Wondering About AlienFX Driver

I just did a reinstallation of windows on my m11x, and am wondering about whether there is a driver for just AlienFX rather than the entire Command Center because I like the way my computer only has 40 processes on start up .

PS: Going off topic, but is the hinge problem an unavoidable disaster or does it just happen to few?

 

There is not standalone AlienFX application from AW. However, there is an alternative in AlienFX Lite. It provides all of the functionality of AlienFX and allows you to ditch CC completely. Search the parent Alienware forum for the thread that's devoted to it.

 

Thanks for the reply! I'll give the AlienFX Lite a shot

 

I am in the same boat as you - I only wanted AlienFX. I tried AlienFX Lite, but never found it user-friendly enough for me to actually use. The Command Center interface for AlienFX is far better.

You can install Command Center, and use it strictly for AlienFX by disabling all of the components you don't want. They include:

- AlienFX monitoring program (applies different lighting profiles based on running programs). Find it in your registry under HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Run

- Go into Windows Control Panel --> Admin Tools --> Services. Disable "AlienFusion" and "FA Service" services. They control the power management and facial recognition, respectively.

- Go into Command Center, and set AlienSense to 0 (disable).


That should do it.

 

Thanks for the reply! I'm kinda bothered by the fact that I have to start AlienFX Lite manually. Your way is indeed better.

 

You don't have to start it manually necessarily. Simply drag it tot he Startup folder in the Start menu.

 

I'm curious, is Alien Fusion necessary? Or is the Windows 7 power management preferrable? I always use the CC interface when on a trip or taking the laptop somewhere. Is it considered unnecessary "bloatware" or redundant? I love pushing it to the max when gaming at home. But say at a hotel for example, I'd much rather save battery life when just doing casual internet browsing. What do you guys think?

Not trying to sound noobish or derail the topic here, I've just never really given that thought.

 

AFAIK Alien Fusion is just a front end for Windows 7's power management, so if you define bloatware to be software that does what Windows does innately (to me that is one type of bloatware), then it is indeed bloatware. I uninstalled all the Alien programs pretty early on though, so I could be mistaken as to what it does.

 

corwinicre is correct. Fusion is just a front end for the Win7 power settings.

 

Alien Fusion is not necessary. It replicates functionality already provided by Windows 7 power management.

In fact, using Alien Fusion is DETRIMENTAL. Windows 7 has a feature where it will dim the screen down to 30% brightness (or whatever you set it to) after an idle period. If you become non-idle, then it will revert back to original brightness.

If you have Alien Fusion enabled, the screen will properly dim after the idle period, but never restore the default brightness setting once you become non-idle. You get around this problem by disabling Alien Fusion altogether, and just using Windows 7 Power Management.

 

I actually experienced this last night. Explains a lot, thanks! This is my first laptop, so I'm not entirely used to the screen dimming and power saving options etc.
Had it for 3&1/2 months and I'm still figuring bits and pieces out.