Is it possible that "cleaning" will prevent crashes?

CCleaner for Windows
1

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

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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.

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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

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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

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===========================================================

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

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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!

2

Very highly unlikely that CCleaner's cleaner and registry cleaning will help. Also don't get duped into buying any software that claims to remove BSOD's because it most likely won't do anything, other than take your money.

Too many BSOD's with hardware can be the result of needing an OS update patch from Microsoft Update, device driver update, disabling or completely replacing a faulty component, or the most time consuming restore/reinstall of the Windows OS.

You can start by running system memory tests using either one of these via a boot CD:

* Microsoft Windows Memory Diagnostic

* MemTest86+

Edit:

Also it's a question most likely best suited to your PC manufacturer since they may know more of the cause, or already have support FAQ documentation about it. Searching Microsoft's Support site will most likely also reveal very good information.

3

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!)

4

It's definitely very strange to have issues on the other side of the world, then have none in the U.S. Your problem is completely over my head.

With it only happening in Windows normal mode in Asia, etc., I'd look into what services are running. Also if you've installed anything new like a new antivirus, firewall, etc., that could be something to look into.

I wonder if it's something as simple as a timezone switch, can't imagine a computer being that finicky.

5

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT LESS OR EQUAL means a device driver accessed memory at wrong IRQ level suggesting it's buggy or hardware / RAM is faulty.

To determine the faulty driver file use NirSoft's BlueScreenView and select the crash dump file from the list.

This is a very odd problem so I can only recommend you visit the Toshiba web site and make sure you have all the latest drivers installed for your laptop.

If this hasn't solved it then you need to find out what's different when you're using your laptop outside the USA.

Does your laptop operate in a warmer environment or get hotter than usual??

Does your laptop still crash running on battery power (testing if power supply doesn't work well outside USA)??

Does your laptop still crash if wifi/bluetooth/lan is disabled??

Richard S.

6

I believe in some regions of the world you may have ISPs that handle IPv6 as well as IPv4.

I believe some PC's are protected against malware that arrives via IPv4, but may be unable to intercept IPv6 arrivals.

I specialise in wild guesses, and sometimes I strike pay-dirt ! !

Regards

Alan