Got a call yesterday. Customer is getting a blue screen error when the computer goes back from sleep. They put the system in sleep and when they wake the system up they get a blue screen error. The stop code is 0×0000000a and the stop code message is IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL.

Blue screen errors are one of the most challenging to troubleshoot. Blue screen error messages are vague and the Microsoft support does not help much. If you can still boot to Windows you can check the memory dump through WIndows Debugger.

Going back to the call. The customer called many times regarding the same issue. She already did all the memory and hard drive diagnostics and all of them passed. They already tried to turn the system on with just 1 gb and 2 gb of memory but it is still a blue screen error.

Already restored the computer to the factory settings but still getting the blue screen error. Now, I really don’t know what to do since they already tried everything.

Searched through our database and found out that this is a known Windows Vista issue. The knowledge base states that we can download a HotFix from the Microsoft Support website.

It is a good thing about the HotFix. Customer was glad that there was a fix for the issue she was having. The thing is, we cannot boot to Windows to download the HotFix. We cannot go to Last Known Good Configuration or Safe Mode with Networking. In short, the system cannot boot to Windows.

We did a fresh install of Windows through the OS CD. Took about 30 minutes to finish the install. We checked the drivers and everything looked fine. Connected through the internet and downloaded the HotFix. Advised to observe the system and see if the issue would happen again.

Hopefully that fixes the customer’s issue. Can you share your experiences regarding the same blue screen error? Would really appreciate your comments.