iFixit - Answers With Device "Alienware 17 R4"

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 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

Alienware 17 R4: Tobii Eye Tracker is not connected due to eyechip not recognized

Sat, 03 May 2025 17:37:59 -0700

After using Alienware for a while, Tobii Eye Tracker began to not connect in Tobii Eye Software and in device manager, eyechip is missing. I have contacted support and they told me that my problem is hardware issue. Have any one experience this kind of problem? I have searched internet, it seemly only had this problem. USB error in Device Manager caused Tobii Eye Tracker not connected

⟐ Commented May 03, 2025 at 17:37 MST

Alienware 17 R4: Why my laptop can’t find boot device

Tue, 02 Apr 2024 03:08:05 -0700

When I turn on my laptop it checks for media and says media not found goes to support assist screen and it says no boot device found

⟐ Answered April 02, 2024 at 3:08 MST

Alienware 17 R4: Why wont the laptop boot?

Sat, 29 Jul 2023 19:18:21 -0700

When i press the power button my laptop only goes tothe logo screen and the fans are blowing hard and also i cant access the bios when pressing f2...

⟐ Answered July 29, 2023 at 19:18 MST

Alienware 17 R4: Please help! The coaxial cable connectors on my Wi-Fi card are bent.

Tue, 30 May 2023 09:09:45 -0700

Is there anything I can do to put a new wifi card in if the cable heads are misshapen?

Also, as a follow-up, is the Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200.NGWG.N Wireless Card 802.11ax Bluetooth 5.2 Blk Pkg GIG+ card compatible with this laptop? If not, does anyone know of some good compatible wifi cards to look into?

⟐ Commented May 30, 2023 at 9:09 MST

Alienware 17 R4: Laptop will not boot.

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 03:07:49 -0700

My Alienware M17 R4 will turn on, but it will not boot/display anything on the screen. It keeps turning on and off when I try to boot it.

⟐ Answered March 10, 2023 at 3:07 MST

Alienware 17 R4: How do I replace the keyboard?

Mon, 28 Nov 2022 18:06:11 -0700

the title says it all

⟐ Answered November 28, 2022 at 18:06 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 17 R4: Alienware laptop will not turn back on!

Fri, 05 Jun 2020 02:55:33 -0700

I couldn’t select my actual computer (Alienware 15 R4), so I selected the closest thing to it as this computer was released around the same time as the 17 R4. I got this Alienware 15 R4 a little over a year ago and had recently disconnected my laptop battery in August because it wasn’t working. I’m a college student so I needed a good laptop, I turned it off this morning after class because I had to urgently attend a college event, but I either straight up unplugged it while it was on, or I unplugged it while it was turning off because it seemed off (I was in a rush). When I turn it on now, it doesn’t properly turn on and starts sending out a beep code of 3 beeps, then a pause, then 2 beeps, a pause, then 1 beep. I have no idea what to do and I desperately need help quickly. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

⟐ Commented June 05, 2020 at 2:55 MST

Alienware 17 R4: Why is my laptop overheating so much?

Mon, 20 Apr 2020 14:29:07 -0700

My laptop runs very hot and keeps overheating.

⟐ Commented April 20, 2020 at 14:29 MST

Alienware 17 R4: Alienware 17 R4 not powering on, power button and keyboard flash only

Mon, 23 Sep 2019 06:53:04 -0700

i just picked up this alienware 17 R4 which isn’t powering on. i have the correct charger.

the power button illuminates blue along with the alienware marque and the keyboard, then the machine cuts off shortly after.

if i pull the RAM, i get the correct diagnostic LEDs for no RAM, and the machine stays on. if i pull the CMOS battery, i’ll get the correct diagnostic LEDs for bad CMOS battery after a few power on attempts, but it still cuts off. i have replaced the CMOS with two different known good batteries.

i have disconnected all power sources and held the PWR button for 30+ seconds with no results. i have attempted to power on with batt only, AC only, and both.

i have also tried known good ram from another dell i have, as well as tested both 8gb sticks in the other dell. all ram is good.

any ideas?

⟐ Commented September 23, 2019 at 6:53 MST

Alienware 17 R4: My fan is making a loud grinding noise

Sun, 14 Jul 2019 08:01:34 -0700

My fan is making a grinding noise. I believe the bearing is bad in it as it doesn't want to spin like the other one. When I have the Bottom cover off and I turn it on, it's struggling to spin. How can I go about removing that fan and replacing it?

⟐ Answer accepted July 14, 2019 at 8:01 MST

Alienware 17 R4: Why cant I connect my ethernet wifi and router are ok

Sat, 22 Jun 2019 13:23:10 -0700

I plug in my ethernet cable and it does not connect ive used multiple cables and the router is working properly

⟐ Answered June 22, 2019 at 13:23 MST

Alienware 17 R4: Why is the microphone in my headset not registering on my laptop?

Fri, 26 Apr 2019 05:30:57 -0700

My headset worked fine 3 weeks ago and now it doesn’t register, even though its plugged in, my device manager doesn’t even show it there and every time I troubleshoot it, it just says that nothing is plugged in even though I’m 100% aware that it actually is! And I tried to uninstall my driver and then restart my computer and still not working, I’ve tried to roll back my driver to a older one from before when it used to work still nothing, but I know the microphone in the headset works cause I tested it on my moms laptop and the headphones part work fine sound comes through them great, I don’t know what happened. Help please?

⟐ Commented April 26, 2019 at 5:30 MST

Alienware 17 R4: Looking to get new battery and new GPU and possibly the best cooling.

Sun, 02 Dec 2018 14:35:24 -0700

So i have an alienware 17 battery is pretty toast so needs to be in adapter permanently or deflates quick off power line. So any way to replace this or get a new one? Also looking to swap out nvidia GPU for a better one if possible and which one would fit it? I changed the hard disk to an SSD already and i have a pretty nice cooling pad l, but wondering if there is a preferred pad to buy for it. Anyways i like it and want to keep it and it performs well already just want to fix it up if i can.

Please help a tech guy out. Let me k ow if more info is needed thanks ahead of time.

⟐ Answered December 02, 2018 at 14:35 MST

Alienware 17 R4: Is it possible to upgrade alienware CPU

Sun, 02 Dec 2018 14:31:41 -0700

i have an alienware 17 r4 from 2017 and it has an i7 7700hq and i was wondering if i could upgrade the CPU to one that is in the new alienware 17 r4 like the i7-8750H or i9-8950HK, i know it would involve soldering but all i need to know if either of those CPU's are compatible with the mobo in my alienware.

⟐ Answered December 02, 2018 at 14:31 MST

Alienware 17 R4: Is this CPU speed enough?

Sun, 14 Oct 2018 18:05:38 -0700

I am completely new to gaming PCs and my buddy is selling an Alienware M17x R4 for $300. I Noticed it says it has a CPU speed of 2.7 GHZ but for the games I want to play such as pubg and fortnite for my wife, is this enough speed? When I review the specs online it says with turbo it has 3.6. I don't know if it comes with turbo or if its something I have to buy separately.. Thanks

Specs listed on PC - M17x R4

CPU Type: Intel (R) core (TM) i7-3740QM CPU
CPU speed: 2.7 GHz
Integrated Graphics: Intel Ivy Bridge
Discrete Graphics 1: Nvidia GFX

⟐ Answer accepted October 14, 2018 at 18:05 MST

Alienware 17 R4: Why does my battery die so quickly?

Wed, 14 Mar 2018 05:06:08 -0700

Battery does not retain charge.

⟐ Answer accepted March 14, 2018 at 5:06 MST

Alienware 17 R4: weird dialog box popped up

Tue, 30 Jan 2018 16:08:57 -0700

Couple hours ago I've opened it with - Project cannot recognize this file format. Do you want to open this file as text only? I haven't seen such messages before. Any suggestions, folks.

⟐ Answered January 30, 2018 at 16:08 MST