BSOD: Driver not less or equal --- SOS!!!

[Kisama]

My pc was working fine the last 9 months until today. After a Windows update this morning, I restarted my computer and saw the BSOD with the following message:

DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL

Stop: 0x000000D1 0x00000000 0x00000002 0x00000000 0x809F5395

nvstor.sys -address 809F5395 base at 809F1000,Datestamp 46671a61

I tried ctrl-alt-delete to restart and nothing happened.
Turned off machine.
Turned back on, with Vista install disk, got same message - tried booting from dvd - same message
rebooted and entered f8 at start up - noticed only SATA2 was recognized, not first hard drive (I have 2 500 gb hd's)
given option of booting from cd/dvd rom drive -chose this - same message as above
tried again, used SATA 2 - same message
turned off machine.
started drinking heavily. threw stuff out window..
now I'm here.

I think HD1 is toast - may have to get new hd?

Appreciate any and all help!

 

[stoneys-nutz]

Hello Kisama,
nvstor.sys. Description: NVIDIA® nForce(TM) Sata Performance Driver.
You need to un-install all you NVidia software, and reinstall.
Boot into safe mode and use this free app to remove all your NVidia software, reboot and install the latest drivers.
Make sure you remove and re-install your chipset drivers.

Guru3D - Driver Sweeper

Hope this helps, good luck and post your results.

 

[richc46]

If you have a true BSOD, you will have generated a dump file. If so post according to these instructions and help will be here ASAP.

A Preferred Method of Uploading/Posting Screen Shots - Windows 7 Forums
Did not see you there Stoney, while posting

 

[Kisama]

richc46 and stoney-nutz-

Sorry, but I can't even get to that point - everything I do just leads to the blue screen with the exact same error message. I've tried pressing f8 after restarting to try and get into safe mode, but I always get the same blue screen message.
I'm not a windows expert at all, so there's probably something I'm missing.
Thanks for your quick replies.

 

[pauliewalnuts]

There are Vista recovery disks that you can run a chkdsk off of (it sounds to me that since your computer does not recognize HDD1 partition 1 it's got bad sectors, and the chief fix is CHKDSK C: /F)

STEP ONE: get one of these
torrent file of the 32-bit Vista recovery disk
torrent file of the 64-bit Vista recovery disk
How to burn an ISO image to a CD or DVD, which in this case makes a boot disk.

and for y'all Win7 users:
Windows 7 recovery disks

STEP TWO: burn that disk, slide that bad boy in your CD-ROM drive, F2 your boot sequence to 'CD-ROM drive first' and let it do its thing

STEP THREE: select the Command Prompt from this menu

STEP FOUR: type CHKDSK :C /F /R
*the /F identifies and fixes disk errors if they can be fixed. If they can't be fixed it'll be because of physical errors on the disk, which is what the /R is for. /R finds physical disk errors.*

STEP FIVE: wait for it to finish with the /R result codes. After awhile you get back a report.

0: No errors were found.
1: Errors were found and fixed.
2: Disk cleanup, such as garbage collection, was performed, or cleanup was not performed because /f was not specified.
3: Could not check the disk, errors could not be fixed, or errors were not fixed because /f was not specified.

Pray for 1. If you get 3, you're knackered. Consider a disk recovery utility run off another computer. You could go to one of those 'Computer Show and Sales' where you pay admission and there's vendors in one big room to sell and repair your stuff. One of those vendors is bound to be able to hook you up with a cloning of your vital files to a new drive they'll then sell you. Make sure if you do that to bring your computer's drivers disks and Microsoft Vista disk with you so they can install that on the hard drive. Shouldn't take them more than an hour.

 

[Kisama]

pauly -

I did exactly what you said - thanks a bunch - and was able to run chkdsk /f /r . The report came back with no errors - but it was for HDD2 not HDD1 - I think this is the case because it said the report was "volume label is 500 gb sata-2" - is this wrong to assume?

So now I have a Vista recovery disk but I'm still unable to boot to Vista.
I do have the "recovery' dvd supplied by the oem - Polywell - but it will only do an overwrite of my existing hard drive to replace it to factory condition.

Are there any other options?

 

[Kisama]

This is the log file after I did the chkdsk /f /r
:

 

[pauliewalnuts]

So it only recognizes part of the drive. Hmmm...

Okay, how about rebooting with the boot disk and using the Command Line utility and get a look at what drives the computer recognizes? Here's how to do it:

Boot with the disc and go to the Command Line utility. Type in "fsutil fsinfo drives." The output will be all the drives by drive letter the system recognizes.

You're looking for C:. If you don't get a C: listed, somehow your C: drive got dismounted.

There my knowledge fails me. I know you can use the Command Line to mount a drive but I'm not sure how to do it.

 

[Kisama]

-pauliewalnuts,

Thanks for the info, but the only message I got was command not recognized. I sent it back to the manufacturer - its a local place - and told them about it. They're fairly sure it's a hard drive problem, but they have to check first.
We'll see what happens.
I'd like to know how this happened , and next time I'm going to backup everything. I did a backup a couple months ago, so most important stuff is ok, and the Christmas pictures are still on the sd card in the camera, so its not a total loss.

Thanks to all for suggestions

 

[richc46]

Regarding the back up. My policy is once or twice a week for system restore. And once or twice a month for the system image, using Paragon free software.

Free Backup Software: Paragon Backup & Recovery Free Edition - Overview

You can and should adjust that schedule according to use.