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    M17 X R4 - Random noise, few questions

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by laptop_guru, May 21, 2012.

  1. laptop_guru

    laptop_guru Notebook Enthusiast

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    Just received the M17X r4 and am loving it. However ever since I started the machine there is a some random noise coming from the right side. Any advice.

    Further:

    1. How to manually switch between Intel and hd 7970m
    2. My msata boot drive (64gb) has only 10 gb space left. how can this be?

    Your help is appreciated
     
    laptop_guru, May 21, 2012
    #1
  2. Mercury53

    Mercury53 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Mine had random noises coming from the disc drive. Turns out this is normal. As far as your other questions go, I have no idea. Sorry.
     
    Mercury53, May 21, 2012
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  3. laptop_guru

    laptop_guru Notebook Enthusiast

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    Yup mine is around the disc drive area as well. Well good to hear that this is normal. I am a newb and this is my first alienware. Yet to play games on this :)
     
    laptop_guru, May 21, 2012
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  4. Optimistic Prime

    Optimistic Prime Notebook Evangelist

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    Yeah, I would definitely say its the optical drive since mine does it too. I've been wondering why the R4 does this so often when the R3 did not.

    Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
     
    Optimistic Prime, May 21, 2012
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  5. The Revelator

    The Revelator Notebook Prophet

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    Chances are that your pagefile is occupying a substantial portion of your missing disk space. By default, Windows assign an excessive amount of memory to the pagefile, something like 1.5x the installed RAM. Reduce that to 2GB. (Start>Computer>System Properties>Advanced Settings>Under Performance section, select Settings>Advanced Tab>Under Virtual Memory, click Change>Select c: drive, then Custom Size and enter 2048 in each box, then Set, OK and out)
     
    The Revelator, May 21, 2012
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  6. laptop_guru

    laptop_guru Notebook Enthusiast

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    Awesome, has freed up nearly 15 gb space. Thanks a lot buddy. repped you.
     
    laptop_guru, May 21, 2012
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  7. Mercury53

    Mercury53 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Would you mind telling what pagefile is, and what decreasing it will do to my computer?
     
    Mercury53, May 21, 2012
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  8. bluke424

    bluke424 Notebook Geek

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    Page file acts like virtual memory when you run out of RAM. If you have lots of RAM (let's say, 8GB or more), then you are not likely to run out of RAM, hence no need for page file.
    Still, some apps require page file and because of that, you shouldn't disable it, but decreasing it to 1 or 2GB won't cause any problems.
     
    bluke424, May 21, 2012
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  9. The Revelator

    The Revelator Notebook Prophet

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    ^^^ Exactly. Check here: What is virtual memory?. This is also a useful reference: The Windows 7 Pagefile And Running Without One » TweakHound. Although some controversy remains, it is generally now understood that there is little performance benefit from eliminating or reducing the size of the pagefile, but there is no dispute that it allows you to recover substantial amounts of otherwise occupied disk space, a precious commodity with SSD's, particularly the smaller capacity versions.
     
    The Revelator, May 21, 2012
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  10. black-bean

    black-bean Notebook Consultant

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    random noises from disc drive? just don't put any disc in it and leave it there unused. or else, the computer might occasionally read the disc to refresh.
    oh and try to switch the boot priority in bios so that the 1st one is not the optical drive, might help.
     
    black-bean, May 21, 2012
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  11. GTRagnarok

    GTRagnarok Notebook Evangelist

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    Press Fn+F7 to switch between the integrated and dedicated graphics. You have to reboot each time. While on integrated, you can tell a program to use the dedicated graphics, but it won't be as powerful.
     
    GTRagnarok, May 21, 2012
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  12. Optimistic Prime

    Optimistic Prime Notebook Evangelist

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    It does it without a disc in the drive, and at random. It frequently does it when I open or even simply click into a media program like iTunes or WMP.

    Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
     
    Optimistic Prime, May 22, 2012
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  13. Tapakidney

    Tapakidney Notebook Evangelist

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    A lot of your msata's space is also bein taken up by a recover partition. Likely about 10-20gb. Personally, I would get rid of it. Those drives are WAY TOO expensive to waste any space on them.

    And for that page file, wouldn't it be a good idea to put it on another drive to save even that 2gb of space? THats what I did.
     
    Tapakidney, May 22, 2012
    #13