Windows 10: "IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL" when trying to re-install Win10 Pro x86

I have a Travelmate 3004 (Pentium M760, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD) notebook which had Win10 Pro x86 (original release) that I wanted to update to v.1903.

I first tried an in-place upgrade using the .ISO downloaded for Microsoft, clicking on setup.exe. I've tried so many things since then that I can't remember the error message, but it wouldn't install. (It was not the "IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL BSOD," that much I remember.)

Then I decided to update via booting to a Win10 x86 USB thumb drive, formatted with Rufus from the downloaded .ISO file. That's when I first got the "IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL" BSOD. So, I re-downloaded the .ISO thinking maybe it was corrupted, and Rufus'd it onto the USB drive. Still got the BSOD.

I then removed the hard drive, put it in a 2.5" USB adapter, connected it to my main computer and deleted the partition with Windows. (In retrospect, I could/should/might have tried other options before doing that, but...) Still got the BSOD.

Thinking maybe the RAM was giving errors, I ran Memtest86. Cleared all tests with no errors.

Tried:
- three different USB ports
- different USB thumb drives
- AC power (with and without battery)
- battery power (charging and unplugged form AC)
- different hard drive
- no hard drive
- reset BIOS to default settings

... still get BSOD.

Any ideas? The computer, though elderly and a bit underpowered for today's world, is Win10 compatible. It booted up just fine (until I wiped the C: partition) and passed the hardware check from Windows 10 Update Assistant.

FWIW, using Rufus and one of the same USB drives I tried above, I burnt an ISO image of Ubuntu and was able to boot it. So, my Acer is able to boot from a USB without issues. It's something unique to Win10?

:)

 

IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL / KMODE EXCEPTION HANDLED at installation of Windows

Hi andy4117,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Community

1. Did you installed Windows 10 on this computer before?
   
2. Are you trying to install Windows by booting from the disc or USB?
   
3. When you says MBR – GPT, May I know the complete error message that you are receiving, when you are installing Windows?
   
4. Did you unplugged all the external device, apart from Mouse and keyboard?
   

Usually, IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL / KMODE EXCEPTION HANDLED errors are seen if there are faulty hardware, drivers or anti-virus programs. As you are trying to install Windows 10, you can try the steps to perform a Custom Installation
of Windows 10 by booting from a disc or USB.

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL could be due to faulty hardware problem, faulty system service problem and KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED could be due to Hardware incompatibility and Faulty device driver or system service

I would suggest you to check this thread on
custom installation
from Andre Da Costato Created on January 17, 2017.

Disclaimer: While performing these steps, there might be a risk of data loss. You may take a backup of the data before performing the steps.

You can follow this article on
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, to get a deeper understanding of this issue. You can refer this article on

KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED

Please replay us back once you follow all the above steps.

Regards,

 

I get error "driver irql not less or equal" after i installed windows 10

Original title: installation troubleshooting

Currently I am running on Win8.1Pro. When upgrading to Win10 everything goes smoothly and starts Win10, then the screen becomes blue with message "driver irql not less or equal", then it tries to restart with no success. Then I restore Win8.1 again, PC running
without problem. Using LG monitor 29UM65-P

Any suggestions, help, thx in advasnce

 

Blue screen with "irql not less or equal"

System is WIN10, recent clean install, with some common software installed.

Hardware is Lenovo T440s with SSD and memory upgraded.

The blue screen is random about once every week or once every two weeks. It always shows "irql not less or equal"

Before Win10, I was using Win7. It also crashes with blue screen occasionally.

I am not sure what is causing the problem.

I found the dump file which is shared by the onedrive link, and there is only one file in the minidump folder.

Any suggestion and help is highly appreciated.

Error