Alienware m17x R4 out of the box need help

Dear fellow alienware owners,

I just got my new alienware today!:thumbsup:
Anyway, i need some help with a couple of things,

so i want to add another HDD to my alienware, i just bought a 256 samsung 800 series ssd and want to add it as my boot drive,

so is it better to:
1. Clone the hard drive?
2. Fresh install the hard drive?

is there any tutorial to any of them?

and, so is there anything i should so as a fresh start for my Alienware?(tweaks, tricks, etc)

The specs is below:
Intel i7-3610QM 2.30 Ghz
2GB AMD Radeon Full HD 7970M
16GB DDR3 1600MHz
500GB 7200rpm HDD
1920 x 1080 FHD Screen WLED
Blu-Ray with SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW Dual Layer
2.1MP Webcam / Integrated Microphone
Intel Killer WiFi 1103 a/g/n

i read about new driver for 7970m in this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...talyst-12-x-9-001-september-4-unofficial.html

but i've never succeed in updating driver, can somebody help me and write what i should do? since it is out of the box, i think it will be easier for the tutorial,

and also i am eligible for windows 8 program:
Windows Upgrade Offer - Landing Page

is it better to upgrade it now? or should i wait?

Thanks a lot guys :thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

i would highly recommend that you do a fresh install and to add it as a boot device simply push F12 on start up and make the ssd at the top of the list then install windows through whatever method your trying eg cd , USB but to install off these devices you need to simply put the USB or CD to the top of the boot order and then install and select the ssd as the place where you want windows to be stored eg the C: drive then when windows is finished installing simply put the ssd back up to the top of the boot order same method again job done.

yes you are eligble for the windows 8 upgrade as long as you bought it after July i believe you can update for 15$ or £18

better to wait for upgrade of what windows 8 or ssd ????


use this guide for reinstalling windows please note that this guide was designed for old alienware systems but the same idea applies just use the drivers for your system eg the r4

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...er-install-order-guide-alienware-systems.html


PLEASE to not hesitate to contact me about anything am sure other forum members will gladly help you also message me anytime

 

I have had my M17x R4 for a week now and did exactly what you wish to do. I did a fresh install onto my 256 830 samsung. I installed the ssd into the 0 drive bay, taking out the 500 seagate. after all was installed, one of the easiest installs ever and so fast, I intalled the 500 seagate and reformatted in windows. All easy and a sweet lappy!

CC

 

I mean is it better to upgrade to windows 8 now? Is the driver compatible with windows 8? or does it still have a lot of bug?
anyway, thanks a lot of the recommendation for the fresh install , will do that immediately.
do you know how to install the driver? since i am going to fresh install the windows, do i need to install dell stock GPU driver first? or just install the newest driver right away?

 

good job!!! hope you enjoy your new ssd am waiting on the samsung 840 atm

 

there are many windows 8 drivers available i was using windows 8 for around 4 months while it was in beta didn't have any issues with drivers at all ( i had a 6990m at the time) i would just go ahead and install the latest drivers as updating drivers over the top of each other can cause major problems trust me its happened to me

 

Consider getting an 830, they are tried and tested and good value now. I conconsidered waiting for the 840, but after reading advice and opinion from various groups, went with the 830. With a system drive I want reliablity first and the 830's have a proven record.
Just something to think about...

 

yeah your right the 830 is a beast and stable drive there's no doubt and the quality of the 840 is unknown atm but Samsung ssds are solid stuff (all made in house) but in the back of my mind that extra performance keeps popping in telling me to wait for the 840

 

I hope they are really solid i had bad experiences with another famous brand. Bought the top line series, put it in my previous g73jh, but somehow it just drop dead after 1 month or two without any reasons, then they are not detectable by the bios after the disaster occurred.

 

i would seriously get a Samsung 830 if i where you a truly great drive

 

alright back to topic, after clean fresh installation of windows, should i install the newest driver immediately or install the stock driver from dell first?

 

Better just to install the latest driver immediately to avoid file duplicates or any sort of conflict that may come up as a result of installing one driver on top of another.

Here you go in case you need them, make sure you don't miss any :thumbsup:

Alienware M17x R4: Driver Installation Guide

 

yep that pretty much sums up what i was going to say

 

Another tip BTW in order to get a sata 3 ssd running at the correct speed it must be put in the middle hard drive bay right in the middle use this image to help U.




u can also not run 2ssd this will cause major issues although you can have another hard drive in there like a media storage drive thats what am planning on doing but i just bought new ram so will have to hold off for a bit