Dell Alienware – Uber sexy
I recently got handed an Alien laptop – an Alienware M11x-R2 to be exact. Nice little Dell it is. However, it apparently had a problem that former intern, Logan, couldn’t fix on his own…. So his dad, Ronnie Cole, dropped it off last week.
Stuck in an endless setup cycle – anyone who’s done computer repair has gotten into this before – Windows keeps wanting to go back into the “setup” routine that just didn’t finish. Sometimes this IS helpful; this time, not.
The Problem – Restoring from the Recovery Partition
I can SEE the restore partition on this beast.. but how to access it? As fate would have it, there (on this particular Alienware laptop) is NO direct path to access it. However, with the handy dandy little Alienware AlienRespawn application, it IS possible. So, it was necessary to get the silly thing up and running just to install the AlienRespawn app.
Thankfully, Logan did have the Win 7 install disk. It is just the basic Windows 7 install, and didn’t actually have all the drivers. But I didn’t really need anything more than the basics – just needed something that would boot the machine in some sort of usable manner and get me to the internet. In order to download the AlienRespawn app, you have to let an app run on your computer that proves that you HAVE an Alienware machine. Quick install and the wired connection worked and that was about all I needed to get to http://alienrespawn.com.
Ran the little test – a 4 mb file or so called DSLcheck.rar that needs to be extracted and run. Once you get that thumbs up from the app, it will then enable Step 2 – download the 308 MB AlienRespawn_Basic.exe file. They have a Premium version, but to just get your basic apps and all back from the recovery partition, you just need the basic. Install that. Then a reboot and voila!
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July 3, 2012
Thank you! Your instructions worked great.
July 3, 2012
Thank you! Your instructions worked great.
February 19, 2013
I have an Alienware M11X R-1, I restored to factory settings and I have no recovery cd! Now when I start it up I get a blue screen telling me I need to fun the repair and fix, I do it doesn’t find a problem but will not start up! Please if you can help me I really would appreciate it!
February 26, 2013
Kim – hate to hear it. Have you tried starting in Safe Mode? Press on boot -see if that will let you in. there may be a driver conflict. There SHOULDN’T be but if the graphics card has been replaced or other misc things, it could be causing an issue.
And as much as I do hate to say it, if all else fails, do take it to a local computer tech. The Alien is a great little machine. Mine is still running great but it is a bit long in the tooth. Repairs even from a scratch install should be less than $200. We would likely do it in the 145ish range.