dell xps 13 on windows 8.1 wont boot after uphidate

diablohowes

New Member
Messages
4
Hi,

Yesterday my computer automatically updated and now it won't boot into windows with the following BSOD error: IRQL_not_less_or_equal

It tries to repair then restarts and lands back on the same bsod.

What are my options here?
Thanks
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1
Start with these free, bootable diagnostics: Initial Hardware Diagnostics
Post back if you have difficulty running the diagnostics (and tell us what you have done).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1Pro - Finally!!!
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung/NP780
    CPU
    Came with the laptop (i7 of some sort)
    Motherboard
    Pretty sure that it has one, but haven't checked inside the case!
    Memory
    upgraded to 12 gB from 8 gB
    Graphics Card(s)
    has switchable - Intel/ATI - Used wrong drivers, now ATI card is inop :( Will have to fix it soon!
    Sound Card
    I'm nearly deaf, so this isn't used often
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Touchscreen on laptop/32" Toshiba on HDMI (laid the Sharp TV on a mouse and cracked the screen!)
    Screen Resolution
    800x600
    Hard Drives
    One Samsung 1tB drive - 5400 rpm. Gonna switch to a 7200/10000 rpm or an SSD (if I can find $500 for a 1tB SSD!)
    - Switched to 500 gB Samsung 840 series SSD - WOW!!!
    PSU
    Why do we ask this for laptops?
    Case
    Silver with a neat Samsung logo
    Cooling
    sub-par, gotta get around to working on it soon Worked on it - still sub-par! :(
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural - the same one I've used since it orignally came out around 1995
    Mouse
    no Mouse - Trackball!!!!
    Internet Speed
    too slow when I'm waiting for a download to finish
    Browser
    Yes, I use this (Firefox mostly, w/IE next most)
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Windows Firewall
    Other Info
    I'm handsome and a snappy dresser :0)
Hello,

I've been struggling to make progress on this using the programs linked to above. I had doubts about buying a laptop without a dvd drive and a fixed battery, when I try to boot into safe mode it hangs at "please wait" and the only way to get out is to wait for the battery to die. Very frustrating.

Anyway,

I managed to run the Dell diagnostics program (ePSA 4228.21) and everything it checked came back fine except for the hard drive (Liteon 256gb SSD) which gave the following error:
error code 2000-0151
Validation 88854
Msg Hard drive 0 - S/N TW0XXM305508539E0277, incorrect status = 3E Smart predictive failure

Now to me, this sounds like my hard drive has died on me which is a shame for two reasons 1) it's less than a year old 2) I've not backed up for quite a while and I stand to lose a lot, which I know is silly of me.

Is the above information any use into diagnosing this problem? I have raised a support order with Dell as it's still under warrenty but I would much rather solve this myself if it is a driver issue and not a hardware issue

Thanks
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1
The Dell diagnostics say that the hard drive has likely failed.
Dell will repair this under warranty.

BUT - If it's a dying hard drive, the first thing to do is to attempt to recover your data. Because it's dying, you may only have a limited time to recovery it (so now isn't the time to experiment with it - as each time you access the drive it'll tend to shorten it's remaining lifespan)
The easiest way to do this is to boot from a bootable disk to recover the data that way, or to "slave" your hard drive to another computer and see if you can copy the "Users" folder
1) Copy it to the Documents folder so it doesn't get itself confused with the Users folder on the working computer
2) Make sure that you set the working computer to view system and hidden files (this'll let you capture the AppData folder which may have bookmarks and email)
3) Make sure that the working computer has plenty of space, as the User folder is usually quite large.

There are different levels of data recovery.
Should you choose to take this to a pro, here's what it may cost:
- Level 1 (what I described above) $100 to $250 (US)
- Level 2 (using recovery software) about $500 (US)
- Level 3 (taking the disk apart and putting the platters into a new drive) $1700 to $2000 or more (US)

Once that's done, let Dell fix it under the warranty.
You can do it yourself, but you'll need a new hard drive and the recovery media (and the skills to open up the system and replace the hard drive).

Good luck!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1Pro - Finally!!!
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung/NP780
    CPU
    Came with the laptop (i7 of some sort)
    Motherboard
    Pretty sure that it has one, but haven't checked inside the case!
    Memory
    upgraded to 12 gB from 8 gB
    Graphics Card(s)
    has switchable - Intel/ATI - Used wrong drivers, now ATI card is inop :( Will have to fix it soon!
    Sound Card
    I'm nearly deaf, so this isn't used often
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Touchscreen on laptop/32" Toshiba on HDMI (laid the Sharp TV on a mouse and cracked the screen!)
    Screen Resolution
    800x600
    Hard Drives
    One Samsung 1tB drive - 5400 rpm. Gonna switch to a 7200/10000 rpm or an SSD (if I can find $500 for a 1tB SSD!)
    - Switched to 500 gB Samsung 840 series SSD - WOW!!!
    PSU
    Why do we ask this for laptops?
    Case
    Silver with a neat Samsung logo
    Cooling
    sub-par, gotta get around to working on it soon Worked on it - still sub-par! :(
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural - the same one I've used since it orignally came out around 1995
    Mouse
    no Mouse - Trackball!!!!
    Internet Speed
    too slow when I'm waiting for a download to finish
    Browser
    Yes, I use this (Firefox mostly, w/IE next most)
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Windows Firewall
    Other Info
    I'm handsome and a snappy dresser :0)
The Dell diagnostics say that the hard drive has likely failed.
Dell will repair this under warranty.

BUT - If it's a dying hard drive, the first thing to do is to attempt to recover your data. Because it's dying, you may only have a limited time to recovery it (so now isn't the time to experiment with it - as each time you access the drive it'll tend to shorten it's remaining lifespan)
The easiest way to do this is to boot from a bootable disk to recover the data that way, or to "slave" your hard drive to another computer and see if you can copy the "Users" folder
1) Copy it to the Documents folder so it doesn't get itself confused with the Users folder on the working computer
2) Make sure that you set the working computer to view system and hidden files (this'll let you capture the AppData folder which may have bookmarks and email)
3) Make sure that the working computer has plenty of space, as the User folder is usually quite large.

There are different levels of data recovery.
Should you choose to take this to a pro, here's what it may cost:
- Level 1 (what I described above) $100 to $250 (US)
- Level 2 (using recovery software) about $500 (US)
- Level 3 (taking the disk apart and putting the platters into a new drive) $1700 to $2000 or more (US)

Once that's done, let Dell fix it under the warranty.
You can do it yourself, but you'll need a new hard drive and the recovery media (and the skills to open up the system and replace the hard drive).

Good luck!

Just thought I'd pop back to say thank you. I bought myself an mSATA caddy and SATA to USB 3.0 adapter, hooked it up to my desk top, and I'm currently copying all my valuable files across.

Serves me right for not taking a back up earlier but I'm glad to have this solved, now I just have to chase Dell for some support. The hard drive might be OK and it might be a software issue, but if I have a warrenty then I may aswell put it to some use!

Thanks again
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1
Back
Top