IRQL_NOT EQUAL blah blah Dell Latitude D600 (OLD) laptop

[unfaithfulsfan]

I don't think, or at least I don't remember posting about this thing. I looked at my posts but didn't see anything about it. Anyway, a friend gave me her laptop that keeps giving her the IRQL_NOT EQUAL error. It's running XP Home SP3. I cannot give you the full text of the error because I haven't seen it. I had it for the better part of a month and could never duplicate the error.

So I installed a GB of RAM to replace the 256 MB she had and tested the crap out of it for another 2 weeks. Plugged in, not plugged in, by ethernet by wireless. Put it to sleep and resumed. Hard booted, rebooted. Starting FireFox, starting IE8. Starting both. Still nothing. I figured maybe the lack of RAM was the culprit and gave it back to her.

30 minutes later, she calls saying she got the error as soon as she launched FireFox 4. I was in Mississippi for most of the month of June being confused with all of my older brothers by my 88 year-old mother, who subsequently disowned me because I think she should let my second-oldest brother (who is her primary caregiver, not to mention power of attorney) sort her meds every week (and who is not trying to sneak around behind her back to sell timber off her land).

I guess my only next step is to try it out in her house, on her electrical system.

The purpose of this post is to ask whether anyone else has experienced this error in such an isolated way. MSoft has yielded nothing.

Jack

[Major_A]

Since new computers aren't setup using jumpers on the motherboard most IRQL errors are driver related. Sometimes they are for other reasons, i.e. overclocking, heat, faulty hardware, etc... From the sound of it she might be better off just picking up a new laptop. With the new emergence of tablets laptops keep getting cheaper.

[unfaithfulsfan]

She's like me, on a fixed income. Ironically, she bought this one from her son. Nothing like family, right?

I have not been able to go over to her house to test my theory yet that it is something there since I have yet to duplicate the error at my house over a period of weeks. So at this point I've found no resolution.

Thanks
Jack