!!! QueryDosDevice failed.

Question

I continue to get an error message reading the following: 

!!! QueryDosDevice failed.Insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested service

What happens:

• Unable to complete download of the latest update from Microsoft
• error message continues to pop-up
• extremely annoying
• cause visual changes to the top of my open documents
• Ran a scan with the latest version of Norton's with no errors

Please provide guidance.

Answer 1

Hi onthepc,

a) Is your hard disk configured as RAID?

This error seems to be common with RAID's

There is a possibility that a third party application may be causing this error to occur.

I'd suggest you to perform Clean Boot and check if you still get the error message.

To help troubleshoot error messages and other issues, you can start Windows Vista or Windows 7 by using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. This kind of startup is known as a "clean boot." A clean boot helps eliminate software conflicts.

Note When you perform a clean boot, you may temporarily lose some functionality. When you start the computer as usual, the functionality returns. However, you may receive the original error message, or you may experience the original behavior.

Follow the below steps to put your computer in clean boot state:

Note If the computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may prevent you from following these steps. We strongly recommend that you do not use the System Configuration utility to modify the advanced boot options on the computer unless a Microsoft support engineer directs you to do this. Doing this may make the computer unusable.

1. Log on to the computer by using an account that has administrator rights.
2. Click Start button, type msconfig.exe in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER to start the System Configuration Utility.

If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.

3. On the General tab, click Selective Startup, and then click to clear the Load startup items check box. (The Use Original Boot.ini check box is unavailable.)
4. On the Services tab, click to select the Hide all Microsoft services check box, and then click Disable all.

Note Following this step lets Microsoft services continue to run. These services include Networking, Plug and Play, Event Logging, Error Reporting, and other services. If you disable these services, you may permanently delete all restore points. Do not do this if you want to use the System Restore utility together with existing restore points.

5. Click OK, and then click Restart.

Check the below link for more details on clean boot:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

After you have finished troubleshooting, follow these steps to reset the computer to start as usual:

1.    Click Start button, type msconfig.exe in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.

2.     On the General tab, click the Normal Startup option, and then click OK.

3.    When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Restart.

After you have finished troubleshooting, follow these steps to reset the computer to start as usual:

1.    Click Start button, type msconfig.exe in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.

2.     On the General tab, click the Normal Startup option, and then click OK.

3.    When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Restart.

If clean boot does little help, I'd recommend you to perform System Restore and check.

System Restore :

System Restore helps you restore your computer's system files to an earlier point in time. It's a way to undo system changes to your computer without affecting your personal files, such as e‑mail, documents, or photos.

For more information on System Restore access the below link :

System Restore: frequently asked questions : http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/System-Restore-frequently-asked-questions

Azeez Nadeem - Microsoft Support

Answer 2

Hi, this has started to happen to me too.......... I use XP on the computer where this is happening.  Any advice would be great as I also haven't installed any new software, only the updates.

Answer 3

Hi,

I have been getting this a lot recently too, but i have not installed any new software for a long time, only updates.

I know it is the raid controller as when i get the error message it has the same icons in the taskbar as the Via raid tool.

My setup is two Via Raid PCI cards, one with two Sata SSD hard drives in a mirror running Windows, the other running two seperate standard SATA hard drives (not in an array). I have been runing this for at least a year with no problem and i have only started getting this problem in the last month but apart from updates i have not installed any new software on my computer for over 3 months. Which makes me wonder if it could be either one of the cards developing a fault or worse one of the drives (maybe the SSDs) failing.

When it happens i also get a resource warning and my computer grinds to a halt, icons dissappear or don't refresh and the computer becomes unusuable, i can't even shut down.