[Solved] BSOD troubleshooting help please

Hello to all you "smarter than me" people. I'd like to ask for some help. My husband's computer has been getting bsod randomly for the past couple of weeks.

We've been trying to diagnose the problem, but are getting no where.

He has Windows XP without service pack 3 (computer won't stay on long enough to complete the download)
it is an AMD Athon 64 3200+ with 1 gig of ram

He is getting the
Driver_irql_not_less_or_equal message most of the time, but sometimes it's just a stop message.

Below are a few of the bsod messages that I've jotted down.

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
***Stop: 0x000000d1 (0xf6009256, 0x00000006, 0x00000008x 0xf6009256)
***psched.sys F6009256 base at f5ffa000

----------------------------------
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
***Stop: 0x000000d1 (0xa0c3cc98, 0x00000006, 0x00000001, 0x868e300c)

----------------------------------
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
***Stop: 0x000000d1 (0x00000204, 0x0000000a, 0x00000000, 0xf6bffbd7)
***usbport.sys f6bffbd7 base at f6be5000

----------------------------------
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
***Stop: 0x00000001 (0x89a660002, 0x00000006, 0x00000000, 0xf60c1256)
***alcxwdm.sys f60c1256 base at f6022000

----------------------------------
***Stop: 0x0000008e (0xc000001d, 0xf6ae7256, 0x80548ebc, 0x00000000)


I've been running Memtest-86 v.4.5 for the past couple of hours and it has made it through 4 passes with no errors.

I'm not sure what other information anyone might need, I appreciate so much your help. We're pulling our hair out. )
Thank you in advance.
Maddy

Good advice. A hardrive format and a fresh windows install will most likely fix your problem.

Chibimaddy, please check for the drivers. If that doesn't fix it, please reply to the following details:
- Memory FSB (Eg: DDR 1066 / 1333 / 800 / 667 etc.)
- Windows XP 32 / 64 Bit and SP version.
- Exactly when are you encountering the BSOD error
- The motherboard model and type will also help.
:>

I had a situation a while back where random BSOD was occuring on a desktop workstation. They were random. Started occuring with more frequency. I finally reformatted and reloaded the OS. Like you, the BSOD was still happening randomly throughout the day, the system was on all day at work. I want to make this clear I tried EVERYTHING. For maybe three months...EVERYTHING.

I was just about to take the system down concluding the socket 754 MB had failed over time and I was reading through some online M$ support information pertaining to my BSOD problem. Remember, I had tried EVERYTHING. For three months. I came across some information pertaining to the harddrive and/or SATA cable being defective causing BSOD. Next day I brought a new SATA cable to work and plugged it in. Problem solved to this day not a single BSOD since. So, consider changing the data transfer cable to the HD.

Thanks again for everyone's help. After the second reformat, the computer seems to be running fine. We haven't had a crash in days. Although we are both being very cautious as to what we install.

I don't think the problem is actually fixed, but if it truly is, I think it may be because I swapped out the nvidia card with a all-in-wonder card and removed all the nvidia stuff before the reinstall.

I'm not sure how to close this thread (if it's even up to me), but I think the issue is closed for the time being. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

Thanks for your superb help. I hope I won't have tome come back, but if I do, glad to know there's such nice people here to help.

Maddy