# [SOLVED] DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)



## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

Hello people, I am here because of my BSOD problem again. I've been here before but have not had a BSOD in atleast 2 years I think? Yes.

Anyway, I was sitting and listening to music, chatting with a friend and then suddenly all froze and I got a BSOD. Suprised and all I used WhoCrashed to see the reports. Now I haven't done anything recently that could have changed my computer at all.

I used the hdd repair thing on Windows that allows to to remove Windows.old and Windows.old.000 maps which are from previous windows installations, they took up 70GB and had unnecessary files. From what I read it was completely fine to remove this and even recommended by my friends.

Now I really have no idea if this is one of those BSOD's that happens once and never appears. But I will not take that risk. I will actually post the information of the crash reports below. I SOMEHOW got 2 crash reports at the same time and I am unsure if it is something normal or not? I dont know. I will post them in order anyway. And also my specs

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 945 Quad Core 3.1 Ghz
GPU: Nvidia GTX560
RAM: 8GB
Motherboard: ASRock N68S-C USS
Operative System: Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate


*On Fri 2013-07-19 18:12:06 GMT your computer crashed*
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\071913-31703-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x6F880) 
Bugcheck code: 0xD1 (0xA, 0x2, 0x0, 0xFFFFF880010C2FA5)
Error: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode driver attempted to access pageable memory at a process IRQL that was too high.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem. 
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time. 


¨
*On Fri 2013-07-19 18:12:06 GMT your computer crashed*
crash dump file: C:\Windows\memory.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: storport.sys (storport+0x2FA5) 
Bugcheck code: 0xD1 (0xA, 0x2, 0x0, 0xFFFFF880010C2FA5)
Error: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\storport.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Microsoft Storage Port Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode driver attempted to access pageable memory at a process IRQL that was too high.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem. 
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time. 


Could use some help here, if you need more info (which I am sure you do). Go ahead and ask for it, I'll be frequenting this thread every couple of 40 minutes because I dont want this issue to get worse!


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## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Hi,

Please refer to the following thread and reply back here accordingly - http://www.techsupportforum.com/for...ons-windows-8-windows-7-and-vista-452654.html

Regards,

Patrick


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Hi,
> 
> Please refer to the following thread and reply back here accordingly - http://www.techsupportforum.com/for...ons-windows-8-windows-7-and-vista-452654.html
> 
> ...


I would but my jcgriff2 file is stuck on "Waiting for SystemInfo" endlessly ... So I only have the perfmon report.


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## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Okay, attach that, and for minidumps, you can do it manually:

Please navigate to C:/Windows/Minidump and zip up any dump files located there that you'd like to have analyzed, and then attach that zip here. If there are no dumps located in C:/Windows/Minump, you may be writing full memory dumps to C:/Windows, and it'll be called MEMORY.DMP.

If there are no dumps in either of those locations, but you know you have a page file set up, any "cleaner" programs such as TuneUp Utilities, CCleaner, etc, will delete this upon use.

If you cannot get into normal mode, please do this via Safe Mode.
Regards,

Patrick


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Okay, attach that, and for minidumps, you can do it manually:
> 
> Please navigate to C:/Windows/Minidump and zip up any dump files located there that you'd like to have analyzed, and then attach that zip here. If there are no dumps located in C:/Windows/Minump, you may be writing full memory dumps to C:/Windows, and it'll be called MEMORY.DMP.
> 
> ...


Here you go, perfmon and the minidump. I could only find one in the minidump folder.

There are files created by the jcgriff2 file but as it didn't get systeminfo I guess it's no use attaching?


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## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

I unfortunately cannot understand the language in the perfmon.

Moving onto the dump, it's of the *DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (d1)* bugcheck.



> A kernel-mode driver attempted to access pageable memory at a process IRQL (Interrupt Request Level) that was too high.
> 
> Usual causes are a device driver has a bug and attempted to access invalid memory, the pagefile has been corrupted or there is a memory problem.


Update to Service Pack 1 ASAP: Learn how to install Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) 


*After doing that, let's enable Driver Verifier to see if we can catch a device driver culprit:*



Driver Verifier:


> *What is Driver Verifier?*
> Driver Verifier is included in Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 to promote stability and reliability; you can use this tool to troubleshoot driver issues. Windows kernel-mode components can cause system corruption or system failures as a result of an improperly written driver, such as an earlier version of a Windows Driver Model (WDM) driver.
> Essentially, if there's a 3rd party driver believed to be at issue, enabling Driver Verifier will help flush out the rogue driver by flagging it and causing your system to BSOD.
> *Before enabling Driver Verifier, it is recommended to create a System Restore Point:*
> ...



Regards,

Patrick


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> I unfortunately cannot understand the language in the perfmon.
> 
> Moving onto the dump, it's of the *DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (d1)* bugcheck.
> 
> ...



I figured that issue would happen. 

Yes the language is swedish and I doubt I can make a report in english, if you know how just tell me. I doubt it's possible anyway.

I remember this process before, I'll use the Driver Verifier yeah and I'll leave it on for as long as I can. Also care to tell me how to disable it? If needed? 

On top of that, I didn't have many non-microsoft drivers. So this shouldn't take long. 

I will restart my computer now and see what happens.

But why would this BSOD happen? It says it's most likely caused by "Microsoft Storage Port Driver". Do you know what that is?

I haven't changed any drivers for atleast 2 months or so, the only drivers I update regularly are the drivers of my Nvidia card.

I also carry really bad news for you, installing SP1 is not a choice for me. It has never worked, I've tried this year, last year and in 2011 when I got this system but I could never install it.

During the installation it would never complete, it just gave me an error saying something along "SP1 installation encountered an error and cancelled" if I remember correctly. I don't want to try this again because I know it wont work. 

And quite frankly as far as I know SP1 is not necessary for this. 

If the cause is around SP1 then I will try to install it, we'll see. Cause last time I had to wait sooo long and it still failed. Big time dissapointment


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

It seems that using Driver Verifier did make my computer BSOD in less than 30 minutes.

When I came back into my room I saw my computer restarting, I just left it on the desktop with nothing but Steam in the background as usual.

I didn't get a single new minidump, I have no idea why. Very unsual however.

I tried installing SP1 but the link you linked was no use, my Windows Update has no SP1 displayed and the manual download makes no sense. There are like 10 different files from the download center link and none of them make sense


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## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Okay:

1. To get SP1 to show up on Windows Update, you have to install many other recommended updates. You should have all of the recommended updates installed anyway.



> I also carry really bad news for you, installing SP1 is not a choice for me. It has never worked, I've tried this year, last year and in 2011 when I got this system but I could never install it.
> 
> During the installation it would never complete, it just gave me an error saying something along "SP1 installation encountered an error and cancelled" if I remember correctly. I don't want to try this again because I know it wont work.
> 
> And quite frankly as far as I know SP1 is not necessary for this.


Service Packs are released for a reason, just like regular Windows security updates are. They are a large collection of enhancements, bug fixes, security patches, etc. It's also necessary to have service packs for certain programs to run properly, etc.

Do not worry, I will do my absolute best to assist you in getting SP1 installed.


2. For verifier, if it didn't generate a dump file, just try again. If it doesn't generate again, check your settings are is as follows:

1. Start > type %systemroot% which should show the Windows folder, click on it. Once inside that folder, ensure there is a Minidump folder created. If not, CTRL-SHIFT-N to make a New Folder and name it Minidump.

2. Windows key + Pause key. This should bring up System. Click Advanced System Settings on the left > Advanced > Performance > Settings > Advanced > Ensure there's a check-mark for 'Automatically manage paging file size for all drives'.

3. Windows key + Pause key. This should bring up System. Click Advanced System Settings on the left > Advanced > Startup and Recovery > Settings > System Failure > ensure there is a check mark next to 'Write an event to the system log' > Ensure 'Automatically restart' is un-checked. 

Ensure Small memory dump is selected and ensure the path is %SystemRoot%\Minidump.

4. Double check that the WERS is ENABLED:

Start > Search > type services.msc > Under the name tab, find Windows Error Reporting Service > If the status of the service is not Started then right click it and select Start. Also ensure that under Startup Type it is set to Automatic rather than Manual. You can do this by right clicking it, selecting properties, and under General selecting startup type to 'Automatic', and then click Apply. 



> But why would this BSOD happen? It says it's most likely caused by "Microsoft Storage Port Driver". Do you know what that is?


Good question! When WinDbg lists culprits such as storport.sys (Windows system file), it's 99% of the time due to a 3rd party device driver or another complication. Windows however cannot always detect the proper culprit, as BSOD's don't happen instantly and sometimes the actual culprit gets away and leaves the murder weapon with what we see blamed before Windows catches it.

This is why we have tools such as Driver Verifier to help us catch a device driver if it's the issue, etc. Because with Driver Verifier, once that driver does whatever it isn't supposed to be doing, rather than Windows possibly be late to catching it, it will halt the system immediately with the 'probably caused by' listed as that device driver (if it's a driver issue, of course).

Regards,

Patrick


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Okay:
> 
> 1. To get SP1 to show up on Windows Update, you have to install many other recommended updates. You should have all of the recommended updates installed anyway.
> 
> ...


Okay so, lets see.

Thank you, very friendly post. Good information. I am about to install some Windows Updates. There were 2 of them, 1 option and 1 necessary/required. 

Optional was Microsoft Essential update and I will not install that because I don't use Microsoft Essential Defender or whatever it is called. I use Malwarebytes and it works a thousand times better if not more.

After this I will have to restart, and will enable the verifier again. I actually disabled it assuming it would give me a dump. But it didn't. So I'll just do it again. And I am not sure about that SP1 issue, it's not on the list. This is why I'm installing this update to see if it will appear after my restart but I kind of doubt it again.

If it doesn't, I don't know. I understand that SP1 is important but I've never been able to install it .. 

Now the error report was on manual and not started, maybe that was the issue all along with the minidump? Most likely I will get one now. 

I hope we will find what driver this is, it's extremely ******* annoying having BSOD. I need to play WoW with my friends over the weekends always because we do many things together and this issue ruins it all.

EDIT: BIG TIME UPDATE HERE!

I found SP1 in hidden updates which I hid, I attempted to install it but I got this an immediately cancelled update. Saying "An unidentified error occured" Code: 80246007 :huh:
*By using the following thread I have fixed the above issue: Update error 80246007 installing KB975929, 979306, 976662, 976264 and - Microsoft Community

I can now download it and it's installing.

*


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## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Absolutely fantastic work! I am headed off to class soon, but I will check the thread in class throughout the day for your updates.

Once SP1 is installed and finished, keep verifier enabled (or enable it again if you've disabled it) and see if a DMP file generates.

Regards,

Patrick


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Absolutely fantastic work! I am headed off to class soon, but I will check the thread in class throughout the day for your updates.
> 
> Once SP1 is installed and finished, keep verifier enabled (or enable it again if you've disabled it) and see if a DMP file generates.
> 
> ...


It was installed, successfully at that. 

I immediately noticed my Firefox starts up quicker than usual. I had some issues regarding that before.

I will get verifier going and wait until I get a dump, when I get a dump I will disable it again as I dont think I will need it.

I'll be on here all night pretty much, I dont have anything else to do now. I dont want to play and randomly get shut off, it might cause issue with saving character information in games before things are completed. 

You enjoy your class, hope to see a response soon if I BSOD again. When it comes to computer stuff, there is nothing more I despise than BSOD and Hardware failure. :angry:


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Catched the driver again it seems, but it didn't BSOD? It just locked up for a second, and closed.

I disabled restart now when I logged back in. No luck with the memory dump. Still only have the old memory dump. The dump folder is completely empty. God damnit

I'll keep waiting I guess, this sucks.

EDIT: Happend again in less than 20 minutes again, just shuts down without any BSOD and does not generate any crash report what so ever.


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Can't edit message so I'll just post a new post, it is necessary. Im not doing this to bump

Just had a BSOD caused by nvlddmkm.sys, no dump was created. I dont understand why. I snapped a picture, cant attach yet for some reason though. So I just use this instead http://puu.sh/3GU59.jpg

Seems to be nvidia drivers, I'll update them provided I don't crash lol. And see where that goes.

I am just afraid that I might BSOD during driver update and it might cause corruption


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## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Hi,

It's okay about the posts, don't worry. If you are worried about corruption, you can setup a system restore point. 

You mentioned you often update your video card drivers, and sometimes the latest drivers do end up causing issues. 

Ensure you have the latest video card drivers (double check). If you are already on the latest video card drivers, uninstall and install a version or a few versions behind the latest to ensure it's not a latest driver only issue (common). If you've already tried the latest version as well as many possible previous versions, you can try a beta driver if available.

Regards,

Patrick


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Hi,
> 
> It's okay about the posts, don't worry. If you are worried about corruption, you can setup a system restore point.
> 
> ...



I haven't updated my nVidia drivers in like a month and a half actually now that I think of it. I've been very busy and haven't had the time. 

I downloaded the latest and most stable and will attempt to install. I disabled verifier because I don't want it to crash while I install. I really hope this is as easy as an nVidia driver instead of more advanced things. 

But I sense more than one thing is causing it, that would be ... Unfortunate? Yes

Edit: It has been done, updated and I will now proceed to enable verifier again. I hope I don't have another BSOD, but it's most likely inevitable. I never have that kind of luck 

We'll see how it goes. I do appriciate the help I've gotten so far


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## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Yes, good work on disabling the verifier for now. Once your drivers are updated, use the system as you would regularly. If you BSOD again, try enabling verifier and see if there are still lockups rather than a BSOD and a dump generation.

Regards,

Patrick


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Yes, good work on disabling the verifier for now. Once your drivers are updated, use the system as you would regularly. If you BSOD again, try enabling verifier and see if there are still lockups rather than a BSOD and a dump generation.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Patrick


I had it enabled, locked up 10 minutes after the driver install and had to restart. I think there are issues left but I will disable the verifier as you say and continue using the system as I always do.

I'll go try playing something .. I guess, I've never had BSOD's caused by Nvidia before either. This is new to me. What it could possibly conflict with is just .. I dont know. I can't come up with anything really.


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## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Okay, if you locked up again, we still have issues with a device driver. Since it's locking up rather than generating a crash dump, we are going to need to do this ONE 3rd party driver at a time, or very small groups.

So, remember how when setting up verifier you chose what drivers you wanted to select? Rather than selecting ALL 3rd party non-Microsoft drivers, we will now have to select either ONE at a time, or very few to test at a time.

This will take a little time, but it will give us an answer. Given you are crashing / locking up not too much after booting with verifier, figure you go 20-30 mins without crashing when selecting ONE 3rd party driver (or a small group), turn off verifier and select different 3rd party drivers.

Once you find the driver that is locking up the system, let me know.

Regards,

Patrick


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Okay, if you locked up again, we still have issues with a device driver. Since it's locking up rather than generating a crash dump, we are going to need to do this ONE 3rd party driver at a time, or very small groups.
> 
> So, remember how when setting up verifier you chose what drivers you wanted to select? Rather than selecting ALL 3rd party non-Microsoft drivers, we will now have to select either ONE at a time, or very few to test at a time.
> 
> ...


You sure you wish to go through with this then? Because since I had it off I've had no BSOD's if that helps.

If you still want me to do it tell me, I guess I'll start. I imagine it will take some time however.


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## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Well, if you have had no BSOD's for now, that's fantastic. If you DO crash again, go through with the one at a time or small groups method.

Regards,

Patrick


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Well, if you have had no BSOD's for now, that's fantastic. If you DO crash again, go through with the one at a time or small groups method.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Patrick


And so I shall do. I appriciate your help. Just hoping it doesn't happen again.

If it does I'll report back asap and on top of that, start using verifier again.


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

That didn't last long.

I had a lock up, not a BSOD. The usual, mouse froze, sound on repeat etc etc.

Had to restart manually. I guess I will now start with verifier and select 1 driver at a time. 

The list is the following(in order):

amdxata.sys - Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
atmfd.dll - Adobe Systems Incorporated 
dump_diskdump.sys - Unkown?
dump_dumpfve.sys - Unkown?
dump_nvstor.sys - Unkown?
hssdrv6.sys - Anchorfree Inc
mbam.sys - MalwareBytes
nvbridge.kmd - Nvidia Corporation
nvhda64v.sys - Nvidia Corporation
nvlddmkm.sys - Nvidia Corporation
nvm62x64.sys - Nvidia Corporation
nvstor.sys - Nvidia Corporation
secdrv.sys - Macrovision Corporation

That means I start with amxdata.sys now. Man this better be worth it ...


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Perhaps it's best to select all drivers and one by one disable them to see what the cause is? 

Or 2 at a time? Please elaborate. I wont be up all night tonight so going one and one may prove difficult I think. 

amdxata.sys is already proved to be clean, 20 minutes and nothing


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

I can't edit my posts for some reason, anyway I'm going to bed and be online tomorrow and start scanning again. Thank you again. 

You live in NY so your schedule shouldn't be too far off right? Oh well I dont know. 03:19 AM now as I post this.


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## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Hi,

I just returned from classes. You can do 2 at a time if you'd like, but just note if you get a lock up when selecting the 2 you do, you will have to see which 1 of the 2 it is by disabling either and seeing if you get a lock up.

Also, can you please go into detail in regards to what happens when enabling verifier? Does it lock up, and if so, how? What happens? You mentioned shutting down as well, what do you mean by that?

Any extra info greatly helps!

Regards,

Patrick


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Hi,
> 
> I just returned from classes. You can do 2 at a time if you'd like, but just note if you get a lock up when selecting the 2 you do, you will have to see which 1 of the 2 it is by disabling either and seeing if you get a lock up.
> 
> ...


Just woke up, took time sadly. But I will continue on the issue of course. 2 at a time.

And yes I will explain with more detail, but first I will tell a new issue I experienced yesterday before going to bed.

As usual it seemed like I was going to lock up, my mouse would not move, the sound in the background was stuck on loop and I figured I would have to restart but after waiting about 4 seconds maybe everything went back to normal. Then, after a minute or so it happened again and again etc.

At those times I noticed that my cursor went weird too, if I for example hovered over somewhere I could write and got the blinking I then after the freeze/hang(?) it would stay like that forever. Same goes for loading cursor. 

And I've had 3 kinds of experiences with Verifier so far.

1. Lock up
2. Lock up and then shut down, as if there was a BSOD (there wasn't)
3. BSOD

The first one is like the typical lock up, I explained almost most of it above. My mouse locks up, I can't move it, the picture locks, the sound is stuck on extreme repeat and I will be forced to manually restart. 

The same thing happens also with number 2, except that after the lock up it will shut down instead of giving me a BSOD. And because I've disabled automatic restart in system settings as you said. I again must restart manually.

And as for BSOD, it almost speaks for itself. It locks ups/hangs, gives me a BSOD, the information and I have to restart.

I usually dont seem to get any minidumps though, I dont know why ... All is enabled.

Anyway, I will start with verifier now. 2 at a time. You can see the list above in another post and see which ones I will continue with. I did not have a crash with amdxata.sys so I will not run it again.


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

I figured I will scan 2 at a time except for the nvidia drivers. I'll scan all of them 2 at a time and since I doubt they are causing issues and this seems to be caused by Nvidia most likely.

I will scan all of the Nvidia drivers last and if I BSOD I will disable one by one of them.


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Nevermind I'll just run it as usual, all of the below have not given me any BSOD and I've ran them usualy for about 20 - 25 minutes and sometimes 30, usualy how long it takes for me to BSOD. I'll go on with Nvidia then

amdxata.sys - Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
atmfd.dll - Adobe Systems Incorporated 
dump_diskdump.sys - Unkown?
dump_dumpfve.sys - Unkown?
dump_nvstor.sys - Unkown?
hssdrv6.sys - Anchorfree Inc
mbam.sys - MalwareBytes


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

3 locks up ever since I used verifier on nvlddmkm.sys.

It's an nVidia driver and if you remember perviously I posted I had BSOD by it, it's in the post where I took an image. No dumps at all and I've disabled verifier hoping for a natural BSOD.

I've already updated my drivers and I dont know what could be causing this. I'll try cleaning my computer and checking to see if anything is wrong


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## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Hi,



> 3 locks up ever since I used verifier on nvlddmkm.sys.


Rather than updating the driver to the latest, is there possibly a beta driver available or maybe rolling back to a version behind the latest as opposed to the version you were previously?

Regards,

Patrick


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Hi,
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I will go on and install some beta drivers which are newer.

On top of that I just experienced an extremely weird issue.

My computer seemed as if it would lock up, but then it didn't and instead just sort of became EXTREMELY slow. My mouse would sometimes get stuck for 2 - 3 seconds, unstuck and repeat.

Then it would be extremely slow to do anything, like if I move my mouse to the right direction it would appear there in one second instead. Everything was lagging.

The cursor changed, was stuck on the loading O or sometimes the hand when you are about to click on things. Sometimes it would even become invisble. I have seriously no idea of what is going on here.

I'll attempt one of those jcgriff2 things with autorun or whatever and see if it works again ..


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## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

You noted you are rushing to get this fixed due to having things to do soon with friends so you'll need the system. If updating the video card drivers doesn't provide a fix, it may be worth performing a clean install of Windows since you need the system.

This will also of course entirely rule out software as the issue as long as you only install the needed drivers, what you need to communicate with your friends, etc.

Regards,

Patrick


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> You noted you are rushing to get this fixed due to having things to do soon with friends so you'll need the system. If updating the video card drivers doesn't provide a fix, it may be worth performing a clean install of Windows since you need the system.
> 
> This will also of course entirely rule out software as the issue as long as you only install the needed drivers, what you need to communicate with your friends, etc.
> 
> ...


Christ .. These are not good news either. Reformating? I hate doing that. 

I have nothing to back up my things on, and I have hundreeds of games on my Steam account, several WoW expansions that are massive in size which must be downloaded via Blizzard's site and so on.

If it sounds like an idea, I can uninstall my current drivers and do a complete "clean" install. Because when Nvidia installs drivers they overwrite the old ones, maybe a clean install would help? 

Just please not reformating, I have too many documents, studies and images that I can't back up cause I have no other harddrive. 

My biggest fear is that my graphics card is done for, I bought it in 2011 July and its not that old. Its decent too, I havent planned for buying new hardware so if it's broken that's also bad news and means I will have low FPS in games.

And also, same issue with the jcgriff2 thing, it can't get systeminfo. It's stuck on "Waiting for SystemInfo". I can still pack up whatever it collected until it came to that stage, if you wish.


----------



## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Yes, you can definitely try a complete uninstall of nVidia's drivers and then an install of the latest.

Also, yes, please pack up whatever else it managed to get, or the dumps manually. It's okay if the collection app is giving you trouble.

Regards,

Patrick


----------



## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Yes, you can definitely try a complete uninstall of nVidia's drivers and then an install of the latest.
> 
> Also, yes, please pack up whatever else it managed to get, or the dumps manually. It's okay if the collection app is giving you trouble.
> 
> ...


Here you go, as I have noted I have no minidumps from any lock ups, nor BSOD's after the first one :frown:

Anyway I will attempt a clean install of the drivers, I truely hope this works but something tells me it wont.

Edit: Clean install has been done, on the new beta drivers.


----------



## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Just experienced something weird. My Windows Aero crashed and it went back to simple theme, then I heard my card squealing a little bit. Not a lot, but it was noticable.

Hard to explain too .. But it squealed for a while until Aero came back on again. Now it stopped. Weird? What could the cause for this be?

Can't possibly be PSU issue, I have a Cooler Master GX 750W Bronze for a year now and it works perfectly and more than enough watt for my entire computer..


----------



## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Are you sure it was the card squealing and not the PSU? Let's run Furmark to stress the GPU.

Furmark:


> FurMark Video Stress Test - free from here: http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/
> FurMark Setup:
> - If you have more than one GPU, select Multi-GPU during setup
> - In the Run mode box, select "Stability Test" and "Log GPU Temperature"
> ...



Regards,

Patrick


----------



## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Are you sure it was the card squealing and not the PSU? Let's run Furmark to stress the GPU.
> 
> Furmark:
> 
> ...


Um this doesn't seem very convincing, or safe.

You want me to stress my GPU into maximum temperature on a hot day on July? I dont know if that's safe, even slightly to be honest with you. 

And my case currently has medicore airflow already, I'll get a new one soon.

And I am sure it is my GPU, the sound came from the GPU not the PSU. PSU is quiet as usual, but the GPU in particular started squealing. It's stopped and it works fine now.

I did google it and some say it's fine and some not, but my biggest issue is that aero crashed. Why would it do that?


----------



## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Furmark is used to determine whether or not the video card is stable. If it's not (whether it's because it's faulty, temperatures are way beyond what they should be, etc) your system will BSOD as it would if you were doing anything else.

It's a completely safe diagnostic method and I am recommending it for a reason. I have been analyzing and assisting users with BSOD related issues for almost two years now. If I recommended unsafe methods in regards to diagnostics, I don't think I would be allowed on these communities. My reply for Furmark says 



> Run the test until the GPU temperature maxes out - or until you start having problems (whichever comes first).


because that's what I mean. Either:

1. The test is going just fine and temperatures for the GPU are right where they should be and there are no artifacts, etc.

2. Your temperatures are getting way too high (any 90c+ shut off the test immediately).

3. Your system crashes, which implies your video card is not handling any sort of stress.



> but my biggest issue is that aero crashed. Why would it do that?


GPU not properly working, possibly RAM as well as we have not yet done a Memtest. I want to rule out GPU first.

Overall, I am only trying to help you here.

Regards,

Patrick


----------



## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Furmark is used to determine whether or not the video card is stable. If it's not (whether it's because it's faulty, temperatures are way beyond what they should be, etc) your system will BSOD as it would if you were doing anything else.
> 
> It's a completely safe diagnostic method and I am recommending it for a reason. My reply for Furmark says
> 
> ...


Okay fine but my gut feelings are really horrible about this, something is telling me it won't go right.

None the less, I will attempt it. You said if it goes above 90C then I should shut it off immediately? And how exactly do you mean "shut off"?

Shut off computer? Alt + F4? Or what? Please give me a detailed response here I can't risk this and screw it up. 

What makes me fear this program is, if I go into extremely high temp I am very sure that the noise will increase and that permanent damage is possible as cards are not supposed to go up to say 80C in load. I've only been up to as high as 62C on very intenstive games.

But as for RAM, I know about memtest and I've never done it. As far as I know it must be burned to a CD, I dont use CD's, I dont have any CD's at home and my CD ROM/DVD or whatever is a bit faulty, always has been so is there any alternative?

We have so far taken this from BSOD issue to hardware issue, I guess it seems like this isn't a driver problem at all then? As you said 99% of the time it would be, I suppose I am 1% now. 

Since the last clean install I've had no issues except this. And I am already prepared to buy a new card as I sense this one is done for if it's failing me like this. Out of pure bloody no-where.


----------



## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



> None the less, I will attempt it. You said if it goes above 90C then I should shut it off immediately? And how exactly do you mean "shut off"?


Hit 'ESC', it ends the test. Either that or just close the program. Only do this if you really see the temperatures getting to an uncomfortable level (83c or so, possibly a tad bit higher).



> What makes me fear this program is, if I go into extremely high temp I am very sure that the noise will increase and that permanent damage is possible as cards are not supposed to go up to say 80C in load. I've only been up to as high as 62C on very intenstive games.


Furmark never really actually gets THAT high in temperatures, only if you have extremely poor airflow, I would imagine. Furmark provokes slightly higher temperatures than usual as it really pushes the GPU to its limits. A functioning GPU should never crash under Furmark stress, or any sort of stress really as long as it's stable as it should be. If it does crash, and the temps happen to be within limits upon the time of crash (the temps are displayed in the benchmark screen as it runs), then it's either:

1. Faulty video card or nVidia drivers. We've essentially ruled out the latter as we have gone back & forth with driver installs and different versions.

2. RAM (we'll run a Memtest).



> But as for RAM, I know about memtest and I've never done it. As far as I know it must be burned to a CD, I dont use CD's, I dont have any CD's at home and my CD ROM/DVD or whatever is a bit faulty, always has been so is there any alternative?


Yep, Memtest86+ provides a USB key installer. As long as your motherboard supports booting from a bootable USB stick, then you'll be able to run it. I will provide further instructions on it when we get to that point.



> I guess it seems like this isn't a driver problem at all then?


Can't say for sure yet. We're doing all of these diagnostics so we can say for sure. It really does not seem like software to me at this point, but that's why we go through all of this if necessary, so we are absolutely sure. 



> And I am already prepared to buy a new card as I sense this one is done for if it's failing me like this.


Hypothetically, let's say it ends up being the card. How old is it? An important thing to remember is that hardware can fail at any time, especially the older it gets. Heat weighs in, dust, etc. Even if you keep a fairly clean computer, these things are ultimately inevitable, and no hardware has the same lifespan.

Regards,

Patrick


----------



## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Hit 'ESC', it ends the test. Either that or just close the program. Only do this if you really see the temperatures getting to an uncomfortable level (83c or so, possibly a tad bit higher).
> 
> Furmark never really actually gets THAT high in temperatures, only if you have extremely poor airflow, I would imagine. Furmark provokes slightly higher temperatures than usual as it really pushes the GPU to its limits. A functioning GPU should never crash under Furmark stress, or any sort of stress really as long as it's stable as it should be. If it does crash, and the temps happen to be within limits upon the time of crash (the temps are displayed in the benchmark screen as it runs), then it's either:
> 
> ...


Eh man I dont know about this, my gut feelings are seriously strong on this one.

Recognize the feeling when you just know you should not do something because your guts have this uneasy and uncomfortable feeling? 

I'm not getting this out of nowhere by the way. 

Me and my friend used Furmark on his HD7950 because we thought things were wrong, when we did the test 15 seconds in or so his computer shut down. Upon starting up the computer his motherboard started giving 3 beeps at a time for bad videocard.

He had to buy a new one.

FYI my airflow is kind of bad right now, I mean. I go up to high temps just playing games normaly. I thought I'd order a new computer chassi at the end of this month on my payday and fix that. Maybe we can do this then instead? That thing alone costs and I'm not prepared to buy a new GPU just yet.

We can do memtest though, but that really depends what you mean by USB key. I only have one USB stick which has 2gb of memory and is used to transfer small-time files. Would that be enough?

I attach it into a USB port and boot from USB? The question is, how do you boot from the USB? 

Anyway, I hope you aren't angry at me just for this because I am extremely caucious with things I own. I'll give it a try when I have better airflow. Is that a deal? I hope atleast.


----------



## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Okay, no Furmark it is then.

Memtest86+:






> Download Memtest86+ here:





> http://www.memtest.org/
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 You have a relatively new motherboard, so if it doesn't support USB booting, I would be very surprised!

A direct link for the usb key installer if you can't find it - http://www.memtest.org/download/4.20/memtest86+-4.20.usb.installer.zip



> I attach it into a USB port and boot from USB? The question is, how do you boot from the USB?


Go into the BIOS and ensure you have the boot priority set to USB/CD as #1 and your HDD as #2.

Regards,

Patrick


----------



## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Okay, no Furmark it is then.
> 
> Memtest86+:
> 
> ...


Okay so lets get this quickly done and secure.

First of all, how do I "access" the BIOS? I would like to know that. Lots of F buttons there that do all kinds of things. And I normaly dont go into BIOS, I dont overclock and so forth.

A step by step guide for this would be wonderful and then I'll do it, I also wonder how much time willl this take and how many passes etc.

Because now it's half past 2 AM in the morning, I would rather not do something that takes like 2 - 4 hours because I have nothing else to do as it's really late.

We can do it in the morning. I am patient, dont know about you though. But I hope you are.


----------



## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

1. To access the BIOS, it depends on your board. Different boards have different keys, but it's usually either 'delete' or 'F12' with newer systems. So, either shut down or restart, and as the system is booting, you can start softly mashing 'delete' (as delete is usually the BIOS key of choice these days). If it was F12, simply restart again and start softly mashing F12 this time.

Once in the BIOS, find where you would change your boot settings. On older boards with old BIOS versions, it has its own tab labeled 'BOOT'. On newer boards, it's usually in Advanced Features.

Change the priority to USB/CD to first, and your HDD 2nd. It can be called things other than USB/CD, and sometimes they do not share. Sometimes they can be separate. Either way, just ensure you have USB option in the priority list, and make it #1 and the HDD #2. Everything else after is irrelevant.

2.



> I also wonder how much time willl this take and how many passes etc.


No less than ~8 passes. It will take several hours. You can actually start the Memtest and leave it on overnight. It's completely safe and it's what I usually generally recommend anyway. It's simply a DOS just testing your RAM. Nothing really dangerous going on there : )

Regards,

Patrick


----------



## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> 1. To access the BIOS, it depends on your board. Different boards have different keys, but it's usually either 'delete' or 'F12' with newer systems. So, either shut down or restart, and as the system is booting, you can start softly mashing 'delete' (as delete is usually the BIOS key of choice these days). If it was F12, simply restart again and start softly mashing F12 this time.
> 
> Once in the BIOS, find where you would change your boot settings. On older boards with old BIOS versions, it has its own tab labeled 'BOOT'. On newer boards, it's usually in Advanced Features.
> 
> ...


Ah thank you brother, that is a lot of help.

Now I won't be doing it over night because my computer case has too many lights and I must sleep in total darkness! Tough for me.

I'll have things to do in the morning anyway so I'll just wake up, do the test while I'm off doing the chores I guess. 

And I will report to you of course. Because I have to go to bed now.

Anyway can you give me the time zone of your place? Like for example GMT +2 which I think is mine. 

Your help is appriciated and I hope it leads to a fix, because already by far I have learned many things!


----------



## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

UTC/GMT -5 hours (currently offset -4 though) : )

Regards,

Patrick


----------



## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Well I am back.

Yesterday before bed I had a driver crash. I got the following message, I've had it before but not this serious. Just when I screwed something up. Anyway

"Display driver stopped working and has dicovered, Display driver NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver , version 326.19 has stopped responding and has successfully recovered".


Before that my computer stopped, locked up so to say. Mouse stopped, sound looped/disorted and then the screen went black for a second and I got that message. Luckly it came back online quickly again.

It seems to be caused by this thing called TDR, and people reported several fixes which I've tried (2 of them) and don't know if they work yet.

The first was to enter the Nvidia Controlpanel and change power usage from adaptive to maximum performance. 

And the second was to change the PhysX processor selection from automatic to my own graphic card.

If none of this fixes it I will roll back my driver pre 32x drivers.


----------



## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

I forgot to add, I ran memtest for 9 passes and there were no errors.


----------



## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Sounds like video card failure to me, then : )

If you want, here's the run-down of the 116 TDR diagnostics~

The basic definition of a 0x116 bugcheck is:

_There may be a bug in the video driver or video hardware._​ So, let me now explain what VIDEO_TDR_ERROR means. First off, TDR is an acronym for Timeout Detection and Recovery. Timeout Detection and Recovery was introduced in Vista and carried over to Windows 7. Rather than putting exactly what Timeout Detection and Recovery does exactly, I'll just directly quote the MSDN article!

*Timeout detection:*​ _The GPU scheduler, which is part of the DirectX graphics kernel subsystem (Dxgkrnl.sys), detects that the GPU is taking more than the permitted amount of time to execute a particular task. The GPU scheduler then tries to preempt this particular task. The preempt operation has a "wait" timeout, which is the actual TDR timeout. This step is thus the timeout detection phase of the process. The default timeout period in Windows Vista and later operating systems is 2 seconds. If the GPU cannot complete or preempt the current task within the TDR timeout period, the operating system diagnoses that the GPU is frozen. _
_To prevent timeout detection from occurring, hardware vendors should ensure that graphics operations (that is, DMA buffer completion) take no more than 2 seconds in end-user scenarios such as productivity and game play. _​ *Preparation for recovery:*​ _The operating system's GPU scheduler calls the display miniport driver's *DxgkDdiResetFromTimeout* function to inform the driver that the operating system detected a timeout. The driver must then reinitialize itself and reset the GPU. In addition, the driver must stop accessing memory and should not access hardware. The operating system and the driver collect hardware and other state information that could be useful for post-mortem diagnosis. _​ *Desktop recovery:*​ _The operating system resets the appropriate state of the graphics stack. The video memory manager, which is also part of Dxgkrnl.sys, purges all allocations from video memory. The display miniport driver resets the GPU hardware state. The graphics stack takes the final actions and restores the desktop to the responsive state. As previously mentioned, some legacy DirectX applications might render just black at the end of this recovery, which requires the end user to restart these applications. Well-written DirectX 9Ex and DirectX 10 and later applications that handle Device Remove technology continue to work correctly. An application must release and then recreate its Direct3D device and all of the device's objects. For more information about how DirectX applications recover, see the Windows SDK. _​ Article here. ​With this being said, if Timeout Detection and Recovery fails to recover the display driver, it will then shoot the 0x116 bugcheck. There are many different things that can cause a 0x116, which I will explain below:

*The following hardware issues can cause a TDR event:*


> 1. Unstable overclock (CPU, GPU, etc). Revert all and any overclocks to stock settings.
> 
> 2. Bad sector in memory resulting in corrupt data being communicated between the GPU and the system (video memory otherwise known as VRAM or physical memory otherwise known as RAM).
> 
> ...


*The following software issues can cause a TDR event:*



> -Incompatible drivers of any sort (either GPU, sound, etc)
> 
> -Messy / corrupt registry
> 
> ...


Regards,

Patrick


----------



## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Sounds like video card failure to me, then : )
> 
> If you want, here's the run-down of the 116 TDR diagnostics~
> 
> ...


Hmm I see, thanks for the help.

To begin with, I know what TDR is sort of.

Now you wanted me to change the paging file or whatever, I did go to the "virtual memory" tab and all that but I dont have custom settings to begin with.

It seems that everything there is automaticaly handled by the system and so on. 

I also do not have any overclocks on my computer what so ever, to get that out of the way. So all should be stable. 

I will do a system files scan via that cmd thing, and see what comes up. If it does.

Now you mentioned that DirectX could also be the problem? If so how do I uninstall it? Basicaly you want me to remove everything with the DirectX name via controlpanel? And then install the newest and latest version?

Because googling, I could not find a download of the latest version anywhere. Care to help out there? 

Besides, how likely is it that DirectX is the cause here? Because I feel like it's most likely not what is causing the issue. 

Is there any way what so ever to alter the TDR? Change it? Because it sounds like it could help if I'm timing out. 

And if it helps, when my drivers crash and reset it can be at any time it seems. It's not just when I play videogames or watch a youtube clip for example.

It seems to happen completely randomly, despite what I do it doesn't seem to matter. 

And since you said that it's a failing videocard, should I just buy a new one? I can do that at the end of the month.

My fear here is that, this might be a software problem and even if I buy a new card it might not fix the issue. That would be a silly move.

Edit: SFC.EXE scan came up with nothing, just got to 100% and closed.


----------



## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



> Now you mentioned that DirectX could also be the problem? If so how do I uninstall it? Basicaly you want me to remove everything with the DirectX name via controlpanel? And then install the newest and latest version?


You cannot reinstall it, really. You can only really repair it. I just have it in there because sometimes DirectX can become corrupt in circumstances.



> Is there any way what so ever to alter the TDR? Change it? Because it sounds like it could help if I'm timing out.


You shouldn't be timing out at all. TDR is what goes into effect when the display driver loses communication with the hardware. If it fails to recover in a set time, BSOD. Even if you changed it (which I don't even know if possible), it wouldn't help, because it shouldn't be crashing anyway.



> And if it helps, when my drivers crash and reset it can be at any time it seems. It's not just when I play videogames or watch a youtube clip for example.


Right, another sign of video card failure. 



> And since you said that it's a failing videocard, should I just buy a new one? I can do that at the end of the month.


I see no other signs of software here unless there is an unruly amount of driver corruption going on. We won't be able to find that out due to not being able to perform a clean install. Do you happen to have enough space on your drive to make a quick partition to install a test copy of Windows on or something? That way we can really rule out software?

Regards,

Patrick


----------



## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> You cannot reinstall it, really. You can only really repair it. I just have it in there because sometimes DirectX can become corrupt in circumstances.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I see, I guess it is failing then.

Well lets see, you asked about me having enough space on the drive for making a test copy of Windows?

I have 191 GB out of 465 availible right now, you just have to just tell me what a "test" copy of Windows actualy is. Sounds neat, and I haven't heard of it before.


----------



## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

For example, you partition part of your primary drive (let's say that is C and create a D: with enough space to install a copy of Windows on. Install all of your graphics drivers on it and stuff and just play around. If it doesn't crash like it does on your primary install, it's software. If it does, it's video card.

Regards,

Patrick


----------



## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> For example, you partition part of your primary drive (let's say that is C and create a D: with enough space to install a copy of Windows on. Install all of your graphics drivers on it and stuff and just play around. If it doesn't crash like it does on your primary install, it's software. If it does, it's video card.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Patrick


I see, but I've never done this before and I dont know a copy of Windows at hand right now.

When I installed my Windows it was at my friends house where he had the Windows version. So I guess that's not a solution then? I will attempt to roll back drivers pre 320 series.

Because according to just about everyone that uses Nvidia, 320 drivers cause this.

Anyway, "rolling back" is basicaly downloading the old driver and doing a clean install which removes the new one? Right? 

If so we can try that.


----------



## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



> So I guess that's not a solution then?


Right.



> Anyway, "rolling back" is basicaly downloading the old driver and doing a clean install which removes the new one? Right?


Technically, no. The actual definition of 'rolling back' is actually going into the Device Manager, right clicking the device in question, properties, and selecting 'rollback driver'.

However, in our case, we don't want to do that. We want to uninstall the device driver, navigate to the manufacturers website, and download a pre 320 release.

Regards,

Patrick


----------



## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Right.
> 
> Technically, no. The actual definition of 'rolling back' is actually going into the Device Manager, right clicking the device in question, properties, and selecting 'rollback driver'.
> 
> ...


Uninstall the device driver then apply a completely new driver? Is that what you mean? And even if you do, how do you uninstall the entire device driver to begin with.

Nvidia comes with many drivers, core, 3d etc


----------



## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

After gooling this problem and looking through atleast 15 threads, it seems that most people have the issue I have caused by completely different things.

Not the GPU, PSU or Motherboard.

There are hundreeds of people that have reformated their computer, changed all hardware and still not fixed the problem. 

Many claim that it is connected to audio issues and I noticed in Device Manager i have 4 instance of Nvidia High Defenition Audio? 

This can't possibly be normal can it?

Attached image to show you.


----------



## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Right, what I mean is, uninstall the nVidia drivers and download a pre 320 release as you mentioned earlier.

The screenshot you posted is normal, I know that for a fact. I however can not say for sure what each is. I would imagine 1 for HDMI, 2 for DVI, and maybe one for SPDIF?

Regardless, that is normal. 

Proceed with the nVidia driver uninstall, and then the pre 320 driver install as you mentioned you were going to try earlier.

Regards,

Patrick


----------



## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Right, what I mean is, uninstall the nVidia drivers and download a pre 320 release as you mentioned earlier.
> 
> The screenshot you posted is normal, I know that for a fact. I however can not say for sure what each is. I would imagine 1 for HDMI, 2 for DVI, and maybe one for SPDIF?
> 
> ...


Uninstall the Nvidia Drivers? Well I have several here as you can see in the image I attached.

Should I just uninstall the 326.19 driver? 

One guy on Nvidia forums recommends this.

1. Open REGEDIT



2. Using Windows 7, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Control\GraphicsDrivers



3. Once there you will most likely have to create a new DWORD (32bit users) or QWORD (64bit users). Name it TdrDelay.



4. Once created, change the value to 8. This will allow the GPU 8 seconds to respond instead of 2 seconds. 

And says it fixed his issue


----------



## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

When you uninstall the nVidia drivers, all of that should go with it. You can check after uninstalling them and restarting.



> Should I just uninstall the 326.19 driver?


Sure, give it a try.

As far as the regedit fix goes, you can give it a try... just be very careful in the registry!

Regards,

Patrick


----------



## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> When you uninstall the nVidia drivers, all of that should go with it. You can check after uninstalling them and restarting.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Okay good I will do this tomorrow, it's midnight soon and I have work tomorrow so I can't afford staying on.

Thank you for your help, I'll be updating the situation tomorrow


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## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

My pleasure.

Regards,

Patrick


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

I used the TDR edit and it was already at 8 so I cranked it up to 15, I haven't seen if it has made any difference because so far I've had no crashes.

If that does happen, I'll revert drivers and try that. If none of this works, I'll get a new card.


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

TDR edit did not work, rolling back did not work. I just had another lock up.

I dont have any BSOD's, dumps or anything. My driver either crashes/comes back on or crashed and locks me up and I have to manualy restart.

I've never in my life WANTED to have a BSOD so I can find out what the damn issue is. At the end of this week I should be able to get a new card, and god will I be pissed if it doesnt fix the issue.

Anyway, if I remember correctly. It is possible to reformat the Windows but keep Pictures, Music and Documents yes? If so I would do that as a last resort and I wonder if it's possible without owning a Windows 7 at the moment.

Cause, I have no disk or anything.


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## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Hi,



> It is possible to reformat the Windows but keep Pictures, Music and Documents yes?


Yes, and it's called a repair install - Repair Install - Windows 7 Help Forums

If you don't have the disk, if you have a flash drive large enough, you can install Windows via USB. How large is your USB drive?

Regards,

Patrick


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Hi,
> 
> Yes, and it's called a repair install - Repair Install - Windows 7 Help Forums
> 
> ...


Oh it's not really big at all, It's 2gb. Only for studies really so you can take with you your things.

I can always ask my friend for his Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit, it was the one we installed on this one. Borrow it and install it, he owns a billion versions and is a collector really.

I already ordered my card by the way. It is an Nvidia EVGA Geforce GTX 650 with 1024MB.

Cost me 148 US Dollars.

This better be worth it, if it doesnt fix it I'll do a repair install.

It's just such a shame to see this card go, it's beautiful and still so new it's shiny. It's a good card and I'd give it away but I'm afraid that it might cause issues for my friend then.


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Before my card gets here.

And before I install it should I remove all Nvidia drivers from the controll panel, install new card and download new drivers again.


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## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



Veniathan said:


> Before my card gets here.
> 
> And before I install it should I remove all Nvidia drivers from the controll panel, install new card and download new drivers again.


Very good question.

Yes, you should always uninstall graphics card drivers before installing a new video card, and then install drivers after it's physically installed (unless the video card you are installing is the exact same type, just a replacement).

Regards,

Patrick


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Very good question.
> 
> Yes, you should always uninstall graphics card drivers before installing a new video card, and then install drivers after it's physically installed (unless the video card you are installing is the exact same type, just a replacement).
> 
> ...


Great thanks for your help so far, I'll report back when the Nvidia card arrives.

I hope it fixes the issue is all, if not we will repair install :thumb:


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## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Hi,

My pleasure, I look forward to your response!

Regards,

Patrick


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## Veniathan (Oct 31, 2011)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*



PJB said:


> Hi,
> 
> My pleasure, I look forward to your response!
> 
> ...


It has been installed. I removed all Nvidia drivers before installing the new card and did a clean install of completely new drivers

No problems so far, I'll report if there are any


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## Patrick (Apr 15, 2012)

*Re: DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL (storport.sys)*

Hi,

Wonderful to hear, and great job!

Keep me updated.

Regards,

Patrick


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