Software, or hardware?

Forgive me for not knowing the computer model number or anything, but I can tell you this is an HP about two years old.

So I'm doing my boyfriend's taxes last week on his computer, and in the middle of it, we get the BSOD with this message:

IRQL not less or equal

So we restarted, and it was fine. Next day I'm on it, and it does it again. I Google on my BlackBerry and it says it's a memory problem, so I run a diagnostic test on it, sure enough there are memory issues that seem like it's a hardware issue. We backed up some stuff that night (and got the BSOD once again!) and took it to Best Buy (I know, I know) because he has an extended warranty.

Well now they are claiming it's a software issue with the registry and they can't fix it unless they charge him, and they want to wipe the whole thing and start over. I think this is a bunch of BS frankly.

My theory is that we take the computer home, get into safe mode and back everything up this time, uninstall some programs (I might add, I hadn't installed anything new for weeks and I had to install a few things a while back to get rid of a trojan on it--his son downloaded Frostwire--need I say more?), do a system restore, and see what happens.

Of course he's all pissy since they didn't call him (I was there getting a new laptop because mine was a lemon and I asked if his was done) and he seems to think that somehow this is my fault (I can tell by his voice) and that he should just pay they money he doesn't have for them to fix it.

Advice? This just came out of nowhere, hadn't installed anything new that I can tell, only thing I can think of is Windows Updates but that would be it. They claimed at BB they'd run 18 memory tests and they came out fine, but the one I tried did NOT come out fine.

Argh. I'd just like to get this resolved without paying money and so my boyfriend isn't grumpy anymore.

Why don't you just replace the memory Dimm that the diagnostic program indicates. If that works out, present the bill to BB and tell them that they made a mistake sending you on a wild goose chase. You can scan your system here to find out what Dimm you need: RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, flash cards, SSD at Crucial.com

Try what whs suggested. You may have corrupted RAM, or your RAM may be failing. I highly doubt it was the virus from frostwire, since tis happened a while after the virus...

Although it says Windows 2000/XP, it still applies to Vista... Hardware wil have the same problems/symptoms no matter what OS you use.

1. Blue screens during the install procedure of Windows 2000 or XP. This is one of the surest signs of faulty memory.
2. Random crashes or blue screens during the running of 2000 or XP. Note that heat can also be a culprit in the case of general flakiness like this, so you should test for that possibility too.
3. Crashes during memory intensive operations. 3D games, benchmarks, compiling, Photoshop, etc.
4. Distorted graphics on screen. This can also be related to the video card.
5. Failure to boot. This can be accompanied by repeated long beeps, which is the accepted BIOS beep code for a memory problem. In this circumstance, you cannot test the memory with diagnostic software, so your only option is testing by replacement, either at home or at your computer dealer.

Snow(ConFed) said:

Try what whs suggested. You may have corrupted RAM, or your RAM may be failing. I highly doubt it was the virus from frostwire, since tis happened a while after the virus...

Although it says Windows 2000/XP, it still applies to Vista... Hardware wil have the same problems/symptoms no matter what OS you use.

1. Blue screens during the install procedure of Windows 2000 or XP. This is one of the surest signs of faulty memory.
2. Random crashes or blue screens during the running of 2000 or XP. Note that heat can also be a culprit in the case of general flakiness like this, so you should test for that possibility too.
3. Crashes during memory intensive operations. 3D games, benchmarks, compiling, Photoshop, etc.
4. Distorted graphics on screen. This can also be related to the video card.
5. Failure to boot. This can be accompanied by repeated long beeps, which is the accepted BIOS beep code for a memory problem. In this circumstance, you cannot test the memory with diagnostic software, so your only option is testing by replacement, either at home or at your computer dealer.

Click to expand...

Agreed. I have had this problem twice. Years ago, I had this happen on an HP. Played around with the RAM and replaced it with another stick and it never did it again, then about a year later, after I built my first pc, that one did it too. Go figure, I got a new stick of RAM ,and the problem was gone.
That may not be the ONLY thing to cause it, but it seems to be the most common.