Zone Desire
Windows

How to Fix IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL Blue Screen (Stop Code 0xA)

By Maya Hassan · About Zone Desire

Desktop PC driver and memory troubleshooting for an IRQL blue screen
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Quick answer

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (0x0000000A) is a blue screen caused mostly by a faulty driver or bad RAM accessing memory it should not. Update or roll back recent drivers, run Windows Memory Diagnostic, and remove overclocking.

What does “IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL” mean?

A driver or process tried to use a memory address at a priority level (IRQL) that is not allowed.

What causes it?

  • Outdated or buggy drivers (network, graphics, antivirus)
  • Faulty RAM
  • Overclocking
  • Incompatible software

Steps to try

Stop when the issue is resolved.

  1. Boot into Safe Mode if the crash repeats at startup.
  2. Open Device Manager and update network, graphics and storage drivers.
  3. If the crashes started after a driver update, choose Roll Back Driver.
  4. Press Win + R, type mdsched.exe and run Windows Memory Diagnostic.
  5. Turn off CPU/RAM overclocking or XMP in BIOS and test again.
  6. Uninstall third-party antivirus and use Microsoft Defender to test.

Need more support? Check the official help: Microsoft Support

FAQs

Which driver caused my crash?

Check Event Viewer or use a minidump reader such as BlueScreenView or WinDbg on C:\Windows\Minidump.

Is IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL a hardware problem?

Sometimes. If drivers are clean, test the RAM stick by stick.