This error message is triggered when



you are upgrading your system from

Windows 98/Me to WinXP.

Translation: Hmmm . . . This one is not

very descriptive at all. IRQs (interrupt

request lines) are the communication channels

via which your hardware devices communicate

with your computer's CPU. When

a device needs the CPU's attention, it uses an

interrupt request to let the CPU know that it

has data that requires handling. So it's reasonable

to suspect this error message indicates

a problem with a hardware device or a

device driver.

Solution: According to Microsoft, the root

cause of this problem is an incompatible hardware

device or device driver. To resolve the

problem, restart your computer; if the Setup

program gives you the option to revert to your

previous OS, take it. When your old OS

(whether it's Win98 or WinMe) restarts, uninstall

any antivirus and boot manager software

and "clean boot" your computer. A clean boot

is a simplified boot sequence that prevents

device drivers, startup programs, and other

settings from loading at boot time.

To clean boot in WinMe, click Start and Run

and type msconfig in the Open textbox. Click

the General tab and then click the Selective

Startup checkbox. Under Selective Startup,

click the checkbox to the left of each item to

deselect the item. Then, click the Startup tab,

find the *StateMgr entry in the list, and click its

checkbox to select it. Click OK to accept your

changes and click Yes when prompted to

restart your computer.

To clean boot in Win98, the steps are fairly

similar. To launch the System Configuration

Utility in Win98, click Start, Programs,

Accessories, System Tools, and System

Information. Click Tools and then click System

Configuration Utility to launch the application.

Click the General tab and deselect every item

under Selective Startup by clicking each checkbox.

Click OK to accept your changes and then

click Yes when you are prompted to restart

your system.

After the computer clean boots, attempt the

WinXP installation again. If the error still

occurs, see the steps below.

If the WinXP Setup program did not give

you the option to revert to your previous OS,

Windows XP Installation Errors

Microsoft advises that you remove every unnecessary

piece of hardware from your system.

This includes any hardware device that you

absolutely don't need to run the computer, from

USB (Universal Serial Bus) devices to network

and sound cards. If the WinXP setup is still

unsuccessful, try flashing your BIOS (Basic

Input/Output System) to a new version.

Consult with your computer's manufacturer to

figure out how to do this.