mikemyers

Calling Toshiba was no help - they simply wanted to replace everything, and at the time I wanted to first know what was broken. Now I wish I had just let them replace all the components - but as I told them, it NEVER crashes, ever, when I'm in the USA. Once I'm in Asia, it's once or twice a week for a while, and always at least once a month. Nobody at Toshiba had any idea of why this cold be happening. If memory was bad, it should still be bad when I'm in the USA - ditto for everything else. The only story I've gotten that sounds remotely plausible (but which I still can't accept) is that it has something to do with magnetic fields from the Earth, which are different here. Of course, current in Asia is 220 volt, and current in the USA is 110 volt, but the computer gets its power from the power supply that plugs into the wall, which converts everything to some voltage the computer is to run on. I'd be blaming this for the problem anyway, but as a test, I tried using it in Asia for a lot of time on battery power, and it crashed once then (running on batteries) so I've given up on that idea. It never crashes in Asia when it's in safe mode. I can use safe mode with networking, and do anything and everything I need to do, with no concern about blue screen crashes. It crashes in India, in Bangkok, in Phuket, and other places on "that" side of the world. I've been spending 6 months each year in Asia. It has never crashed even once when I'm home, which is where I am for the other six months. Someplace in the above text should be a clue as to what's going on, but I don't know enough about safe mode and services to see if maybe one of the services causes crashes in Asia, but not in the US. (If someone else told me all the above, I'd tell them that it's not possible - and even for myself, I "know" it shouldn't be possible, but it's happening!)

Quick question - let's say I eventually create a 50-gig (or whatever) "system" partition, then make the disk image as you suggest, and store it on another partition. Will the size of this new partition be the full 50 gigs, or only whatever space is actually used? Just curious - it sounds like a good plan, as long as I have disk space (which is getting so inexpensive nowadays that it's not worth worrying about). I can't do any of this yet, but one way or another I want "my" files in a separate partition from the "system" just in case.

I've been getting blue screen error messages every so often, but only when my Toshiba A215 S7433 laptop is used in Asia; it won't ever do this when it's used in the USA. DRIVER_IRQL_NOT LESS OR EQUAL It's running Windows Vista Home. All updates that I know of have been done. It has done this with two different anti-virus programs, so I'm pretty sure that is not the problem. It will never crash in SAFE MODE, only in normal mode. When I use MSCONFIG and turn *everything* off, the computer still crashes. I haven't yet tried to turn off any services. The computer came with 2 gigs of RAM, which I've changed to 4 gigs of new RAM. Just before the blue screen appears, the computer seems to slow down, then I get the error message, and it reboots. No new hardware has been added. Usually the computer reboots just fine, but several times the crash has damaged the email folder, which has been a bit of work to fix. Here are some messages I've found over the past year or so on rebooting: "Debug Dump files" 271 megs "System error memory dump files" - 274 megs "System error minidump files" - 2.90 megs "Per user archived Windows Error Repo..." 86.5 megs "Per user Queued Windows Error Repor..." 1.04 gigs "System archived Windows Error Repor..." 1.36 megs =========================================================== October 1, 2008 ServiceLayer Module stopped working and was closed. A problem caused the application to stop working correctly. Windows will notify you if a solution is available. =========================================================== September 6, 2008 Problem signature: Problem Event Name: BlueScreen OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.768.3 Locale ID: 1033 Additional information about the problem: BCCode: d1 BCP1: 00000010 BCP2: 00000002 BCP3: 00000001 BCP4: 82E4E15E OS Version: 6_0_6001 Service Pack: 1_0 Product: 768_1 Files that help describe the problem: C:\Windows\Minidump\Mini090608-01.dmp C:\Users\Mike\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-87812-0.sysdata.xml C:\Users\Mike\AppData\Local\Temp\WERF787.tmp.version.txt Read our privacy statement: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=501...mp;clcid=0x0409 =========================================================== Problem signature: Problem Event Name: BlueScreen OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.768.3 Locale ID: 1033 Additional information about the problem: BCCode: 9f BCP1: 00000003 BCP2: 84D59030 BCP3: 8589A380 BCP4: 869B52B8 OS Version: 6_0_6001 Service Pack: 1_0 Product: 768_1 Files that help describe the problem: C:\Windows\Minidump\Mini080408-01.dmp C:\Users\Mike\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-6747152-0.sysdata.xml C:\Users\Mike\AppData\Local\Temp\WER50C0.tmp.version.txt Read our privacy statement: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=501...mp;clcid=0x0409 =========================================================== Wednesday, August 6 Problem signature: Problem Event Name: BlueScreen OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.768.3 Locale ID: 1033 Additional information about the problem: BCCode: 9f BCP1: 00000003 BCP2: 8725F0B8 BCP3: 85673260 BCP4: 8591F288 OS Version: 6_0_6001 Service Pack: 1_0 Product: 768_1 Files that help describe the problem: C:\Windows\Minidump\Mini080608-01.dmp C:\Users\Mike\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-21173844-0.sysdata.xml C:\Users\Mike\AppData\Local\Temp\WER6C4F.tmp.version.txt Read our privacy statement: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=501...mp;clcid=0x0409 =========================================================== My question here is whether using ccleaner and then the registry cleaner might help cure this. I don't understand much of what I've posted up above, but maybe it will make sense to one of you. Thanks in advance!

I guess I've got a lot that I still need to do. 1 - The easy step (I think) is to get that program and make a backup copy of my registry "just in case". I doubt I need to do it every day, but it should be good insurance. 2 - The way I think I might have gotten into this mess to begin with, was to use the Piriform registry cleaner. Now that I've restored my old settings, *and* fixed the problem with my CD/DVD, I'm rather hesitant to run the registry cleaner again. (Now that with your help, I've dug myself out of the hole I created and then fell into, do I really want to do it all over again?) 3 - This is being done on a more or less "stock" Toshiba Satellite. Everything is in drive "C", which is not how I like things to be done. I'd rather have a drive C for "system" and a drive D for "data" (my stuff). In that case, if I ever lose the system drive, I've still got my "files and email". Eventually I'll get that done for my laptop(s) just as I did for my desktop. 4 - The original plan, up until two days ago, was to spend a few days while I'm visiting my brother, and fully back up the Toshiba (done), then move move of my stuff off the computer (done), and run the Windows 7 update DVD which is supposed to leave all my programs in place, but upgrade from Vista to Win 7. At some point I'll want to install Windows 7 64-bit, but that means re-installing all my programs, which I don't want to do right now. 5 - I'm not all that thrilled with this laptop as it has a problem nobody has been able to explain, let alone fix, and it's bigger and heavier than what I want. I've still got my much older Sony Vaio PCG-TR3AP laptop which weighs next to nothing and is small enough to fit in a purse. I've wanted to replace the Toshiba with a more modern version of that Vaio, but once I found what I wanted (Sony TT series) Sony discontinued them all, and it seemed the only way to get one was to pay a fortune over ebay, or bring one back from Hong Kong. By sheer luck I found a reburb TT series for sale at Sony Style, and I'll have it by next Wednesday, meaning this computer will then be surplus. The things you're describing sound like the plan for the future - it's a win/win situation, as if I don't need the backups it won't hurt anything, and if I do, I'll be in better shape than before. Would you suggest getting that software, doing a backup, then trying to "clean" my Vista registry with the Piriform program? (I'll enter a new discussion topic for the strange problem I have with this computer - neither Toshiba tech support nor anyone I've discussed it with have any suggestions.....)

To DennisD: I went to the link you provided. I selected the option to download the tools, and run the "fixit" program. (Several components were downloaded, after which the program was ready to run.) I ran the program, then selected the option to repair anything that was wrong. In less than a minute, EVERYTHING was fixed, and now appears to be working perfectly!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!! Here's a link to several "fixit" utilities from Microsoft: http://support.microsoft.com/fixit

Thanks!! I'll try the following (copied from the other page, with both the originally posted link, and your corrected link): ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Skeeter.Gz@msn.com - Mar 20, 2010 10:58pm GMT Sorry it took me so long. I've actually known about this fix it web site for about 3 years but it fixes other hardware issues too. I found the resolution to the Matshita DVD-Ram UJ-850s ATA Device Drivers. This is different than altering your registry, and it works via Microsoft Vista Home Premium Please follow directions carefully or either the Read or the Write won't work. In order for this to work - (YOU WILL NEED A BLANK DVD AND A FULL DVD WITH SOME KIND OF PROGRAM ON IT) old link: http://support.microsoft.com/fixit#tab2 corrected link: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cd_dvd_drive_problems Click (or copy and paste) the link above to begin the process. Click on the first option Your CD/DVD drive cannot read or write media in Windows Vista. Click on the big "RUN NOW" button to the right, then select "Continue" when your computer asks your permission. Then Select Detect problems and apply the fixes for me (Recommended). It gives you two options "Read a CD/DVD and Write a CD/DVD" you will need to run both options separately once for each issue you're having with your hardware. You will see your device listed, click on your device. It will ask you for a disc. For the Read part of it, you need to insert a DVD Disc with something on it such as a program, of any kind. Insert the disc and click on your device. NOTE: If you forget to insert a full DVD Disc your DVD Device door will pop out, then you will be forced to insert a DVD disc with a program on it. The program will continue and configure your DVD device. After it completes return back to the first page where it says "RUN NOW". Click on "RUN NOW' again and follow the same steps. When you see the screen with the two options "Read a CD/DVD and Write a CD/DVD" and "Write a CD/DVD", this time select "Write a CD/DVD" option. NOTE: IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU INSERT A BLANK DVD IN ORDER TO COMPLETE THIS PROCESS. The program is configuring the write portion and it needs to be able to write on the blank DVD in order to complete the process. Then follow the rest of the steps and complete the process. THAT'S IT !!! Congratulations, you can now use 100% of you DVD device and there is no risk with altering the registry. Sincerely Skeeter_Gz@msn.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I read the whole discussion at the other website, and something on that page seems to be fixing people's CD/DVD drives, but I'm not sure if it is the above solution or changing the registry. I need to get a blank DVD and try this out.....

I've also tried doing a search for the error message "Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)" I did a search for "Vista" along with the above text, and got to this site: http://www.vistax64.com/vista-hardware-dev...ot-working.html They've got some things at the end that sound possible, but very complicated (to me). Here's the text, copied from the above site: ----------------------------- From Microsoft.... this takes about 5 minutes to do... Method 2: Manually delete the registry entries Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure that you back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 256986 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986/) Description of the Microsoft Windows registry Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall the operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.Log on to Windows by using an account that has administrator rights and permissions. Then, follow these steps. Step 1: Start Registry Editor Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK. Registry Editor starts. Step 2: Delete the UpperFilters registry entry 1. In Registry Editor, expand My Computer, and then expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. 2. Expand SYSTEM, and then expand CurrentControlSet. 3. Expand Control, and then expand Class. 4. Under Class, click {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}. 5. In the right pane (topic area), click UpperFilters. Note An UpperFilters.bak registry entry may also appear. To delete the UpperFilters registry entry, you must click UpperFilters and not UpperFilters.bak. 6. On the Edit menu, click Delete. 7. When you receive the following message, click Yes to confirm the deletion of the UpperFilters registry entry: Are you sure you want to delete this value? The UpperFilters registry entry is removed from the {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} registry subkey. Note Do not exit Registry Editor. You must have this program for the next step. Step 3: Delete the LowerFilters registry entry 1. In Registry Editor, expand My Computer, and then expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. 2. Expand SYSTEM, and then expand CurrentControlSet. 3. Expand Control, and then expand Class. 4. Under Class, click {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}. 5. In the right pane (topic area), click LowerFilters. Note An LowerFilters.bak registry entry may also appear. To delete the LowerFilters registry entry, you must click LowerFilters and not LowerFilters.bak. 6. On the Edit menu, click Delete. 7. When you receive the following message, click Yes to confirm the deletion of the LowerFilters registry entry: Are you sure you want to delete this value? The LowerFilters registry entry is removed from the {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} registry subkey. 8. Exit Registry Editor. Step 4: Restart the computer If a CD recording program no longer works after you restart the computer, you must reinstall the CD recording program. Back to the top

Thanks for the suggestions. First, I checked for the yellow exclamation marks; there are only two of them, in front of each of the following: IZS 89U3C1QJ SCSI CdRom Device MATSHITA DVD-RAM UJ-850S ATA Device I tried going to device manager, and removing both of them (as you suggested). The computer came back up, re-installed the drivers, but no change. I get the same error. I then clicked on each of the CCleaner .reg files, to restore things back to where they were (doing a system restore point first). Again, no change. If I double click on either of the two items, I get the following message in the General Tab from Device Properties: "Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)" If I remove and re-install the driver, nothing changes. Unlikely as it seems to me, maybe my CD/DVD drive died, but in that case, I'd expect the driver to still be OK.

I ran Piriform registry cleaner on an old desktop to try it out - worked great. No problems. I then ran it on my laptop (running Vista Home). It fixed almost everything in one pass, but took two more passes until it found nothing else to correct. This left me with three files under "Documents" with the data to restore things to how they used to be, and a computer that I assumed would work better. Everything seemed fine, until I tried to use my CD/DVD. Now I get error messages. When I go to device manager, I see an icon for each, with the yellow question mark. When I try to update the driver, the computer says I'm already up to date. When I look further, it says the driver is corrupted. When I search on Microsoft, I learn that this can be caused by errors in the registry. I can post the specific details here if that would help. What I think I want to do right now, is restore the registry to the way it used to be, which I assume means clicking on the ".reg" files that were stored in MyDocuments, doing this in reverse order, starting with the newest file and working backwards to do the other two. Is this correct?