IRQL not less or equal to Windows 10 BSOD shortly after startup

satrow said:

Tutorials for downloading/creating a full W10 install: Windows 10 ISO Download - Windows 10 Forums[2]=Installation%20and%20Setup and how to clean install W10: Windows 10 - Clean Install - Windows 10 Forums[2]=Installation%20and%20Setup

No need to open up the notebook, that comment was more a generic one - for others facing a similar problem with machines with partial support only - a continuation on the 'minimise the hardware first' theme, some motherboards might have SATA chips from 2/3 different makers, just as others, like most notebooks, might have wifi + wired connections available - just enable what is really needed.

The "dump_*.sys" files don't 'exist'" comment was because it's a red herring, just ignore it :) The last paragraph is how I see what the dumps are telling me - only useful if you want to spend several days uninstalling software/updating drivers to try to get the current upgrade working (and you may also need to do an in-place reinstall afterwards, with no real guarantee that it will undo everything 'bad' carried over from the W8.1 install).

So that leaves turning off (in the BIOS) any features that you don't need/can't use before the install, and similar post-install for software/drivers. Avoid activating hardware you don't need, avoid installing drivers/software you don't need. The aim is to get a lean, clean install of W10. Once you're confident you have a stable Windows install, install your 'working' software - the stuff you need on a regular basis - and see how it gels during a couple of 'normal' Windows sessions.

I see that you're using a wired USB3 to Gigabit network connection, is this built-in to the notebook or an adapter (I don't see a driver listed by Dell)? You might want to download the drivers for it (AX88179 - ASIX Electronics Corporation the W8.1x64 drivers should be fine, they're relatively new) and put them on a USB thumb drive drive in case they're needed. If it is an adapter, you can disable both networking adapters in the BIOS.

You've given me hope!! :) Question though, the Killer Network and the Bigfoot Network stuff all came with my laptop. Even if I disable the WiFi before the re-install, I'll need some way of connecting via WiFi after the re-installation is successful. So shouldn't I instead uninstall these drivers (or are they programs? I don't know...) and find better ones to work with my wireless adapter?

The same goes with the Intel HD Graphics driver. For starters, I have a NVIDIA graphics card, so I'm not sure why this driver is taking precedence. My device manager says it's not even detecting a NVIDIA GPU, which is strange because I know it's there. I have NVIDIA GeForce Experience which updates my NVIDIA drivers. Now when I use it it says GPU not detected. Plus, I think I had it set so that NVIDIA GPU takes over only when I'm gaming and to use the Intel Graphics when doing regular use (if this was a bad idea, let me know). If I get the NVIDIA to work again, couldn't I just set it to always use it instead of the Intel Graphics? I don't care much about power consumption because I always have my laptop plugged in.

What we don't yet know is whether the normal Killer W10 drivers/utilities (Killer Networking - Driver Downloads) will work on the Dell/Alienware versions - Dell have frequently modified 'their' hardware so that it's difficult to install 'normal' drivers; this can often be worked around by modifying the driver .inf file so that it will allow installation on the Dell-modded hardware. (I've even had to use this method to install newer Dell Wifi cards into older Dell notebooks - Dell want you to buy a new computer rather than upgrading your current one.)

So, you can test out the Killer Suite now, we know your USB/Gigabyte NIC should work fine as a stopgap in case we need to figure out how to get the inbuilt wifi working on a clean install.

Switchable graphics are always going to be a problem once you move away from the OEM drivers; if Dell don't have W10 drivers, you may be able to install the W8.1 drivers instead; otherwise, it might be possible, depending on the BIOS settings, to disable the Intel GPU and force W10 to use the nVidia GPU only.

Again, this is something you might be able to test with the current buggy upgrade install before deciding exactly what to do, patch this upgrade, clean install or revert to W8.1.

satrow said:

What we don't yet know is whether the normal Killer W10 drivers/utilities (Killer Networking - Driver Downloads) will work on the Dell/Alienware versions - Dell have frequently modified 'their' hardware so that it's difficult to install 'normal' drivers; this can often be worked around by modifying the driver .inf file so that it will allow installation on the Dell-modded hardware. (I've even had to use this method to install newer Dell Wifi cards into older Dell notebooks - Dell want you to buy a new computer rather than upgrading your current one.)

So, you can test out the Killer Suite now, we know your USB/Gigabyte NIC should work fine as a stopgap in case we need to figure out how to get the inbuilt wifi working on a clean install.

Switchable graphics are always going to be a problem once you move away from the OEM drivers; if Dell don't have W10 drivers, you may be able to install the W8.1 drivers instead; otherwise, it might be possible, depending on the BIOS settings, to disable the Intel GPU and force W10 to use the nVidia GPU only.

Again, this is something you might be able to test with the current buggy upgrade install before deciding exactly what to do, patch this upgrade, clean install or revert to W8.1.

Ok so I tried to download and install Killer Suite, but it said I first needed to uninstall some Qualcomm Atheros program by going to Control Panel -->Programs and Features. I went there, started uninstalling it, but then I BSOD'd again! This time, the error was "MEMORY_MANAGEMENT". What do you think satrow? Another BSOD when attempting to solve the first. Should we even try to figure this one out or just clean install?

Also, what else should I disable in the BIOS in case we decide to go for a lean clean install? You mentioned WiFi and RAID. Disabling the WiFi makes a lot of sense because it's the Killer stuff that's causing problems, but what will happen to my computer if I disable RAID? I don't really understand it in the first place, so I'm kind of hesitant :/ Besides those 2, I will try not to install anything that I don't need right away. I mainly use this computer for video gaming, web development + android app development (I downloaded Aptana Studio, Android Studio, WAMP server, MySQL. But the MySQL and WAMP were just for testing on my localhost, which isn't reeeeally needed....), and general browsing. I'll try to write down everything I install in order so that I can single out what the cause is of any future BSOD.

Qualcom/Atheros have the basic drivers for the Killer NIC, which, I think, are still at W8.1 level but from early this year. Memory Management figures, ties in with what looks like the 'confused' state of the networking system - one driver is illegally accessing the loaded memory space of another = crash. Yes, I'd go for clean install.

Your SATA should be set as JBOD, rather than RAID anyway; disabling RAID specifically, if it's possible, might mean that W10 doesn't try to install the IntelRST (which will add ~4 drivers that simply aren't needed). Your base software load out sounds safe. Making notes as you go is always good (something I'm really bad at!).

satrow said:

Qualcom/Atheros have the basic drivers for the Killer NIC, which, I think, are still at W8.1 level but from early this year. Memory Management figures, ties in with what looks like the 'confused' state of the networking system - one driver is illegally accessing the loaded memory space of another = crash. Yes, I'd go for clean install.

Your SATA should be set as JBOD, rather than RAID anyway; disabling RAID specifically, if it's possible, might mean that W10 doesn't try to install the IntelRST (which will add ~4 drivers that simply aren't needed). Your base software load out sounds safe. Making notes as you go is always good (something I'm really bad at!).

This article tells me that RAID will basically keep my data safer, I kiiiiinda wanna trust it. I do plan on using Windows 10 in the long run after all and I'd like it to be set up optimally from the get-go. JBOD Vs RAID : Cost Effective Network Storage Options » JetStor

Update: My NVIDIA GPU is operational!! I'm not sure how it got detected. I didn't do anything differently, I just restarted my laptop.

Satrow - I just finished my clean install of Windows 10. Unfortunately, I forgot to disable the Wifi before doing so and was prompted to add a network to connect to via Wifi during installation (that's when I noticed). But I think it's ok because I was able to finally successfully install the Killer Suite for Windows 10 without crashing. No BSOD's so far. NVIDIA GPU + drivers are recognized and seem to be working fine. I might play a game or 2 of Dota2 just to make sure :P

Should I test anything specifically based on my submitted crash report and noted BSOD error messages before feeling like this was completely successful? (naïve idea incoming) Are there maybe any programs I can run to stress test for BSOD?