Resolved "Driver-IRQL-not-less-or-equal"

My main PC now only runs in Safe Mode - due to a Blue Screen "Driver-IRQL-not-less-or-equal" fault.

The other information shown on screen is:-
Tech information:
STOP: 0x000000D1 (0x0000002C, 0x00000002, 0x00000001, 0xBA6A9E19)
nvata.sys - address BA6A9E19 base at BA6A7000, Datestamp 428a9013

The PC has an MSI K8N SLI mobo, with nForce4 SLI chipset and an Inno 3D 256mb PCiE nVidia GF7800GT graphics board - running WindowsXP Home SP2. The Maxtor 7L250SO HD is fed from ther first Serial ATA Controller using driver version 5.10.2600.534 (17/5/2005).

Forum searches indicate the likely culprit is an nVidia SATA / RAID driver but, in Device Manager, all drivers (and everything else) are reported to be working normally. The "Drivers & Utilities" CD supplied with the PC has a similar nvata.sys file but, a) the installed one is reported as OK, and b) I don't know how to replace it correctly anyway. The PC came with a Recovery CD instead of a full O.S. CD. This offers Repair, or Install, choices - I would prefer the first option, if possible. Attempts to use MSCONFIG Diagnostic or Selective Startup modes result in an "Access denied" window, telling me to log on as an Administrator - although I am already doing so.

Can anyone tell me what is going on, and what I can do about it, please?

 

Thanks for link. I will try it as soon as I can (tied up a bit at moment) and let you know

 

I apologise for the delay in tieing this up, PeteC, it has been a long haul.

Thanks for the nVidia link, but it was useless as they dont cater for any chipsets older than nForce5, and mine is nForce4.

HOWEVER, I eventually found the excellent http://driver-pro.com site, with official nVidia driver updates and a great free tool for download - Driver Robot. Using this I downloaded and saved all the various drivers it recommended, then updated both nVidia nForce4 serial ATA controllers in the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers list of Device Manager - using the downloaded NVIDIAnForceMCP78_Chipset_V1524_XPVista.zip file. This did the trick (and so easily!) and a reboot restored normal operation at long last.

Just two points:-
Most repair applications have windows that are too large, in Safe Mode, to allow the buttons at their bottom edges to be reached - so are unusable.
In Safe Mode, my PC would not download the files these programs offered, for some reason - so I had to transfer the page URLs to another PC, download and save the files I needed to a flash pen, then transfer them to the faulty PC (thank goodness it's USB function still worked).

Hope this helps anyone else. Thanks again for your help.