This infrequent but long-standing error crashes Windows NT version 4 on a dual-processor PC.
It persists despite service pack upgrades (now SP6, but there since SP4), video driver and Internet Explorer upgrades (4 to 5.5). I now have logged about40 failures over 18 months, so some patterns have emerged.
1. Usually its in IE, Word or Excel. It can be at system startup (just before/after logging into NT).
2. The problem most likely occurs when an application creates a child window. IE to create a Favorite; Excel to create a Hyperlink; Word to Save As or Create New; Acrobat to set a bookmark destination; ACT! to open a database.
3. Infrequently, scrolling in Word, moving the mouse in IE or task switching crashes.
4. The screenfreezes for a second, then crashes to blue screen.
5. The most common Bugchecks are:
STOP 0x0A IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL ntoskrnl.exe (c5 occurrences)
STOP 0x1E KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED ntoskrnl.exe (c15)
STOP 0x1E KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED atirage.dll (c20)
6. Typical full messages follow.
STOP 0x0A (0x0, 0x02,0x01,0x8010B3D1)
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
Address 8010b3d1 has base at 80100000 – ntoskrnl.exe
STOP 0x1E (0xC46, 0x80119B16, 0x80878968, 0x0DF)
KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
Address 80119b16 has base at 80100000 – ntoskrnl.exe
STOP 0x1E (0xC5, 0xFC21F977, 0x0, 0x0366C000)
KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
Address fc21f977 has base at fc21f000 – atirage.dll (several times with same addresses)
There is nothing specific on MS TechNet. Similar messages relate to a variety of hardware and driver problems, so advice is general (such as remove all non-essential hardware/software).
If no fix is obvious, thoughts on debugging it would help.
I can supply the PC spec, MS System Info and a log of all recorded Bugcheck messages.
Best regards.
Martin Tate