*Official* Alienware Official Windows 8 support thread [Questions and Discussions Here]

I have been running into network issues with Windows 8. Especially with the Wireless. I am no more then 5 feet from my router and i can get connection issues and loose internet connection. Anyone else having this problem??

 

I have had a few dropouts as well, just press airplane mode off and on, and reset router, havent had it many times since.

 

Didn't work for me. Upgrade assistant said all was compatible or could be updated. I backed up disk and ran setup from desktop. All seemed normal until what appeared to be last reboot. It hung at end of POST "press F2 for setup. Cannot get into setup. Tried removing coin battery, but didn't work. Now F12 for boot menu is also there, but doesn't work. So I cannot get to bios and cannot boot from other media. Anyone know a way out? This was a fast and very reliable laptop. Dell site doesn't show compatible, but I saw posts from others for whom it worked. I do have bios 09. Upgrade was from win 7 ultimate 64 bit.

Any ideas??

Joe


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Did you change the power settings to max performance?

 

Does it post into the windows 8 loading screen? or is it just black?

 

Are you guys able to do a test for me please? If you create a shortcut to your wireless adapter on your desktop, does right clicking it to disable and enable work properly? Mine will show disable/enable when it is already on/off and I usually have to go into adapter settings manually. Thanks!

 

It hangs with alien face and " f2 for setup and F12 for boot menu Neither works. CMOS battery is ok. Removing hard disk (SSD) allows setup. Changing from AHCI to ATA mode doesn't help. I pulled disk and put it in an e xternal controller, connected to another machine - not recognized. If I connect it via eSATA, it blocks the other machine from booting. I can't even access the drive to clear it and go back to win 7. Unless you guys have any good ideas, Win 8 seems to have cost me an expensive SSD.

Thanks, Microsoft

J


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Is dell working on M18x R2 A08 bios? (OSD issue on windows8 && Win8 Fast boot)

 

Yes Heihachi, we are. We have been working on this for a while now. We will provide updates as they get to us.

 

I checked with the Crucial forum. Apparently, they have had some instances where the SSD disappeared and was not recognized by the bios. This might be associated with a recent firmware upgrade (for the m4SSD). They suggested a couple of things to try (powering on without a data cable connected). I tried this, and the drive returned. Win8 install completed. It hung on the next reboot. After multiple tries and a failed "repair mode", I was able to get into safe mode. I had previously only disabled my antivirus - so, I uninstalled it and Win 8 rebooted. Though it is suspicious that the original crash o curried during Win installation, it now appears that the m4 may have been the culprit. If it doesn't stay fixed, I will see if I can get Crucial to replace it.

FYI - I had been running with 16 gb ram. A09 bios doesn't know about 8gb sticks, so it showed 0gb ram, single channel mode. When I reduced ram below 8gb, I got dual channel mode, and Win 8 seemed smoother.

So Win 8 now seems ok - I will see if I like it. Although it might be nice, I am not holding my breath for Dell to create a new Bios for the mx15.

Thinks for your suggestions

Joe


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

I have had consistent issues with my m4 not being detected and refusing to boot for a while now both inside windows 7 and now windows 8. Gonna try to RMA I think, but no clue why it's giving me such a hard time.

 

After spending some time on the Crucial forum, I concluded that at least some of the problems with drives not being detected (and maybe my issues) were related to the 010g firmware. My wife's laptop, which (fortunately) I had not upgraded, has had no problems at all. I am hoping that they will issue a new firmware soon to fix the problem. After 2-3 episodes, mine is back and has sbeen stable for a few days(knock on wood). I discovered that I could get it back by repeatedly starting it, hitting F2, and leaving it waiting to get into the bios for 10-15 minutes - then forcing a hardware shutdown. sometimes, after doing this a few times, I left it waiting to get into the bios - and when I came back, it was in the setup program and the drive was back.

Good luck,

Joe

P.S. I got tired of resuscitating the drive several times per hour. So, I re-flashed the firmware back to the previous version (000F), and it seems entirely stable (so far). Fingers crossed

J

 

I decided to get new drives and did a fresh install of windows 8, I have a few problems or issues and I guess that are being worked on.

1. OSD windows 8
2. Alien respawn (can't install, apparently no windows recovery can be found)

3. ODD ram issue, 8GB RAM (7.88 GB Usable).

4. My latest issue is that I can't install the drivers for the web cam, every time I attempt to install the drivers, I get an this " Application cannot be started at this time. Contact application vendor".

My video on Windows 8 boot from startup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNGcjUxH3dg

 

1: OSD alienware skinned is hard to install have to enable .net framework 3.5 apparenetly, I did but still get windows OSD, I don't mind the windows one anyways.
2: Don't really use it so I can't help.
3. Yeah I'm missing about 0.2gb of my 16gb ram, I think its normal.
4: Don't need the drivers for the webcam, they should be built into windows 8. There is the dell webcam software but its not strictly required.
5 I have similar boot up times

 

I am trying to configure my skype application and it cannot find the web cam or microphone.

 

Press fn+F9 to enable camera maybe you might have toggled it off, cant connect to camera when its toggled off.

 

Thanx that worked

 

Curious if I should be worried about DPC Latency being so high.

 

Hello Everyone,

I apologize if this constitutes as a double post, but I want to point out a thread I started earlier this week about what seems to be a Windows 8 issue on the M17xR4. I will not post the content here, just a link:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/698135-m17x-r4-windows-8-killer-n-1103-a.html
That way, it isn't really a double post, correct?
Thanks!

Rich S.

 

I thought these Dell videos were nicely done and it will be a good watch for the technically challenged people in our lives. Nice job, Dell-Travis_B.

 

Good tutorial. Thanks for posting it up Mr. Fox

 

Windows 8 "My Way"

 

The new Windows 8 version of Alienware Respawn works!

​

 

How did you get your diy start menu?
How did you get gadgets working?

 

Can't wait for the release.

 

That is AWESOME news!!!!!!!

 

And, here is my new BluRay and USB Respawn recovery media for Windows 8. This will restore my system to the state it is in right now.

​

Here's the link to download it. Thanks, Brother Pablo!

​

 

Thank you ALIENWARE gods

 

I noticed you used a 32gb drive....what was the size of your image?

 

OK, here is my "down and dirty" tutorial. Nothing out of the ordinary, extra fancy or materially different from a basic Windows 7 setup, except for a couple of bullet points, which made it work the way I want it to work.

• Clean install - avoid upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8 (You *might* need to upgrade to activate your Windows 8 Upgrade key for the first time, then do a clean install after the key has been successfully activated. Whether this is required is not clear and needs further testing to confirm if it is so.)
• Set the BIOS for RAID (not AHCI) even if you do not use RAID
• Install Windows only to UNALLOCATED DRIVE SPACE (meaning delete all old partitions, including system and recovery partitions on the OS drive or RAID array before installing Windows)
  ♦ See this thread for more tips: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...llation-questions-troubleshooting-thread.html​
• Windows 8 has native driver support for almost everything (including Intel Chipset and Management Engine) in the M18x R1 except:
  ♦ Intel RST - installed so I could have the RST Control Panel [ Download RST 11.7.0.1013]
  ♦ M18x R1 Windows 7 version of Alienware OSD and Alienware Control Center*
  ♦ M18x R1 Windows 7 version of Freefall Sensor*
  ♦ M18x R1 Windows 7 version of Card Reader*
  ♦ NVIDIA GTX 680M Drivers (modded because of the M18x R1 hardware ID, same as Windows 7 - see this post)
  ​
• Install AlienAutopsy: Download AlienAutopsy
• Install AlienRespawn: Download AlienRespawn
• Install Windows 8 Media Center (free for a limited time): Add Features | Microsoft Windows
• Install Start Menu: Start8 for Windows® 8 - Bringing back the Windows Start menu
• Install Sidebar Gadget support: 8GadgetPack - Gadgets for Windows 8

Note: Security software is not needed with Windows 8. It has built-in antivirus/malware/firewall protection. I only installed Vipre Internet Security because I already owned a lifetime subscription, but it needed an update to work correctly with Windows 8. If you are experiencing dropped or blocked network connections under Windows 8 with an aftermarket security software package, consider uninstalling it and using the native protection. It may be your software not functioning properly with Windows 8.

Limited time offer: Buy a Windows 7 PC and get Windows 8 Pro for $14.99*
(Note: if you are not a US resident, select "Change Location" in the upper right corner)

*Applies only to M18x R1/R2. Be sure to use version that applies to your system.

 

I just finished installing AWR, and it wants a 10.??GB USB Drive

 

It is 17.82GB, so a 16GB USB thumb drive is too small. This is a full Windows installation image, though. Adobe CS3, MS Office, games, Nero 12 Platinum, etc.

 

Mr. fox

I just attempted a factory respawn, and it did not work.

It gave me an error stating i need a 149GB drive,

I have two intel 320 ssd 80 GB in a raid 0 configuration.

 

Ok, well a few questions... maybe we can figure out why based on your answers.

1. Did you install Windows 8 to a drive (or in your case, RAID0 array) without any pre-existing partitions, meaning you manually deleted the original Respawn partition and all other partitions?
2. When you installed Alien Respawn, did it create a brand new recovery partition in free space and a new "factory" image from your new Windows 8 installation?
3. Did you create new Respawn media based on the new Windows installation as noted above and the newly created "factory" image?

If the answer to all the above questions is "yes" then I don't know why you encountered that error message. Are you running the free version or full-featured version?

 

Answers:
1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes



And I have the premium version of AWR

 

Hmm... not sure why you have 2 recovery partitions and an EFI partition. All three of them appear to be empty as well. You should have only a System Partition (created automatically during Windows Setup within the partitionless unallocated disk space) and a Primary partition (where the OS and other data reside) before installing AlienRespawn. The EFI partition is a hidden leftover Dell/Alienware remnant that was not deleted (and not needed). When AlienRespawn is installed and you create a factory restore image, that process is what creates the single Restore partition you should have and it should not have 100% free space. It should be nearly filled to capacity with the AlienRespawn system restore files.

When you reinstalled Windows 8, it looks almost as though you did not delete all pre-existing partitions. Based on your screen shot, I would say that AlienRespawn is not properly installed and/or you apparently did not create a factory restore image. I'm inclined to suggest starting over again and using Windows 8 setup to delete all partitions. I suggest having a look at the opening post in this thread [ LINK]. Before installing Windows, Disk 0 should look similar to this example:



Below is a screen shot of my Disk Management Utility. The relevant disk and its partitions are highlighted. (The other drives listed are my data HDD and an external USB HDD currently attached to my M18x, so just ignore them.)

 

I am using UEFI boot, wonder if that makes a difference here.

 

It might explain the EFI partition, and I don't know if UEFI is compatible with Respawn. This still does not explain why you have two empty (100% free) recovery partitions. That, in and of itself, leads me to believe that AlienRespawn is not correctly installed. At least one of those partitions should be filled up with recovery files.

 

Nice guide, Mr. Fox....

What about the Intel Integrated Graphics Driver? - does that also auto update when booted into iGFX mode or should that be included/downloaded/installed in the above sequence?

 

Running windows 8 under UEFI I had 2 small 'recovery' partitions under the disk management. I think its normal to have them, I have never installed alien respawn on my hard drive and it was a clean installation on a new SSD.

 

Ha ha, that totally slipped my mind. I guess I will need to press FN+F7 and find out. I so seldom bother using iGFX that the thought of checking never entered my mind. It's like windshield wipers on you car in Phoenix. You discover the blades are bad only when it rains, which almost never, LOL. You're glad to have those wipers when you need them, but most of them time you don't really care whether they work or not.

If I ever decided to do a ground-up OS reinstall, I will try to remember to switch to iGFX first and see how that process goes. My guess is that Windows 8 has native support. On my wife's Inspiron notebook and my son's desktop computer the OS setup process was done the moment Windows 8 was finished installing. I did not need to download a single driver for either of those machines. To me, that's pretty awesome.

I haven't really recognized a compelling reason to care about UEFI. By definition, the UEFI interface consists of data tables that contain platform-related information, plus boot and runtime service calls that are available to the operating system and its loader. What benefit, if any, are you realizing from this? It almost seems like an unnecessary technology that is more trouble than it is worth to mess with.

 

Honestly I haven't really noticed much, I have come from a macbook to my alienware m17x just last month and clean installed windows 8 after I received my laptop with windows 7. From what I understand the BIOS/Post screen alienhead screen is theoretically faster and looks nicer to me just saying alienware on it personally.

From what I know, the UEFI mode is mostly used for windows 8 users *EDIT: it can be used on windows 7 as well*, it allows the option of fast boot and secure boot for windows 8 at least, fast boot means my system will start from a shut down in under 10 seconds (to get login/start screen). The secure boot means that only certified signed processes will start when my computer starts so any malicious software SHOULD not be able to startup when windows starts hence the antivirus will be able to remove it as it shouldnt be running (thats it in theory, haven't had a breach or seen any bad things yet). To be honest it wouldn't be killing me if I had it running in legacy mode but since I was clean installing, I thought I might as well use UEFI.

Personally if you are on windows 7 and intend on sticking with it, don't bother, its not worth the hassle of installing again. If on the other hand you are going to move to windows 8, then I would enable it, mainly because its easier to install windows 8 as a clean install (less issues hopefully) and since it provides a bit more of a security/ booting enhancement.

 

Those are the virtues I have heard people talking about, but those still don't seem "necessary" to me in the grand scheme of things. My boot time with SSD RAID0 is already super fast, and I've never really seen legacy boot times as being a problem... even when 30 to 60 seconds was "normal" it never really mattered much to me in the big picture. Fast boot times are nice, but being the geek that I am, the part about only "certified" processes being allowed to run sort of makes me mad, LOL.

While it may reduce or prevent malware (something I have very seldom had issues with in 20+ years of computing) anything that stands between me doing whatever I feel like doing to my computer and actually doing it is going to make me mad. I have found Windows 7 and Windows 8 setup to be painless. However, the need for me to reboot with driver signing disabled to simply install my modded GTX 680M drivers was initially infuriating. Now, I just deal with it, but I still consider it an unwelcome impediment to using my computer. I wish there was a way to permanently disable that crap "feature" with Windows 8. (There might be, but I have not discovered it yet.)

The conspiracy theory in my mind is the unrightful liberty for OEMs to control what people can or cannot do with their computers. I find myself feeling concerned that once this "technology" is fully developed, it will allow OEMs to have more granular control over hardware upgrades and allow them to do the Gestapo tactics on what software runs, and what doesn't, exactly like the nonsense Apple has become so famous for. The thought of having to "jailbreak" my PC to do whatever I feel like doing to it doesn't give me any warm fuzzies, LOL.

Heck, I get mad when UAC prompts me to confirm my intentions or my antivirus software misidentifies an app I have used for years as malware based on its behavior. Great examples of this are No-CD executables for games. If UEFI will eventually eliminate end user control for permitting exceptions and running anything they feel like running, it's not a technology that I want to see become successful.

 

Yeah, I understand what you mean, the freedom of doing the slight mod here and there is nice. But you gotta remember for the normal consumer, simplifying and securing a process will save a big headache later on. If secure boot was able to prevent a virus or etc. running it would save a lot of hassle for a general consumer.

To be fair if your BIOS supports UEFI use it, no one said you have to enable the fast boot or secure boot option for windows 8. From what I've read UEFI is just an addition to the BIOS, speeding up the loading process for your hardware basically. Hopefully you don't install drivers too often and you said your boot times aren't too long anyways so it won't hurt to restart once in a while. With the amount of people using a PC, and the people even remotely tech savvy, any change like that would bring a lot of rage haha. Imagine having to jailbreak your pc, I hope I don't see the day haha.

As long as it doesn't go too weird or too simplified I don't mind. But to anyone that does want to install Windows 8, install it under UEFI if you want, you don't have to use fast boot or secure boot, but at least you get the option to. Just that added security if you want it is there. But if you do, theres a thread in the M17x forum, UEFI and fast+secure boot gets you to login screen in less than 10 seconds. Upgrade the earliest you can within reason, saving you the headache later on.

 

Just a heads up regards driver installs. Although native support is provided within Windows 8 for the touchpad, I found by installing the Synaptics touchpad driver works wonders on the track pad. The response of the mouse and sensitivity is greatly improved over not having it installed. I used the R2's Windows 8 version FWIW.....available here.

 

Looking into upgrading from Windows 7 to 8 just got a few question before doings so.

1. I created back up images of my laptop with AWR, but their on a flash drives. Is it possible to move those images onto a dvd from my flash dive?
2. I currently have 3 drives in my system, 1 SSD, 1 hybrid, and 1 mechanical. If I use AWR is it going to back up all three drives? Would I have to purchase the full version?
3. Once upgraded, should I install every driver that is for windows 8? I saw that some people used windows 7 drivers instead of 8 drivers?
4. Could I use the tutorial on this forum for restoring the look of the Alienware back to my system?
5. I moved all of my windows folders such as downloads, my documents, my music, and ect to another drive other than my C drive. If I install 8 on my C drive, will those files still be recognized.
6. Will this guide work still The SSD Optimization Guide Redesigned - The SSD Review
7. Has anybody upgraded to windows 8 w/ out a clean install and hasn't had any problems? I really don't want to go through the whole process of a clean install. If anyone has, did you update to the new windows 8 drivers then upgrade or upgrade then update to new drivers?

Any other recommendation that people can provide would be greatly appreciated.

 

A word of caution when upgrading from W7 to W8. I have tried it several times and each time when the upgrade was complete I could not get Internet Explorer to work even though I had an internet connection.I spent quite a while on the phone with a Microsoft tech agent and he could not get IE to work. I ended up doing a clean install but have since gone back to W7.

 

Just go with a fresh install. Don't waste your time.

 

that's the way to go.

 

I think im going with the clean install, but what about my other questions?