r/WindowsHelp•
thacrowman

BSOD: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL and Windows can't load properly after audio driver update

Blue Screen of Death (BSoD)

Help ! IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

So I just updated my realtek audio driver through a third-party software which I used for quite a while with no issues but this time after updating said driver and restarting my laptop ( hp pavilion gaming 15) I was met with a BSOD with the stop code : IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL , the system diagnostic couldn't repair the problem and then another error "windows (I am using windows 10) couldn't load properly" is displayed and the laptop stays stuck there and windows doesn't boot, I tried solving the problem on my own by going through the system recovery options as well as typing commands in the recovery command prompt (sfc ,chkdsk,bootrec...)both while using the baked in system recovery and using a bootable USB drive , restarting in safe mode also triggers the BSOD and I can't roll back to a previous version since I didn't back up before, now I am met with an additional error with the code 0xc000225 : A required device isn't connected or can't be accessed. any suggestions are welcome.

Posted Dec 4, 2025, 2:39 AM UTC

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