iFixit - Answers With Device "Alienware"

Alienware 17 R4: Why is it suddenly asking for a system password

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 14:01:57 -0700

Why you go to power it up a little box pops up asking for a system password and that's as far as it goes if you get the password wrong 3 times it says shuting down in 5 mins and it does can't get past this password. Im wondering if I remove the cmos battery will that reset it like for a desktop

Alienware M17x: Alienware M17x SSD Replacement

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 12:10:11 -0700

any guides on what to do and what I am looking for, looks like the drive is in deep in the machine run out of data room after installing high data programmes

Dell Alienware m15 R7: My Gpu fan kick to 100% everytime

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 10:44:23 -0700

hey my dell alienware gpu fan is spinning at 100% all the time. i try to reset the windows, its not working. it kick to 100% right when i press power button

Alienware: Video cable Alienware 15 r7

Fri, 21 Nov 2025 07:08:28 -0700

Hi all,

This is a bit of a long one but I would really appreciate some advice, it may be a common error or something I'm just doing wrong!

My dog pulled my Alienware 15 r7 off the table (got foot caught in wire) and bent one of the hinges quite badly. I ordered the new hinge and fitted it no problem. Turned laptop back on, no dispolay at all. So I though maybe I damaged the screen taking it apart. I ordered a new screen which had the same problem. Next I orderd a new video cable. I fitted it and the screen finally came on, as soon as I tried to shut the laptop, the screen went off again. Moving the hinges seems to affect the cable, flickering off and on etc. Maybe a faulty wire? I tried a second new wire and had the same problem.

I clipped the wire in all the way round the correct route, nothing sticking out or getting caught. I'm at a loss as this is a good laptop and everything else works finw.

Any ideas or things I can try?

Many thanks

Demi

⟐ Commented November 21, 2025 at 7:08 MST

Alienware 17 R3: laptop heating up and having blue screen when poer cord removed

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 07:59:45 -0700

hi ,

I have two issues with my laptop

sometimes it heats up
when I remove my power , on battery it shows either blue screen or hangs up ut after i restart my laptop with plugged in its ok

Alienware 17 R4: Alienware 14 Monitor stopped working.

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 17:47:13 -0700

Hello. So I own an Alienware 14 laptop with a broken screen so for me to use it I have to connect an HDMI cable from the laptop to a television.

I was in the middle of Streaming Pluto TV, googling random articles and playing a video game, and all the sudden my screen froze while I had the game up and then my screen went black, and the icon had come up where the TV monitor was searching for an adapter. Which usually happens only when I unplug my laptop from the TV, but this time it just stopped working by it's self.

My laptop is able to power up, or at least I see where it power ups. So I'm thinking maybe there is an issue with one or both of the Ram sticks or possibly the video card which in this case is sautered to the motherboard.

Now I'm worried that I might lose all of my saved information, like family photos, videogames, and all kinds of other data.

My question is if I change out the Ram and possibly the motherboard, will it effect any of my saved data? Like once I replace either one of those parts, will my computer boot up like normal as if nothing had happened in the first place? If not then what am I able to do for that to happen?

Thank you!

⟐ Commented August 20, 2025 at 17:47 MST

Dell Alienware m15 R7 AMD: Touch is not working properly

Sat, 01 Feb 2025 02:14:32 -0700

Touch is not working properly,it have some issue on touching 2 fingers parallel its give no response

Alienware 15 R2: Screen takes a while to boot up

Thu, 07 Nov 2024 12:13:18 -0700

So I have just installed a new battery and when I go to power on my device the screen takes a couple minutes to turn on. All the lights turn on immediately so I'm not sure what's causing the issue. Also I'm pretty new to working on computers

Dell Alienware 15 R2: USB Ports shutting off

Tue, 15 Aug 2023 19:45:32 -0700

The other day i was playing a pretty demanding game on my lab top when suddenly it made both usb ports nonfunctioning. Headphones and a mouse shut off. Made the battery % drop to 6% and throw the screen into dim mode. What would be the root of the issue? would this be in need of a replacement battery? currently while typing this the battery shows charging on and off.

⟐ Commented August 15, 2023 at 19:45 MST

Dell Alienware 15 R3: My backspace button doesn’t work anymore

Fri, 19 May 2023 21:23:20 -0700

I bought it used from a trusted eBay seller and the backspace key worked for a while but stopped have to use macro keys to use backspace how can I fix this?

Alienware M17-R1: Parts for m17 r1

Tue, 21 Mar 2023 16:48:43 -0700

Parts where to purchase parts ?

Alienware P18G M14X R1: Can I change the graphics card and if yes how do I do it?

Mon, 18 Jul 2022 22:10:28 -0700

I'm thinking of getting this laptop

Alienware M14xR2: Weird keyb.oard issue with my Alienware M14X

Tue, 22 Mar 2022 01:52:58 -0700

I am experiencing the strangest of prob.lems with my MX14 keypadb. So as you might have already realized, there are full stops at the wrong placeb. This is what happens when i press the b. b.utton and the fullstopb. b.utton

When i press the B b.utton the letter b. is followed b.y a full stop and when i press the period key it is followed b.y a b.

This silly thing is tearing my head, any help would b.e appreciated

⟐ Commented March 22, 2022 at 1:52 MST

Alienware 17 R2: Powers up all lights fans but nothing on screen

Wed, 09 Mar 2022 12:02:16 -0700

I have Alienware 17 R5 & R2 that boots up all fans lights

But nothing on desktop or External monitor

⟐ Commented March 09, 2022 at 12:02 MST

Alienware P18G M14X R1: My 18 r3 keeps giving 7 beeps even with a new board

Tue, 23 Nov 2021 09:10:27 -0700

I have a 18 r3 that continues to give a 7 beep code even though I replaced the motherboard

Using the same CPU

⟐ Commented November 23, 2021 at 9:10 MST

Dell Alienware M18x R2: Upgrading my wireless card in the M18xR2 Alienware lap top

Tue, 29 Dec 2020 08:28:06 -0700

Replacing my killer wireless n1103 card for the Intel 7260.HWMG.R Wireless AC Card which has two connection tabs for two antennae wires the Alienware has three wires used for the killer wireless

will the dual band work using the newer card connecting only the two wires and will these cards work in the Alienware lap top OS windows 10 pro

Thanks

Michael

⟐ Edited by author December 29, 2020 at 8:28 MST

Alienware M14xR2: When I close the Laptop and reopen it, the screen never comes back on.

Sat, 14 Nov 2020 18:43:55 -0700

I just changed out the RAM (from 6GB to 16) and then an update occured and now whenever i close the Laptop, the screen never lights back up. the keyboard does and the power button looks fine, I can hear it whirring up, but the screen never comes back on unless i hold down the power until shut off and restarting the whole computer. then the screen comes on fine. What happened and what do I do?

Alienware: Any guides for Alienware 17 R5?

Sat, 25 Jul 2020 09:35:06 -0700

I have an Alienware 17 R5 with a bad video cable to the 4K display. Of course it is about 6 months out of the 2 year warranty package. Dell wants a crazy amount of money to get it back under coverage. I have a great iFixit toolkit and wouldn’t mind tackling the repair myself, but after opening the cover, the cable appears to be buried within the system and I’m not comfortable digging in on my own and I don’t have a source for the cable.

I’m using the system as a desktop replacement on an external monitor, so I don’t want to brick the system since it’s currently usable.

⟐ Edited by author July 25, 2020 at 9:35 MST

Alienware 17 R4: A few keyboard keys not registering

Sun, 28 Jun 2020 17:54:13 -0700

Some keys of my 17 R4 laptop are not registering, like the Caps Lock key, Backspace, and Windows key, but the light on the Caps Lock key turns on when I trigger it on a separate USB keyboard. Could it be a ribbon cable tear?

Alienware M18x: Why does the BIOS no longer locate my video graphics cards?

Tue, 26 May 2020 18:30:26 -0700

One day out of nowhere my laptop when fired up, went to a default video mode at low resolution. Bios cannot detect any of the install graphic cards. Why is that?