore point prior to the last batch of Windows updates, and the machine appears to be rebooting consistently with no problem. So I suspect the problem is in the batch of Windows updates -- including Internet Explorer 8; a .NET update; a malicious software removal tool; a Silverlight update; and a bunch of Windows Live and Office updates. Something tells me the problem is with IE8. Does anyone have any thoughts on this error? I'm going to try installing the Windows updates *without* IE8, and see if the system crashes again.
Thanks,
-Ryan
ejn63
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87.5K Posts
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May 24th, 2009 04:00
Start with the Dell diagnostics -- F12 at powerup, particualrly run the extended hard drive and memory (RAM) tests.
dcmacrae
1 Message
0
June 22nd, 2009 06:00
I have had the same problem (BSOD).
I have called Dell Tech. Support 3 times:
1) Ran diagnostics and found nothing. Reloaded system from restore partition.
2) Ran diagnostics and found nothing. Reloaded system from DVD. Was told if problem continued would replace laptop.
3) Ran diagnostics and found nothing. Booted into safe mode. Rebooted normally. Was told would ship new hard drive and memory, but not replace laptop. I hung up!
It is very disappointing. I have owned 5 Dell computers in my life. Dell maybe trying to content with a decrease in sales but alienating customers is going to have a negative long lasting affect.
Spent 1000$ on a paperweight!
rickw51
1 Message
0
July 1st, 2009 08:00
I recently purchased a Studio 1737 and on the same day I received it got the BSOD. I wrote if off as a fluke but for the next few days (had it only a week) I got the screen more than half a dozen times. I did notice that on half those occassions, after rebooting, the pc did not recognize the fingerprint reader. I spent a few hours on the phone with Dell Tech Support but they really were not of any help. The diagnostics that they had me run I could have done on my own. Needless to say that I made a decision to return the system because I don't have a good feeling about it. I am debating whether to order another Studio 17. I have a few friends who has that system and has never had a problem with it. I really believe the problem is related to the fingerprint reader but Tech Support seems less than willing to accept that. As much as I like the reader, if I order a replacement I believe I will go without the fingerprint reader.
Sharkie_Fan
5 Posts
0
July 1st, 2009 09:00
For what it's worth, my problems ended up being a bad hard drive.
After going through all the troubleshooting steps that tech support had me go through, they agreed that the hard drive was bad and sent me a replacement drive. THe downside, of course, was that I'd had mine for a few months and had to restore the system software and start over from scratch.
The upside is that I haven't seen another BSOD since replacing the hard drive. I have the fingerprint reader as well, and it doens't cause any problems with my system.