Hi I have this weird problem where when I shutdown the system doesn't turn off automatically, it just sits there with this silly black screen on its face. I've noticed that if I immediately turn it off by holding the power button in for 3s it won't bootup properly next time its turned back on. It gets to the windows loading screen and flashes up a blue screen before rebooting over and over until it seems to fluke it eventually and get it right. However, I have found that if I shutdown, leave it for 5mins and then turn it off by holding in the power button the next bootup is fine every time. The blue screen says IRQ NOT LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO something something... maybe that's a clue but damned if I know what that means. Anyone?
Ryan

IRQL_NOT_LESS_THAN_OR_EQUAL BSOD:
1. Installation of Roxio products (EZ-CD creator, Video Pack 5.0, etc.) Possible BIOS (aka device drivers) conflicts include: acpi.sys (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) and ntfs.sys (NT File Structure).
2. Setting CMOS settings incorrectly. Look for PnP OS options, and try to free up IRQ’s for windows to use. Disable COM ports if you do not need them. Try setting OS to PnP. Also, try switching physical locations of interface cards. (The AGP slots in most motherboards share an IRQ with the slot next to it.)
3. Use of programs that tax system resources. In my case, Pulldown.exe (deals with video encoding), Uudecode.exe (used to combine binary newsgroup posts.), and other DVD tools during the creation of VOB’s.
4. Bad RAM. Although this is a very rare occurrence, in my experience, it is very possible that bad RAM can cause this error. I have never received a DIMM that was faulty (In 15 years), but I don’t buy cheap DIMM’s either. A colleague of mine says that he corrected this problem after replacing a suspected bad DIMM.
5. Installation of a new device that has not been properly configured or doesn’t have the correct driver installed. Try freeing up some IRQ’s for the OS to use in the CMOS. Disable COM’s and try to reproduce the error.
6. Corrupted page file due to improper shut down or BSOD. In XP, Right-click on “My computer”, select “Properties”. Then click the “Advanced” tab, click “Settings” in the “Performance” area and another window will appear. Click the “Advanced” tab. In the “Virtual Memory” section click “Change” button. If you have a custom setting write these numbers down, then tick the “No Page File” button. Click ok-ok-ok. Then reboot the system. Repeat the process except correct the window to reflect your original settings reboot again. Sometimes this will temporarily correct the error.


As you can see there are lots of different reasons for this error message.
Hope this lot helps a little.

If you could let us know which OPerating system you are using we will be able to help better.

Hi,
The other answer covered everything very well. Hopefully, you won't have to spend the next month trying to find the problem.
What is your windows version?
Have you installed anything new recently?
Has this always happened, or did it just start?
It's probable that two devices of some sort are trying to use the same IRQ number. You might go to Control Panel/System and click on the Device Manager tab. Look to see if there are any exclamation points or question marks by anything.
As the other answer pointed out, this could take some troubleshooting.
Best of luck.