Alienware 15 R2 Troubleshooting

The laptop becomes overly hot, applications frequently crash, and performance slows down.

As the laptop is used, dust is sucked into the air intake and settles on the ports that allow air in and out of the laptop to keep it cool.

Use a vacuum cleaner with a narrow nozzle to remove dust and other particles from the ports the fans take air in from and push air out of. The ports can be found on the underside of the laptop near the hinge.

Dust can also build up on the blades of the fans. To clean them, remove the back plate of the laptop. Then, use cotton balls dampened with isopropyl alcohol and lightly swipe the fan blades to remove dust. This can be followed up with a can of compressed air to remove any leftover particles. Make sure to follow the instructions on how to use the canned air to ensure you don’t damage your system.

The laptop’s battery lasts for a significantly shorter time than it did when it was brand new.

Laptop batteries worsen with age, so the only way to revive a dead battery fully is to replace it with another.

If battery replacement is not an option, reduce multitasking, as the battery must work harder to run multiple programs. Check Task Manager (press ctrl + alt + del) for any programs that are unnecessary to the functioning of the computer. This is especially an issue on startup, as some programs are set to open automatically upon booting the computer. Close these programs so they do not use battery life.

The laptop continually disconnects from Wi-Fi, or speed is slow.

Uninstall the Killer Network Manager Suite, and Killer Wireless Drivers. Install the Killer Ethernet E2400 and Wireless-AC 1535 Drivers, then reset the device.

To uninstall the Suite and Drivers, right click on the lower left hand corner of the screen, open Programs and Features, then click Killer Network Manager Suite and then uninstall. Instructions to follow will appear on-screen to repeat the same process for Killer Wireless Drivers. (If you do not have the above options in the programs and features menu, skip directly to the next part.)

Next, download and install the Killer Ethernet E2400/E2500 Driver here: https://support.killernetworking.com/. Select Windows 10, 64-bit as the operating system, then click Network. Download the above driver and install, then restart the system.

Third, download and install the Killer Wireless-AC 1525 Driver here: https://support.killernetworking.com/. Select Windows 10, 64-bit as the operating system, then click Modem/Communications. Download the above driver and install it, then restart the system. On restart, open the Killer Suite application, go to settings, and disable the Advanced Stream Detect option. Then, open Device Manager, Network Adapters, Killer Wireless-AC 1535, and go to the advanced tab. Under Wireless Mode, choose ABGN mode.

(https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/... )

If updating the drivers does not fix the problem, you may have to replace the Wi-Fi Card.

The laptop manages the same processes, but does them far slower than usual, especially the longer the computer is in use.

Open the back plate of the laptop and check the motherboard to find where the RAM stick is attached. Unplug the RAM from the motherboard to ensure there are no damaged pieces of the RAM or the motherboard. To check the RAM, first make sure to ground yourself by touching a metal tap or something similar to avoid damaging the components of the computer. Then, pop open the latches on each end of the stick until they click and you are able to easily pull out the stick. Check for burnt areas on parts that connect to the motherboard. If the stick is damaged, replace it. To add new RAM to the motherboard, place the new stick in the same slot as the old one and lock the latches. A replacement guide for RAM can be found here.

Check the cords that connect to the motherboard to ensure they are connected firmly, then look for damage on the board itself. Damage to the motherboard may show up as bubbles or burning on the top of the board. To replace the motherboard, remove the entire back panel and disconnect the battery. Remove all wires and ribbon connectors on the motherboard, remove the hard drive and solid state drive. Next, using a magnetic screwdriver, remove all screws. Then, remove the old motherboard and replace with the new one, reinstall screws, storage, wires, and reinstall back panel in that order.

The laptop crashes, shows a blue screen, and is unable to load the operating system upon restart.

This will cause the computer to start up, but be unable to find files with which to load the operating system. Attempt to use a flash drive with the most recent version of Windows to reinstall the operating system on the drive.

Insert the flash drive into a USB slot, and start up the computer. Press the F12 key to open the boot configuration, and select the flash drive, then follow the on-screen instructions to install Windows.

As storage devices age, their physical components may fail, leading to scratching noises as the laptop runs. The only option is to replace the HDD or SSD.

To remove the old HDD, open up the back panel and unplug the battery cable. Then, unplug the hard drive. Remove the screws surrounding the drive, and then remove the drive. Put the new drive in its place, re-secure the screws, plug in the new drive, plug the battery cable back in, and close the back panel.

Finally, install Windows onto the new drive with a flash drive.

Insert the flash drive into a USB slot, and start up the computer. Press the F12 key to open the boot configuration, and select the flash drive, then follow the on-screen instructions to install Windows.