What were you doing on the PC at the time?
@Burgereer just chiming in. Have you tried reinstalling windows as a clean install? If you are still getting the IRQL message, windows is having issues with a computer part. That's one option to try. The other option would be to bring it to the store. Have our Techs in-store run a full diagnostic on the PC. Its $40 but they can find out what's wrong.
@Burgereer I'm assuming your computer is a custom build PC. Did you purchase a windows installation disk or usb? You can just reinstall windows from scratch. It will wipe out your data, but you 'll have a fresh install of Windows.
If you don't have a Windows installation disk or usb, you can follow the link below to do a clean install. Go over the instructions in the article carefully.
And use a blank USB. Again the other option would be to bring it to the store for full $40 diagnostic.
Clean Windows installation Article:
https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/2288/how-to-perform-a-clean-install-of-windows-10
@Burgereer
Diagnostics does not actually include any repairs. It is just to see exactly what the issue is. After diagnostics our techs would let you know what the problem is and provide you an estimate for repair costs.
It would be up to you on if you want us to repair it or if you want to take care of it yourself.
If you want us to repair it, it would come with a 90-day labor warranty in case you have any issues. If a part needed to be replaced then that too would have its own warranty.
Unfortunately, when it comes to turnaround time, there are many variables involved to determine this so I cannot provide that from here. If you decide to bring it in for diagnostics then our techs would let you know when we can complete diagnostics and when to expect a call from us explaining what the issue is.
Alright, sounds good!
A clean install would be recommended since it is a fresh install of Windows.
Here is a guide on how to do this: https://community.microcenter.com/kb/articles/111-backup-and-restore-data-in-windows-10
Yes...but no, you will back them up to an external drive, the computer itself won't have those files after you reset, but you can move them back from your external drive once the reset is completed.
Just follow the steps in this article w/ your external USB drive: https://community.microcenter.com/kb/articles/111-backup-and-restore-data-in-windows-10
You can move files to another drive yes, when you re-install Windows you can select which drive you'd like to put it on. Keep in mind any programs, etc. will have to be reinstalled.
Partitioning the drive would delete the files.
Move the files off the drive, when doing the reinstall you can unplug that drive, that would be fine. You can then plug the drive back in after the install, that is not an issue.
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