Wierd issue with Outlet R3

So I just received my R3 today, and the first thing I did when I got it setup was attempt to run AR. I noticed something funny about my setup process, the fact that no Alienware customization occurred after the initial setup was complete. Upon further investigation I found that AR was not even installed on my machine. The only thing installed was CC. I did verify that the recovery partition did indeed still exist, so I went to download AR from the website. First I ran through the normal AR download procedure, which ran the file checker. It failed saying that my system did not have the Windows Recovery loaded. I then downloaded the app without using the checker, and got the same error when trying to run it. At this point for whatever reason I can not load AR to create my recovery media. I used the system restore feature from boot (F8, windows recovery) in hopes that it will restore my system back to factory and all the necessary files will be there, but unfortunately that did not work. As it stands I have no AR and there doesn't appear to be a way to actually load it.

I should not that my system was purchased through the outlet, so I am not sure if that has anything to do with AR not working.

Has anyone run into this, and if so is there a solution to my issue, i.e. can I load AR or will I need to create an image of my system with something like Acronis or Ghost?

Also is there anywhere I can go to get the Alienware customizations that should have been loaded on my system?

 

That's strange that you don't have AR or any of the other AW apps. Did your system come with an AW restore disk? If not, have you tried a clean install of Windows 7? When I did a clean install of Windows 7 Ultimate, I was able to download AR and run it.

Check out this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/576732-how-preserve-alienrespawn-stock-drive-aftermarket-drive-alienrespawn-q.html. It's a guide about AlienRespawn, but near the end of it, there's a couple links to guides on how to do a clean install of Windows w/ a driver install order, and a guide on how to get the Alienware feel back to your system. Those guides were very helpful.

 

i have a similar problem as you. i bought an outlet m17x r3 and i can't downlad AR. tells me that i don't have windows recovery environment installed on my hard drive. don't exactly know to to fix it. i assume to fix it i would have to do a clean install of windows 7 and then it would clear it up but i don't know.

 

Did you read the first paragraph of my post above yours? Create a backup of your system and burn it to a disk or flash drive. Then try a clean install and follow the guides I provided above. It should work just fine. If it doesn't, you can always go back to your backup you made.

 

Do a fresh install of Windows using the license key on the bottom of your laptop. Much cleaner, and no junk

 

My R3 came with the same issue. I tried to install AR and got the same error message. I noticed there was a Dell restore option in the F8 boot, so I just forgot about it. There's nothing about AR that Windows or the Dell restore option couldn't do.

 

I just did a complete restore of my system using the OS disc included with the computer. I deleted the recovery partition and basically started from scratch. I then followed the instructions in this thread. After I completed that I tried to install Alienware Respawn and to my surprise it worked! I guess the recovery partition Dell put on was preventing it from installing.