*OFFICIAL* "All Powerful" M15x Owners Lounge, *Part 3*

Your point about carefully balancing security with workflow is absolutely crucial - thank you. Just as adding a sophisticated security system to your house increases the amount of work required to enter your front door, each user needs to carefully balance convenience with the security required by the data on their computer and where the computer is physically located.

If someone is not in a situation where automatically locking the desktop is important, then they should select another one of the modes that does not do this. For someone who DOES need this level of security, however, having the locking done automatically is an extra level of assurance that it will happen and is arguably even more convenient than doing it by hand each time. Even this type of user, however, should still carefully select the amount of time that it takes to lock the desktop after their face leaves view of the camera. It's noted right in the interface that shorter times are technically more secure, but a time that's too short may be disruptive.

All good security is about careful, thoughtful analysis and taking a balanced approach.

 

You make an excellent point about manually locking the PC when you leave. If you're willing and able to do this, then you personally do NOT need the Continuous Security mode. The vast majority of people, however, are not as dilligent and security minded as yourself! For those who are not in this habit with valuable data in a vulnerable location, this feature can be a genuine security improvement.

For the photo question, it's definitely worth a look in the FAQ. There is some very detailed, nuanced information there if you're willing to go through it.

http://www.sensiblevision.com/v/dell/faq.pdf

As with most things in life, the complete answer re photo access doesn't boil down to a simple "yes" or "no".

 

for those who are bored enough:

Take a picture of yourself with the M15x camera (with highest quality possible). Then print it out with quite a high quality. Try to use this picture to fool pc. Try different paper types (glossy/matte...) an see if it logs you in.

Also, if the data is so critical, then also consider encrypting your home directory (I think there is an option in windows for it now). Otherwise the facial recognition software is useless since a laptop can be easily stolen.

 

Interesting this whole security discussion..

Personally, I'm not worried.. I heavily encrypt and compress anything I don't want to share. Truth is, if you are on the internet and somebody REALLY wants to access your computer - they will find a way.

For me, the facial recognition software is a convenience and is okay for most people who don't want their kids to log in and accidentally close the half finished document they forgot to save..

On the other hand, I think forging a fingerprint is much harder than finding a photo - especially for the kids/wife/gf or whoever you want to keep off your machine!!.. Personally I got used to the fingerprint method and am a bit let down at this super-hi-tech machine lacking one..

The best part about fingerprinting (as a basic, easy simple biometric mechanism) is that it requires practically ZERO resources. The idea of my camera "watching" just in case I walk away, is just annoying to me..

I hate screensavers that burn away using up your CPU and GPU (which saves the screen but uses more power and kinda defeats the purpose in my world). Okay, now I'm losing my thread.. haha

Safe to say I'll be leaving that facial thing off!! I'm not going to be using this computer in a high security environment anyway..

 

what would disabling intel speed step do in Bios and would this increases the performance of the pc? thanks!

 

Well, it depends. The cheaper models just have a 16 core Nvidia integrated part (which by integrated standards is still really cool), but the more expensive ones have a 32 core dedicated GPU. Which...at over $2000, is not such a great deal :-D

 

Mr. Pras... i totally agree... i would've loved a fingerprint reader.. as it takes alot less effort using one... whereas to log in using facial recognition, i have to carefully position myself in the same spot at the same distance with the same lighting :S...

and btw, screensavers do not save your screen, this was for the old crt monitors, lcds do not suffer from burn-in. They're just for decorative purposes nowadays. And i wouldn't worry about using up resources lol... its a friggin Top of the line M15x were talking about... not a 350mhz cpu with 32mb of ram ancient computer from the early 90s...

but your point is well understood

 

and what's with the recent "security panic" ? you guys work with the FBI that you got such important documents on your computer? lol...if your that worried about security...don't save anything important to you harddrive, and buy an iron key or something... and FYI, where there's a will, there's way you'll never be 100% secure... NEVARRRRRR!! hehe

 

@Jstarnino

Thanks. I totally agree about the will and the way, there's never anything important enough on my PC to be hacked.

 

When I get my laptop next month, what should I do to check and make sure everythings up to par?

I want to make sure my system is built flawless, so if there's any problems I just want to be sure I can find them.

 

just check the build, look for any loose parts, keyboard , screen, etc. look for any dead pixels, use jscreen. then just use it play games and check temps. or run a few benchmarks to see if your system is running optimally.

 

How many fans does the m15x r1 have? i keep hearing fan noises all the time so i opened it up and the fans arnt going...could it be the hdd? thanks

 

Anyone knows why my Alienhead logo, Alienware logo and touch media buttons are not lighting up? I went to AlienFX to try and change them but it isn't doing anything.

 

2 fans only

turn off
unplug
take out battery
press power button for 20sec
put back
see if that helps

 

Hm.....my battery just died completely... system won't even detect a battery... unable to charge, nothing at all.....darn alienware tech support hold time is 20 mins!

 

Try removing battery and holding down power button for 20 seconds, than it should be able to start charging

 

I think the i7's do support 1600Mhz RAM. I could be wrong though.


Arrandale is not a good mico-architecture.

Arrandale is a duel die chip. One die with the CPU and the other die with the GPU & Memory controller. Do to the moving of the memory controller off of the CPU die it only supports 1066MHz RAM. It is also just not a good thing to do. It take away form the whole point of having the Memory controller integrated into the CPU.

Arrandale is also not optimized for the shrink to 32nm. It suffers from transistor bleed over causing a lot of errors which slows down the CPU. This make the Arrandale not run any faster then the 45nm Nehalem. If it was not for the bleed over then the 32nm would have been faster.

Also, the Alienware M15x has the PM55 chipset that can not use the GPU on the Arrandale CPU's. This on chip GPU was the only good thing introduced in this architecture so if you can't use it then there is no need to get it.


Nehalem is 45nm however it is a new micro-architecture that was optimized for the shrink. So, they got the transistor bleed over under control.

Nehalem has the Memory controller on the same die as the CPU. So, the memory architecture is a whole lot better then on the Arrandale. Nehalem CPU's can handle 1333MHz RAM or Faster.

----------------------------------------------------

I know all about the Tic/Tock but the Nehalem was a huge leap forward and is a finished product. The Arrandale is really kind of a stepping stone. It's more like a Beta of a CPU with CPU-GPU-Memory controller all on the same die.

You want the Nehalem not the Arrandale in the M15x. The Arrandale is better for a laptop that has no dedicated graphics card.

 

I think the most likely threat to a windows user is malware and that is because of the security model or lack of a security model of Windows itself.

One major thing Windows needs a real RBAC system. It needs a setup which has a Security Authority user account that is Locked in the production Kernel. Then the only way to change security settings is to take the system off-line and boot into an administrative Kernel that has the security authority account enabled, make changes then boot back to the the production kernel.

It also needs Position Independent Executable code. It needs to make use of the No Execute Bit. It needs to use Salted Hashes. Windows needs to match the hash value of executables with the hash value it has in its security list before granting it any privileges not just check the Name of it as in XP or just the path from which it is being executed. Windows needs to treat each application as a user and limit what each application has access too. Windows needs to run all applications in a chroot environment. It needs loads and loads of security enhancements. A face scanner doesn't solve any of the real problems Windows users have with security. All it dose is sound cool and sell computers.

 

Windows is no more problamatic than other OSes, it's just a bigger target. It actually implements UAC with an extra layer of security than say Linux or OS X, and OS X still doesn't use things like address space randomization, etc. (I think Windows may have beaten Linux with that even, not sure.)

 

I tried it and it didn't work unfortunately.

 

(First you have to be careful what is said about Linux. Do you mean the Linux that is running my TiVo? Or do you mean Hardened Gentoo?)

Nope windows is far far more ... it is just not secure at all. My key-logger runs with System Privileges simply because I named it csrss.exe.

Linux is a far far juicer target then Windows. A 2008 estimate suggested that 60% of all web servers ran Linux.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux

The US military runs on RedHat Linux. All the military subcontractors run RedHat.

The normal scenario is that an Attacker will own up a bunch of windows computers with a virus. Then use that bot-net to attack Linux web-servers.


There are endless reasons why Linux is more secure then Windows. Three of the most obvious reasons are theses.

One, Linux is OpenSource so if there is a security problem it gets fixed. If you find a security flaw in windows there is simply no way of fixing it because you can't get the source code and even if you could it would be illegal to do so. With OpenSource code you can simply write the patch, patch your code, then upload the patch to the developer and they implement it.

Two, Linux is OpenSource so everyone can just read the source code and make sure it is not doing anything stupid and if it is then a patch is written. With windows it is normally an Attacker that hunts for flaws and exploits them until Microsoft gets around to fixing it, if the ever do.

Three, All software you install in a Linux system is from a package repository that is all known to be clean code. With windows you are buying your software form companies that have a vested interest to put spy-ware in there programs. This happens all the time. Also, if there is a security flaw found in that program the only way to get it fixed is if the developing company fixes it.... That costs money so it normally doesn't get done all that fast. If someone put spy-ware in OpenSource code then it would simply get removed and re uploaded. With Linux ALL the software on your computer is updated all at the same time.


Owe and of course Windows is the Only OS I know of that can get a Virus. Simply opening a text document can install a virus on a Windows system. With a Unix system nothing is executable unless you make it executable and nothing executes unless you execute it.

 

Anyone able to somehow add a additional hd in there, my 80gb feels so small

 

^Use an external hard drive...?

Can anyone help me? My touch sensitive bar and alienhead logo are not lighting up. I tried the method where I turned my laptop off and held the power button for 20 seconds but it didn't work.

 

try going into alienfx and make new theme and apply it, if still don't work then you will have to reinstall your osd again. here is a link to the osd :
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...emID=ALW_LP_M15X&os=WV64&osl=en&catid=&impid=

 

I imagine that when you turn the machine on the lights come on, if those lights aren't coming on and the rest are then probably there's a fault.

Resetting to factory could fix it and if it was me I would reflash the bios.. BUT I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND THAT unless you know what you are doing!

Call Alienware tech support

 

I've been gaming for about 4 hours now and my GPU is at 65 degrees(Max). Really great cooling. My only gripe is that the fans get loud when gaming. Not loud enough for me to hear when my headphones are on though.

 

Have you installed the Command Centre A05 (if yes, you need to follow the steps to uninstall it, There is a guide here on the forums)? Have you tried using AlienFX Lite instead? ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=458528) If that doesnt work, you have to call dell

 

Continued in Part 4 -
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=463236