irql issue when installing nvidia driver

thetrade101

Honorable
Jul 11, 2013
5
0
10,510
hi
just built my first system today (with the help of a knowledgeable sibling) as follows:
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 motherboard
Intel i5 3570 cpu
Galaxy GeForce GTX760 GC 2gb
Corsair 8gb (1x8gb) 1600 DDR3 ram
Corsair CX-750 modular 80+ bronze power supply
with Microsoft 8 64bit OEM
installed windows 8 64bit just fine, put in my motherboard cd and installed all the drivers there, and then put in the graphics card cd to install those drivers
however, upon attempting to install the graphics card drivers the system went to blue screen with the fault code "irql_not_less_or_equal"
I then downloaded the latest driver from NVidia's website, 320.49, but still the same issue. it's about a tenth of the way in and then cuts out.
I've tried googling the issue to find similar circumstances but haven't yet found anything so thought I'd turn here. as long as I'm not installing the graphics card driver the computer is fine.
I've pulled the ram out, inspected, cleaned and re-seated.
a little at loss at what else to do...
any help will be much appreciated, and i'll continue searching in the mean time
thanks
 
Solution
You're doing everything right, and it's clear Windows is having an issue applying the drivers to your setup. From my experience, there are several possibilities:

1. Bad graphics card. If you have faulty hardware, Windows might have no idea what the parameters of the device are, even if it can identify it. This would probably cause an irql error.

2. Corrupt Windows installation. This can happen if you have a faulty optical drive, or if you're using a non-legitimate copy of Windows.

3. Some sort of driver conflict amongst the motherboard drivers and the graphics driver. Typically the only drivers I ever install from the motherboard are the chipset drivers and, if Windows can't find a compatible driver, the LAN and audio...

Neospiral

Honorable
Jun 28, 2013
383
0
10,960
You're doing everything right, and it's clear Windows is having an issue applying the drivers to your setup. From my experience, there are several possibilities:

1. Bad graphics card. If you have faulty hardware, Windows might have no idea what the parameters of the device are, even if it can identify it. This would probably cause an irql error.

2. Corrupt Windows installation. This can happen if you have a faulty optical drive, or if you're using a non-legitimate copy of Windows.

3. Some sort of driver conflict amongst the motherboard drivers and the graphics driver. Typically the only drivers I ever install from the motherboard are the chipset drivers and, if Windows can't find a compatible driver, the LAN and audio drivers.

I would start by doing a complete wipe/full format of your hard drive and a fresh install of windows. When you get W8 up and running, first thing before installing anything else, install the 320.49 drivers from nVidia's web site. If the W8 install went perfectly and you get the same error, it's probably a bad card.
 
Solution

thetrade101

Honorable
Jul 11, 2013
5
0
10,510
thanks for the help
I downloaded and ran a minidump checker called "whocrashed", which pointed me towards a file called virtuwddm.sys
apparently the lucidlogix driver, by virtu, was clashing with the GeForce driver somehow...
I went into the drivers folder in system32 and changed the virtuwddm.sys name so it wouldn't read it anymore, and it let me install the GeForce driver
however, it wouldn't let me select the gpu, saying it had a corrupt driver or something, so I clicked to uninstall it to try again, but now every time I go into the driver install set up it says a restart is required, which I did after I uninstalled the driver. it also wont let me uninstall any of the other NVidia related files on the uninstall programs window, again saying I need to restart. any way to fix this?
ill fiddle around for a little longer, but if it still isn't working tomorrow ill wipe windows and reinstall as per your instructions.
thanks.
 

Neospiral

Honorable
Jun 28, 2013
383
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10,960
Ugh, I assume those lucidlogix drivers came as part of the z77 chipset package? I would get rid of them altogether. Their purpose is to allow you to switch between discreet graphics (your 6870) and intel integrated HD 4000 graphics. The feature is mainly for laptops to save power since running a discreet card in a laptop drains the battery. Although I've never heard of such a conflict blocking you from installing discreet GPU drivers, I'm sure you're not the first person to have the problem.

If you don't ever see yourself wanting to exclusively use the HD 4000 integrated GPU, that's probably your solution, but keep troubleshooting to see if you can avoid a W8 reinstall.
 

thetrade101

Honorable
Jul 11, 2013
5
0
10,510
yep, came as part of the set and I just installed them all. tomorrow when my brother is around i'll get him to have a look at properly uninstalling the drivers, I might just get rid of all drivers and start again, hopefully without having to reinstall windows.