Fix: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL Blue Screen
One of the most common Windows blue screens, almost always caused by a misbehaving driver. A calm overview to identifying and resolving it.
What This Stop Code Means
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL means a kernel driver tried to access memory at a higher interrupt request level than it was allowed to. In plain language: a driver did something it should not have, and Windows shut things down to prevent damage.
Almost every instance of this blue screen points back to a specific driver, named in the stop screen and in the resulting minidump file under C:\Windows\Minidump.
Identifying the Faulty Driver
The blue screen names the file responsible — usually something like nvlddmkm.sys (graphics chipset vendor graphics), Netwtw10.sys (a major chipset vendor Wi-Fi), or rt640x64.sys (common audio/network chip Ethernet). A web search for that filename almost always reveals the device family.
Once you have the file, update or roll back the driver for that device. The Reliability Monitor (Control Panel → Reliability Monitor) also shows recent faults grouped by date, which helps confirm the timing of the issue.
- Note the .sys file named in the blue screen
- Find the corresponding device in Device Manager
- Update or roll back its driver
When the Issue Persists
If updating the named driver does not stop the blue screen, the file may be a victim rather than the cause — a deeper driver in the same chain might be misbehaving. Use Driver Verifier in safe mode (carefully, see our explainer) to find the genuine culprit.
If you cannot identify a single offender, a recent Windows feature update may also be to blame. Pausing updates and reverting to a previous version is sometimes the cleanest fix.
Quick Answers
Frequently Asked Questions
The questions readers send us most often on this topic.
Each crash is annoying but Windows shuts down precisely to prevent data loss. Repeated crashes warrant prompt investigation.
C:\Windows\Minidump for the small dumps and C:\Windows\memory.DMP for the full one when configured.
Occasionally — bad RAM can present as a driver-style fault. Run Windows Memory Diagnostic if driver fixes do not resolve it.
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