What causes the DRIVER_VERIFIER_IOMANAGER_VIOLATION BSOD error

The ASACPI.sys DRIVER_VERIFIER_IOMANAGER_VIOLATION error is a Windows 8 BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) that can happen quite often, up to several times a week. This is a common enough problem that is caused by an outdated driver that is not fully compatible with Windows 8. The faulty driver prevents Windows 8 to load correctly, which causes the BSOD error.

What causes the DRIVER_VERIFIER_IOMANAGER_VIOLATION BSOD error

As you can see from the name of the error, it is caused by a faulty driver. Most of the time this error occurs on Asus computers and it’s the ASACPI.sys driver that is the culprit. Here are typical details of this error:

DRIVER_VERIFIER_IOMANAGER_VIOLATION (c9)

The IO manager has caught a misbehaving driver.

Arguments: Arg1: 0000023b, The caller has changed the status field of an IRP it does not understand.

Arg2: 8dab137c, The address in the driver’s code where the error was detected.

Arg3: 915f0e70, IRP address.

Arg4: 00000000

How to fix the ASACPI.sys error

When you experience the ASACPI.sys BSOD, the first thing you need to do is check what driver version you have. You can do that by running verifier.exe to check what driver version you have installed. This Microsoft KB article explains how to use verifier.exe. The driver version needs to be recent, so check that the asacpi.sys file is dated no earlier than 2009. If it’s oudated, do the following:

Step 1

Open your browser and visit AsusTeK’s driver download support section by clicking on this link
Look for the motherboard model you have
Search for the required driver. It should be listed under the Utilities section
Download the driver and install it
Reboot your computer
Test the driver with verifier.exe
Step 2

Now that you’ve updated your driver, you’ll need to make sure that no outdated or corrupted registry entries got left behind. The registry is one of the most important components of a Windows operating system, which means that any errors within the registry can cause serious problems, including BSOD errors. The best way to delete outdated or corrupted entries from the registry is to scan it with a reliable registry cleaner. Once you run registry cleanup, your computer should experience no more  ASACPI.sys Blue Screen of Death errors.