DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error

[canooten]

Anyone have any tips for troubleshooting a laptop giving this error? My sister-in-law is having this error on her Dell laptop (had it since August) and since she's at school (on the other side of the state) I can't help her in person.
The full (mostly full anyway) text of the error is:

===================
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAl

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then selct Safe Mode.

Technical information:

*** STOP: 0x000000D1 (0X00000000, 0X00000002, 0X00000001, OXF7DB093F)
*** w29n51.sys - Address F7DB093F base at F7CA8000, DatesStamp 41784c93

Beginning dump of physical memory
Physicla memory dump complete.
Contact your system administrator or technical support group for further assistance.
=======================

I know this is usually a driver issue...many times due to hardware changes, but since this is a laptop, there have been no hardware or driver changes (sis-in-law doesn't know enough to add to the machine....she only does if I tell her to).
The only thing that has changed recently is that Firefox was updated to 2.0 this week. I had her restore back to the day before the update and she's still getting the blue screen about every 10 minutes....usually while she's actively using the machine.

Anything I can try????

 

[mrdinkel]

After summoning Google-Fu..... on first reading, it dealt with wireless; on further reading, more specifically, has been linked to Centrino issues.

http://support.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/CS-023065.htm

The file you mentioned, w29n51.sys, is there; did your sister update a driver with the centrino wireless portion or something?

Does said Dell Laptop feature Centrino? If so, I'd suggest getting a driver from either Dell or Intel, replacing it in safe mode, and see what happens.

If you need more help, then more detailed specs on said system will be needed.


Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[canooten]

I believe she is using the wireless card for her connection, but I doubt seriously that the drivers for the card have been updated. I set the system up to notify her of Windows updates and told her to install them if she saw the notification, but I don't believe Windows update includes driver updates automatically.

Below is the original configuration. Not the most detailed...it's from the Dell support site.

==============
1 GG440 PROCESSOR, 80536, PENTIUM M DOTHAN, 735A, PLASTIC GRID ARRAY, TJ85C
1 TD231 ASSEMBLY, ADAPTER, ALTERNATING CURRENT, 60W, LITEON, LEAD FREE, WORLD WIDE
1 J2551 CORD, POWER, 110V, 3F, ALTERNATING CURRENT, 3W, PROPOSITION 65, UNITED STATES
1 TD459 KEYBOARD, 87, UNITED STATES, ENGLAND/ENGLISH, SINGLE POINTING, KEYWEST/KINNEY
1 Y5522 DUAL IN-LINE MEMORY MODULE, 512MB, 533, 64X64, 8K, 200
1 CD940 KIT, SOFTWARE, WORDPERFECT, 12, PLUS-TRIAL
1 HK249 KIT, SOFTWARE, OVERPACK, WXPHSP2C, COMPACT DISKETTE W/DOCUMENTATION, ENGLAND/ENGLISH
1 NG221 ASSEMBLY, COMPACT DISK READ WRITE/DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE COMBO, 24X, SONY, SULLIVAN/TOBAGO
1 KD464 LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY, 15.4WXGA, VIDEO ELEC. STDS. ASSOC., SAMSUNG
1 U8902 BEZEL, PLASTIC, LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY, 15.4, NOTEBOOK, KEYWEST/KINNEY
1 WD269 ASSEMBLY, CABLE, COAXIAL, LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY, 15.4, KEYWEST/KINNEY
1 RJ272 ASSEMBLY, BASE (ASSEMBLY OR GROUP), BOTTOM, KEYWEST/KINNEY, 915GM
1 TD429 BATTERY, PRIMARY, 29WH, 4C, LITHIUM, SONY
1 X6920 HARD DRIVE, 40G, 9.5MM, 5.4K, HITACHI, MORAGA PLUS, LEAD FREE
1 C9063 CARD (CIRCUIT), NETWORK, MINI PCI CARD, 2200LF, NOT APPLICABLE
---------------------

If more detailed specs are needed, I'll get them as soon as I can. Just let me know what you need.

 

[MrCoffee]

delete

 

[EricB]

it's either bad ram or conflicting programs

 

[canooten]

I'll have to check the RAM when she's home for Thanksgiving, although she said it worked fine yesterday. I had her disable her wireless card thinking it could be a conflict there....not sure if that had anything to do with it, but we'll see.

 

[EricB]

I was drunk last night. yours look like wireless or conflictring wireless program problem.

 

[canooten]

I was drunk last night

Nice....drunk computer support!

I'll check that out and see if she's had any issues since disabling her wireless card.