Hey folks! I recently upgraded my PC last month, but since the beginning of June, I've been dealing with multiple random Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) crashes, all showing the error code "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL." I've tried updating my drivers (one was missing, but even after fixing that, I'm still facing issues), scanned the RAM without detecting any hardware problems, and played around with the PC console a bit. It crashed again just an hour ago while I was doing nothing intensive. I even tried using Bluescreenview to analyze the crash dumps, but I'm not quite sure what the results mean. I read online that this error can relate to unauthorized memory usage, but I'm not sure how to fix it without resorting to a full system wipe. I heard that might help, but I'd prefer to avoid that if possible. Also, I've got a folder with the DMP error files if anyone wants to take a look!
3 Answers
To properly diagnose these BSOD issues, we need those dump files, which contain crash logs. Try booting into Windows normally or through Safe Mode and check if there are any dump files in C:WindowsMinidump. If you find them, copy that folder to your desktop, zip it, and upload it to a file sharing site like catbox.moe. It's best to have multiple dump files if possible! If you don't see any, consider changing the dump type to Small Memory Dump—this way, Windows will start saving crash logs!
If you're suspecting memory issues, it's a good idea to check if you really need more RAM. You can find some info on that in guides like 'How to know if you need more RAM.' But only look into that if it seems relevant to your problem!
First off, make sure your BIOS menus are stable (no freezes or weird glitches). If that's all good, go ahead and update your motherboard BIOS to the latest version from MSI's website. Then, download and install the latest AMD Chipset Drivers from AMD’s site—these are crucial and sometimes previous versions can cause issues. After that, check if those crashes still happen!
Everything seems stable for the most part, but the PC crashes randomly. How can I confirm stability? Also, if my BIOS is from 2020, should I go for the latest update, or is it better to use an older version? I'm really worried about messing anything up since I can't afford to lose my PC!