hey guys, found this forum when googling my problem so i thought id sign up and ask you guys for help. I've read:

XP - IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL !!! PLEASE HELP!!!

and it was somewhat helpful.

i am installing xp sp3 (also have tried sp2) on this system:

k8n-e-deluxe mobo
athlon 64 3400
brand new WD Caviar SE 320gb hdd

i boot up using the winxp sp3 disc and right before it gets to the screen that allows you to choose a drive to install to i get 1 of 3 errors:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL and
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

i have tried a lot of things,
ran memtest
ran DFT
ran WD data lifeguard test
changed jumpers and cables
unplugged all unecessary USB devices and internal devices (such as the soundcard)

i cant see the problem being a driver since ive installed xp sp2 from scratch on this rig before using the same hardware. winxp sp2 and winxp sp3 both give the same errors when attempting to install. I'm thinking it may be the processors cache or the mobo thats messed up.... any suggestions?

thanks in advance for any help

Different hardware...a new drive. Were the previous installs on a sata or ide drive?

Boot to the bios (note the bios revision number). Does the bios see the new hard drive?

If this is a sata drive, what exact model is it...sata I or II?

If this is a sata drive, is the drive jumpered for 1.5 or 3 Gb?

What memory is in the system, make and model?

i ran memtest and DFT on the hardware it was previously installed on. one day it stopped booting and gave me that error. trying to find the culprit i ran those tests and the drive and memory were good. decided to pick up a new drive anyway and still no go.

its IDE master and DVD-RW slave
the bios sees the harddrive and the dvd drive
the bios revision is 1001
memory is corsair platinum series 512mb 400mhz
xms3202v4.1

theres 2 memory sticks and like i said they originally passed the memtest twice but i took one out at a time and saw what happened. the system crashed a few seconds slower with only 1 stick in.
anyways, it doesnt seem to even POST when i put the other stick back in but i may just have to blow out the slot or tighten it better

thanks for the help danleff

Assuming that the XP disk is not the culprit, you seem to be pointing toward the memory sticks. I looked them up and they run at 2.75v?

I then looked at the Asus bios support page and bios 1005 or newer has a fix for memory running at 2.8v. Perhaps a bios update may help?



So are you saying that the memory and/or hard drive were previously on another system? If so, I would try the bios update.

Did you try booting the XP disk on another system to see if it starts ok on the other system?

ive been trying to update the bios but not having any luck, i found the afudos app i think its called to make a boot disc from the .BIN file but im having a hard time making it work. more details on this to come.

the hardware as it was (before the new harddrive) was running win xp. i suspect the motherboard or chip may be bad

i dont have another system to test it on right now but i may be able to pick up another system over the weekend to test things on.

sorry for the delay, more info to come

update:
used a known xp cd to boot. same problem
swapped out video cards. same problem

ill post if i get it fixed, im almost certain theres a problem with the motherboard or CPU