HOW TO: Preserve AlienRespawn - stock drive to aftermarket drive / AlienRespawn Q&A

Hey there,

My problem is that there is a pop up for AlienRespawn reading:

In the event of a critical hardware Failure, System Recovery Media is used to restore your system back to its original factory condition. Please choose on of the following:

Create System Recovery Media Now (Recommended)
Remind me later.

Problem is that I don't have any USB's or DVD's usable for this. When I choose remind me later, it pops up five seconds later, can I just shut this down for a while?

 

remind me later i guess!!!!

 

I am waiting for alienware to mail me a new HDD with all the software installed. Once I get it I will try to reduce the partition to as small as it can get. Then I will create a new respawn image and try to use that on the SSD

Technically the windows/software files are 60gigs so a 120SSD should be more than adequate. I just hope the partition will allow me to shrink it to below 100gigs.

 

That sounds very good !

Please do it and keep me inform, as i will do same ones you can confirm is workable.

Million thanks

 

They cant do this as your factory build is unique to the factory. the replacement HDD will be blank. Not sure why they told you it would have 'all the software installed'.

 

Hi all. Apologies for the newbie question.

My current setup is (2)750GB WD in Raid0.
I don't like Raid0 so I'm planning to go AHCI and use them as separate hard drives.

Does this mean I'm better off using Acronis instead of AlienRespawn?

 

Hi. I am new to Alienware and the forums. I just received my M17x R3 (320gb) refurb in the mail from Dell and am trying to do a backup with no luck. I did some searching and I couldn't find an answer.

My system doesn't seem to have AlienRespawn installed on it. I tried numerous ways to install AlienRespawn_Basic.exe from one of the links mentioned but it gives an error 1. I've tried to run it in compatibility mode and as Admin with no luck.

Basically I'm trying to back up my fresh machine before I install an aftermarket SSD (120gb). Any idea why it wouldn't come with that software and what I should do about backing up?

Thanks!

 

Sorry to see that no one responded in a constructive or helpful manner. Welcome to the NBR forum. Glad you joined us.

It sounds like you have an irritating thing going on there. I just hate when a computer starts nagging me about anything. I get that enough from people, for crying out loud.

First, look in your Startup folder on the Programs menu. If you see anything in there, it's safe to delete it or drag it out of the startup folder to the main folder.

If you did not find it in the Startup folder, run MSCONFIG and go to the startup tab. Look for an entry in the file name or path relating to Alienspawn or Dell Datasafe and uncheck it. It may even have something along the lines of "timer" or "reminder" in the file name. After unchecking it, tell Windows to hush up if it warns you about the changes you made with MSCONFIG.

 

Hi! Welcome to the forum, ErikErik.

Macrium Reflect and Easus ToDo Backup are two free disk imaging programs that do a nice job. There are others out there, too.

 

Thanks a lot for the info, I'll check those out. I'm going to pop the new SSD in this weekend. I can't wait to start gaming.

 

i have encountered a disk read error and was planning to use the alienware respawn. when i pressed F12 the boot screen hangs. am i doing something wrong or is it just that long to load the boot options?

 

I'm willing to bet the disk read error and the hanging are related. Sounds like you may have a hard drive that is either corrupted or dying. Probably a bad hard drive.

 

so i need to replace the hard disk?

 

You can run some diagnostic tests on the hard drive, but that is what it sounds like to me. If you are getting disk read errors and having trouble getting into the boot menu, something is definitely wrong.

Can you can be a little more specific and detailed in describing the problem? When do you see the disk read error? While booting, or after Windows is loaded?

 

after the boot screen. then i restarted it and tried to run the alienrespawn from my flash drive. after about 15 mins the recovery started to boot and it stops at the windows screen (blue wallpaper i believe the default for win 7) with a mouse icon. that is the screen right now.

 

Were you attempting to run Respawn because of the disk read error, or did the disk read error begin to occur with the attempt to run Respawn? If you did not have this issue before attempting to run Respawn, you may data corruption and the disk might be OK. If you were attempting to fix the disk read error by running Respawn, that may not be possible.

If you are seeing text on the screen that says "Disk read error" it's not a good sign.

 

i see... i was attempting to fix it with respawn..so if i replace the HDD it would be fixed?

 

Most likely, my friend. You can try running a diagnostic drive tool from a bootable USB drive or CD to confirm the drive is hosed. You will need to go into the BIOS and change the boot order so the USB and/or optical drive comes before the hard drive(s). If you're under warranty, call 1-800ALIENWARE.

If you have dual drives, install the secondary (slave) drive in place of the first and reinstall the OS using the Alienware Restore DVD. The part of this that sucks would be that you'll no longer have the Respawn partition. It would be a long shot with a bad drive, but you could try a disk imaging tool and try copying your partitions from the primary HDD to the secondary (or replacement) HDD. If the drive is truly unreadable, that will not work.

What computer system are you running? I recommend you update your signature with information about your system. While your current problem is pretty generic, it's helpful to know, and sometime required to know, in order to receive effective support.

 

its fixed now..apparently a disk check did the trick thanks for ur advise

 

Awesome news. Glad to hear the disk check fixed it. If the problem returns again you'll know the drive is going bad. Sometimes a disruption in power or a surge can cause issues like this. Hopefully, that's all that happened.

 

Stupid as I am, I installed a brand new SSD on my brand new m18x and didn't make a recovery disk using alienrespawn... I am using an 6970m cf, intel 6300... is there a way someone could post somewhere an image of the recovery disk for me (someone with a similar m18x)??? Please???

Thanks

 

Why dont you just put the factory hard drive back in, and create recovery media from that? - assuming you havent wiped the factory HDD completely

 

Stevie, as I said, STUPID STUPID me, I just put the 750gb hd as a 2nd drive and the vertex 3 as the 1st one and formatted both...

Can you help this poor ignorant?

 

Why you don't try doing a clean install of Windows and then download the drivers from Dell?

Besides the fact that AlienRespawn wont work on your SSD unless you previously schrinkler! Read the post back on this tread

 

The thing is I can't get everything work like it should. After installing everything, I still get one missing not recognized hardware and can't make wifi work (installed intel ok) and camera not working. I know they are ok because right after getting the laptop, everything was fine. Oh, I hate myself.

I don't know why but I can't access my dell's account and grab the webcam program... I get stuck on registering your system and never go through.

Dark cloud around here, I presume.

Help?



And no wifi icon too...

 

Webcam stuff is on the resource dvd , right?

 

Don't feel bad, and please don't hate yourself. There's a solution... just have to find it, friend.

Here's a suggestion...

Double click on the unknown device. Go to the Details tab and select Hardware Ids from the Property drop-down menu. Do a Google search for the hardware id information and you should be able to identify what the device is that needs the driver installed. (See the attached thumbnail as an example.)

Once you find out what the unknown device is, then all you have to do is grab and install the drivers you accidentally overlooked.

Let us know how this worked out for you.

 

Well Batboy I hope so, but I just took a look at my BIOS and it says>>>>

Boot Menu

Hard Driver

CD/DVD/BD

Network

And thats it NO USB Storage option No Removal Devices either !

How are we going to use the USB Key to Respow if there is not an option on the Bios of the M14x to boot on it?

 

^^
Even if you repeatedly press F12(if I recall correctly) when you turn it on?
Try having a sub storage device plugged and see if you get the option.

 

Merci Katalina


Dis moi que veut tu dire par A sub storage?

Merc

I c you mean inserting the usb key any way right i

 

Erm..katalin

Sorry I meant USB. Yes insert it and see if you get the option to boot from external device.

 

Right click the unknown device and click properties. Click Detail Tab and look for Device ID. Post the Device ID here, and we shall be in better position to assist you.

 

thanks for the post

 

Hi, friend. Hope all is well with you.

I started to not bother asking, but my curiosity won't let me do that?

Whom are you thanking, and for what? Me or Alvin for our suggestions about checking the hardware ID information to find a solution for the unknown device, or thanks to katalin for the help with booting from USB?

If one of the suggestions worked out well for you, please elaborate so others can benefit from your experience. You may also wish to consider giving a rep point to the author of the post that was helpful to you.

 

sorry, I stumbled into this thread and realized the 'unknown' device that alcaloide asked:

it's for accelerometer (freefall sensor on your HDD); it's been discussed previously in here. sorry if it's out of topic. just remembered I've seen the unknown device after I clean install.

 

Lots of people forget to install the Freefall Sensor.....

 

I do it on purpose as it's useless for me

 

The Premium version adds "full system backup" (an image I presume - but I could not get it to work at all) and "files backup" (I got this to work and it backs up files only and it created several files on the backup drive -- it's quite messy.) The Recovery option is the same as the Basic version.

The Premium version offers a full system backup -- this creates an image, I presume, of the current state of your machine -- nothing is rolled back to your factory image.


I would stay well away from this crapware/software -- just use the Basic version initially to create recovery media -- then forget about it. Do not waste money on uppgrading to Premium like I did. It's buggy and there is absolutedly no support for it, either from SoftThinks (developer) or from Dell. It will probably take me week's worth of labour to get a refund (may not be successful).

You have been warned.

--
L.

 

did you solve your camera issue? Please report so others can benefit from your findings.

The reson I am asking is becouse me too i bought my laptop in china and canot register in dell website so I am wandering how am i going to install the webcam driver.

I am planing in swaping hard driver very soon so I need to solve this issue before going any further !

 

M14x drivers are here:
Drivers & Downloads

 

Thanks for pointing me out that dell drivers are in dell website!

Here we are talking about the webcamera driver wish is not on the cd neitehr on dell driver website

Hope you understand thanks

 

Webcam driver isnt on Dell or CD because it just uses a standard Microsoft Driver - no need to install anything!......

 

That's what i thaught too, but posted the link just in case. I didn't mean to offend you solrac.

 

I know this thing is a week old but----anything new??? And look here to see what I've been up to. Gotta be a way to do it. I can clone the original 320 to my 256 SSD with EASEUS and ignore all errors and it works fine for the cloning. But the USB and the Respawn still asks for a 298 or greater drive. Same thing when booting from the USB. It has to be a 'setting' somewhere telling the RS to looks for a particular size. We need to figure this out.
I have created the Recovery USB after I have gotten the SSD going and partitioned correctly. So I know it's not the size of the drive you are creating the recovery media from. It's coming from theoriginal factory install and something there is telling it to use a 298Gb or greater drive. Help or ideas???

 

Shrink Volume

Please read the instructions well, i did it and it worked just fine

Good luck

 

^^^Guess that would work, but it is just a Windows restore/image. It'll work fine for sure-but there would be no Respawn for a later owner (if I were to ever sell it). Not that big a deal and it seems as though it will have to be that way-or, use a larger drive, huh?

Thanks for the link BTW.

 

Keep the original hard driver with the original rescue partion and use the rest for yuor needs

The day you need to resale it or what ever just swap back the original hard disc with the rescue partion and respaw on it

 

^^^^^ Exactly what Im gonna do...when i get around to installing this SSD of mine....

 

I'm going to try to mirror the original hdd with acronis BEFORE the very first bootup. I think that this will make the copied one to act just like the original, I'm hoping. Anyone try that yet?

 

So I reinstalled the OS on my m14x but didn't back up the AlienRespawn (nub mistake I know) anyway so after that I noticed that there was a recovery drive separate from the hard drive with the OS and as soon as I download the AlienRespawn basic off of a website the recovery drive disappeared (had 11.1 GBs used) now I'm curious if when I downloaded the AlienRespawn and the recovery drive had my factory image on it and it used that with AlienRespawn and now I can restore my factory image using that now? I got confused when it came to working all this out