7 BSOD mostly IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, ran out of ideas

[TheOnlyRealTGS]

7 BSOD mostly IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL caused by ntoskrnl.exe

Hello, this is my first post on 7forums.
I have experienced 8 BSOD this year, and I'm out of ideas of what to do, so I created a account here.
Here's what I've tried:

• Contacted Norton support (remote desktop, they removed an update)
• Updated my BIOS to the very latest version from Asus (6 months old though)
• Installed all recommended updates from WU
• Did a full PC scan with Norton
• Did a rootkit scan with Norton power remover
• Ran a CHKDSK
• Ran the Windows RAM test - no errors found
• Returned my new ram (Inserted it 14 days before the first BSOD this year)
• Uninstalled Corsair Link 2 and installed the newest version (contains "unstable" code)
• Completely re-installed Norton 360

It's mostly IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL with the probability of it being caused by ntoskrnl.exe according to BlueScreenView.
Seems to happen pretty randomly, but a few times when the PC is sleeping, or Norton was doing a full PC scan. Just happened today when I set my PC to sleep.

PC Specs:

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer
Custom build
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.
CPU
i5 3570k
Motherboard
Asus P8Z77-M
Memory
Corsair Vengeance Bk DDR3-1600 DC - 8GB
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA GTX 670 FTW
Hard Drives
WD Caviar Black 1TB
Antivirus
Norton 360

Sorry if I missed anything, it's my first post.
Hope you guys can pinpoint me of what to do now

 

[Thedoctor44]

Norton causes a lot of issues and this seems to be one of them.
Please remove Norton 360 by using the uninstaller.

Replace it with Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes.

Microsoft Security Essentials - Microsoft Windows

Malwarebytes | Free Anti-Malware & Internet Security Software

When installing Malwarebytes make sure you look at this:

You are having other errors but we'll try this first.

 

[TheOnlyRealTGS]

Norton causes a lot of issues and this seems to be one of them.
Please remove Norton 360 by using the uninstaller.

Replace it with Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes.

Microsoft Security Essentials - Microsoft Windows

Malwarebytes | Free Anti-Malware & Internet Security Software

When installing Malwarebytes make sure you look at this:

You are having other errors but we'll try this first.

Okay, but I'm paying a lot for all my Norton licences, so I assume you want to try this as a temporary option?
Also, do you think it would help to contact Norton support?

 

[Thedoctor44]

Well yes it's only temporary for testing purposes.
After we isolate the issue then you could but at the moment lets see if this fixes your issues.

 

[TheOnlyRealTGS]

Well yes it's only temporary for testing purposes.
After we isolate the issue then you could but at the moment lets see if this fixes your issues.

Okay, but the BSOD happens like 2 times a week, so might take some time before we can be sure that Norton causes it. Should I return later then?

 

[Thedoctor44]

Yes, just let us know

 

[TheOnlyRealTGS]

Yes, just let us know

Okay so I uninstalled Norton but kept the settings.
Then I followed your instructions and installed Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes.
I just had a crash right now where there were no BSOD, but everything shut down with the sound lagging, but I could hear my fans + HD still running, and it came up with that bootscreen where you can select safemode, safemode + network, and normal boot.
So I chose normal, and here I am
I was not doing anything special, had chrome, skype, vuze, raidcall, filezilla, and minecraft open.
What do you suggest now?

 

[Thedoctor44]

Can you please run Furmark for around 30 minutes to stress test your graphics card.
Follow these instructions.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100356-video-card-stress-test-furmark.html

   Warning

This stress test isn't fail safe so watch the temperatures.

 

[TheOnlyRealTGS]

Can you please run Furmark for around 30 minutes to stress test your graphics card.
Follow these instructions.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100356-video-card-stress-test-furmark.html

   Warning

This stress test isn't fail safe so watch the temperatures.

Sorry I got to go soon, would 15 min be fine?

 

[Thedoctor44]

Hmm, it varies from card to card how quickly the temperatures rise.

I would leave it until you get back.

 

[TheOnlyRealTGS]

Hmm, it varies from card to card how quickly the temperatures rise.

I would leave it until you get back.

Well, that'll be in 9 hours
I'll report back in 15 min

 

[Thedoctor44]

I don't mind at all but if you want to test the GPU now then fair enough but I recommend you do it again sometime in the future unless you find issues now.

 

[TheOnlyRealTGS]

I don't mind at all but if you want to test the GPU now then fair enough but I recommend you do it again sometime in the future unless you find issues now.

Okay I had time to do a 30 min test, the max temp was 65° and it kept it at 65° during the rest of the test.

 

[Thedoctor44]

Were there any artifacts or other problems?
If not then it looks like your GPU is stable so we'll rule that out.

Right, can you uninstall your graphics drivers and roll back to 314.22

Also please remove all motherboard programs that aren't necessary like monitoring software and clean up software.
Careful you don't remove drivers or software that is important for your system to function properly.
If you are unsure about a program let us know.

 

[TheOnlyRealTGS]

Were there any artifacts or other problems?
If not then it looks like your GPU is stable so we'll rule that out.

Right, can you uninstall your graphics drivers and roll back to 314.22

Also please remove all motherboard programs that aren't necessary like monitoring software and clean up software.
Careful you don't remove drivers or software that is important for your system to function properly.
If you are unsure about a program let us know.

Well, not 100% sure what a visual artifact is, but it generated some weird colorful patterns/stuff on my screen that moved. I just ran it and pressed ESC, there were not errors or crashes.
And why exactly do I need to roll all the way back to 314.22? The current version is 335.23 so it's a huge downgrade. Also, AFAIK that version doesn't contain NVIDIA GeForce Experience, and I'll prefer not playing around with uninstalling the drivers.
However there's a "Re-install driver" option in NVIDIA GeForce Experience, should I try that?

And I don't think this has much to do with my GPU, because the BSOD rarely happens when my GPU is under heavy load/playing high end games. I had some crashes a few months ago when playing I think BF4, but it has been stable with the never GPU drivers, which is another reason I prefer not to downgrade.

And I don't have any unnecessary motherboard programs, only keep the necessary program running, which is AI Suite, nothing else from my motherboard.

PS: Going to sleep now, wont be able to respond the next 10-15 hours.

 

[Thedoctor44]

Can you take a picture of your furmark running?
I'm starting to have doubts from what you described.

The reason we ask for such a huge downgrade is 314.22 is the last known Nvidia graphics driver version that has been so stable that it has not caused issues (That is if I remember correctly).

Is AI suite necessary for you?
That's one of those bundles that probably causes issues.
For testing purposes can you uninstall it?

 

[TheOnlyRealTGS]

Can you take a picture of your furmark running?
I'm starting to have doubts from what you described.

The reason we ask for such a huge downgrade is 314.22 is the last known Nvidia graphics driver version that has been so stable that it has not caused issues (That is if I remember correctly).

Is AI suite necessary for you?
That's one of those bundles that probably causes issues.
For testing purposes can you uninstall it?

Here's the screenshot (the weird stuff was moving):

And an important thing I forgot to write, I'm overclocking my cpu to 4,4GHz, which I sometimes use AI Suite for.
Before I uninstall it, is overclocking important for this case?

 

[Thedoctor44]

Furmark looks fine to me, when we say artifacts we generally mean image tears.

Yes! Please remove all overclocking from hardware, restore all hardware to default values.

 

[TheOnlyRealTGS]

Furmark looks fine to me, when we say artifacts we generally mean image tears.

Yes! Please remove all overclocking from hardware, restore all hardware to default values.

Okay, what I'm gonna do is putting it on auto, if it happens again I'll restore it to the very default values
EDIT: Overclocking was the problem!