Technology Blue Screen in Windows Vista problem

[S O F I]

So, I'm doing a favor for this guy.

His Toshiba Satellite Harman/Kardon is getting the blue screen of death. The error is "Driver IRQL Not Less or Equal" and the driver showing is "IaStor.sys". Anyone know how to fix this? I've been on some 30 different forums/threads and still can't find the solution. The guy says recently his anti virus ran out so he tried to install a new one and then this problem happened.

Anyone know a solution or how to disable the iaStor.sys driver so that Windows can load at least? I get the blue screen as soon as I get past the Windows Vista screen, even when I boot in Safe Mode.

 

[Tha_Wood]

i ahd the same problem a few months ago, it didnt end well. i lost all my shit pretty much

 

[Pittsey]

Can you take the HD out, run it as a secondary in your PC and save all his data. Then wipe the drive and start again.

Obviously this isn't fixing the problem, but I have no answer to that. Just a way to recover his data and get the issue fixed, without fucking around too much.

 

[Prize Gotti]

As for the the actual sys file you are refering to, i can't fathom as to whether it is a real driver or a virus disquised as a driver, but either way, alot of people had this problem, and I've not read one solution.

However, there is something that I all ways do to save time and hassle of tryna fix problems like this. I roll back using Windows recovery.

Boot the computer > F8 into boot options, there should be an option for recovery > restore to a date you know that was before the problem occured.

I actually use that most on PC's where some one is using a pirated version of windows and have some how been locked up by the anti-piracy stuff.

 

[Casey]

Load Ubuntu from a USB key or disc - the download is free at www.ubuntu.com. You don't even have to install it, you can run the whole OS from the key or disc.

It should be able to access the Windows directories, so then backup all the data to an external drive, format and do a clean Windows install.

That's what I would do.

IMO, with BSOD's occuring that frequently, there's not gonna be a simple fix. Or you, can try and repair Windows from the installation disc, if you have one.

 

[masta247]

It's Intel's Sata chipset driver's failure. Most probably dude installed wrong drivers from the Windows CD/DVD or from some other source.
Go to BIOS, switch SATA data controller (or something among those lines) from ACHI to IDE and install Windows again. Don't install any SATA drivers or anything else from the Windows installation disk, only the system. Obviously data backup and hdd format is the best solution before installing the system again but you can try without it if he's desperate about keeping everything.
So try this: enter bios -> switch from ACHI to IDE -> insert the Windows disk and restart -> install Windows again.
If it will still not work then backup the data, format HDD and install Windows. The first option should solve the problem, the second one will.

 

[Prize Gotti]

Load Ubuntu from a USB key or disc - the download is free at www.ubuntu.com. You don't even have to install it, you can run the whole OS from the key or disc.

It should be able to access the Windows directories, so then backup all the data to an external drive, format and do a clean Windows install.

That's what I would do.

IMO, with BSOD's occuring that frequently, there's not gonna be a simple fix. Or you, can try and repair Windows from the installation disc, if you have one.

Ive decided to run ubuntu in a virtual box instead as running it as my os, looks interesting to play with

 

[Casey]

Yeah I use it as my primary OS now after learning all the ins and outs. It just keeps getting more awesome, the level of control and customisation is just sick. Learning all the terminal stuff has helped a lot with modding Android as well.

 

[Preach]

i don't know how tech savvy you are, but here's a few links that might help:

http://www.adrc.com/diy_rescue/win/windows_blue_screen.html
addresses how to read a bluescreen. for example, it mentions the blue screen error ID, which I guess you will have to retrieve.

http://www.pchell.com/hardware/irqs.shtml
general information about IRQs. it's not very lengthy, and i think this should give you some insight into the nature of Interrupt ReQuest.

also, i don't know if you knew, but windows dumps diagnostic information about the error in a txt-file somewhere on the hdd. i guess you should google up how to retrieve it unless you know how, as well. i'm assuming the memory dump file will have information about which IRQ channel is experiencing a conflict. the second link has a table showing what devices the different IRQ channels use. it also has an additional table showing what an IRQ conflict on a distinct IRQ channel most often means. this should definitely help you isolate which component(s) is causing the conflict.

the error message you specified in the topic seems to be a generic error message. it doesn't give any specific information, it just tells you there is an IRQ conflict. if you retrieve the error ID from the memory dump and google that, i think you will get more accurate results / results from forums where people posted their dump file for analysis.

about the file name you specified, i found these which were interesting:

"IASTOR.SYS is a driver used to control the SATA disks, usually for raid systems but still used in normal single disk setups as well. It should NOT be removed."

"Important: Some malware camouflage themselves as iaStor.sys, particularly if they are located in c:\windows or c:\windows\system32 folder. Thus check the iaStor.sys process on your pc whether it is pest. We recommend Security Task Manager for verifying your computer's security. It is one of the Top Download Picks of 2005 of The Washington Post and PC World. "

if you can get the pc to run for a while (i dont remember if you said the blue screen happens on startup) you can analyze the process with process checkers to see if its a phony, if it's not, i guess the problem is hard drive related.

although if you want an easy fix i bet restoring to a previous restoration point will do the trick.

 

[S O F I]

Thank you all. In the end, I just ended up restoring it because the guy didn't mind. lol

 

[Prize Gotti]

Thank you all. In the end, I just ended up restoring it because the guy didn't mind. lol

Restoring wont delete any documents or media, it simply sets all the programs, registry keys, drivers, update et etc back to the store point.

 

[S O F I]

I recovered it, then. Straight to out-of-the-box shit.