Area 51 m15x

Hey guys, I just recently purchased an m15x off of eBay. Has a core two duo 2.1GHz, 4GB of DDR2, 160GB HDD, and an NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT video card. The original OS was xp professional but the guy switched it to Windows 7 Ultimate.

So when I got it, all the lighting worked but the alienfx software wasnt installed to change the colors
so I surfed around until I had a download recommended which turned out to be the wrong software because it was for the alienware desktops. The problems first started when the alienfx was updating the software version. The progress bar finished and the comp crashed. Booted it back up and all my lighting had quit working but the alienfx editor was available but like I said, it was for a desktop.

So, this all happend while in class today(chem was getting really boring haha). I finished class without coming up with a fix so I shutdown the comp and went to my lab class. Got back to my dorm this afternoon and now the comp wont even boot. If I play with the screen(opening closing; and yes, alienware designed a very very poor hinging system) the alien head on the front will glow red, if that means anything at all.

Sorry for such a long explanation but Im at the end of my wits. I spent 900 bucks on this thing and haven't even had it 2 days so needless to say Im feeling a little sick haha. Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Ok, got the thing to boot, but now I got a new problem. Every once in awhile, the blue screen pops up and gives me the whole a problem has occurred and windows is shutting down deal. I have no idea what would be causing this so if anyone has any ideas, I could sure use em haha.

 

What does the blue screen say?

 

It says something along the lines that an error has occurred and windows needs to shut down to protect itself, something about dumping off memory I think it said, Ill try and write down exactly what it says the next time, it only stays up a few seconds.

The other thing I need help with is getting the AlienFX to work. Im not exactly sure what all this guy I bought it from did, but the lights were working when I got it, I just wasn't able to change them. Now their completely off and anytime I try and download the proper software, it tells me my processor is incompatible. Im really getting to my wits end with this thing.

 

You might wanna try this for AlienFX. http://www.vikasverma.com/AuroraLightsFX/

 

I think you should install everything fresh.
In the area-51 m15x you have to install the drivers in a specific order.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=342331&highlight=General+Information+m15x
(for Windows 7 im guessing same as vista but im not sure. Also there are no official drivers for Windows7 yet but people here have been using the ones for vista)

 

If he didn't reformat the drive yet, there should be a partition for AlienRespawn, which should help in returning everything back to factory settings.

Upon starting up your computer, you should see " Press F10 for AlienRespawn"

Do so, and follow the instructions on screen to reset your computer to factory settings.

 

i doubt he still has the "press F10 for AlienRespawn" option now that the computer has Windows 7. (new Windows = new bootsect)

To see if there is still an AlienRespawn partition you can go to Computer Management, if there is an EISA partition that is your AlienRespawn with windows XP, you can still use it but you'll have to boot using GParted and marking the AlienRespawn partition as a Bootable partition.
If you want to do that and you need detailed instructions let me know.

 

Hey joker, yah the old M17s were plagued by design flaws and random issues. I agree with DJ, do a complete flatten and rebuild. If the alienrespawn partition is still there, I would revert back to that copy and start fresh. Even the new and improved M17x has some issues running Windows 7 sometimes, the driver support for Windows 7 is coming around from Dellienware, but slowly. Check your BIO's too and make sure any tweaks or modifications he may have made are set back to default. I had an issue with the blue screen "windows must shut down to protect your computer" on startup once and it ended up being a corrupted registry file. Formatted and reinstalled windows and everything was fine.

 

Did the guy you bought it from give you any CD's or Dvds with it? Make sure if you go for the rebuild option, that you install any bios and firmware updates and make sure every component is running the latest drivers available.

 

Checked and there is no respawn partition so Im just gonna start over with XP Pro, I think that will be easier than to keep fighting it this way. Oh, and he didnt send any CD's so should I download the drivers onto a flash drive before I start? Thanks

 

Do you have the Alien-FX and Command Center software? That can only be downloaded from Alienware I think.