Alienware 17 R4 Troubleshooting

Your laptop battery does not charge or does not retain its charge.

If your laptop does not charge, your AC adapter might not be working.

To check if your AC adapter is working, first plug your AC adapter in to your laptop.

Then, check the battery icon in your Windows taskbar.

If the battery icon includes a graphic of an AC adapter, then your laptop is recognizing the AC adapter. Hover over the battery icon and make sure you see the text "plugged in, charging."

If you do not see a graphic of an AC adapter or the text "plugged in, charging," then your laptop is not recognizing your AC adapter. Consider replacing your AC adapter.

If your laptop only retains its charge for a short period of time when you unplug the AC adapter, your battery might be dead. Consider replacing your battery.

Your laptop runs games or videos at low Frames Per Second.

Restart your computer in order to have your computer reset its run time. Shutting down does not reset the laptops run timer and long periods of run time will cause slowdown and framerate issues.

Press the “windows logo” key +R at the same time. Type in “msconfig’ into the search bar that pops up. Click on the “Boot” tab that opens up and then click the “advanced options” on the menu. From there you can manually change the number of processors active and improve performance.

In order to update the Nvidia gtx 1080 drivers go to the Nvidia website and download the newest drivers. You can also download the “GeForce experience” in order to have updates accessible from your desktop.

Most laptops automatically use integrated graphics instead of the graphics card installed. In order to switch this right click on the desktop and open the “Nvidia control panel” from there go to the “3D settings” tab and click on “manage 3d settings” from there you can set the default option to your graphics card or set individual programs to run on the graphics card.

If your graphics card is not appearing in any options then you may need to uninstall and reinstall the drivers for the graphics card. In order to do that you need to Click on Start. A menu will come up.On this menu, click "Control Panel". Find the icon that says "System", and click it. Click on the "Hardware" tab .Click on the Device Manager" tab. Scroll down to the "Display Adapter" and click on it. A menu will pop up.On this menu,click the "driver" tab. Click "Uninstall".

If any of the above does not improve your framerate it could be that your graphics card is damage and may need replacement.

Laptop does not properly play audio or the audio is distorted.

If your speakers emit a crackling or screeching noise, try reconfiguring.

Right click the speaker icon in the Windows taskbar. Click “Playback devices.” Right click on your speakers and choose “Configure Speakers.” Follow the steps to reconfigure your speakers.

If reconfiguring your speakers does not fix the issue, make sure your BIOS version and drivers are updated.

Right click the speaker icon in the Windows taskbar. Click “Playback devices.” In the “Playback” tab, ensure that the laptop microphone is set as the default device.

If your laptop audio is not functioning properly, first ensure that your audio is not muted. To check whether your audio is muted, click the speaker icon in the windows taskbar. You will see a volume slider. Move the slider to your desired volume.

In order to have audio run through a headset, your headset needs to be set as the default for your audio program. This can usually be done in the settings option of your selected program. By default your laptop should automatically set your headset as the default communication device as long as it is plugged in.

Updating your drivers can fix a variety of audio issues.

Click on the Windows key and search device manager. Find “Audio inputs and outputs.” Here, you can either update or uninstall audio drivers to try and resolve your issues. In order to reinstall drivers, reset your laptop. Windows will automatically reinstall the drivers properly.

Should none of these fix your audio issues, it may be possible that your speakers are damaged and may need to be replaced.

Webcam is not installed or detected.

If your webcam is not working, check whether your integrated camera is disabled in device manager. If your camera is disabled press FN+F9. FN+F9 disables and enables the webcam camera.

If your webcam is still disabled, find you webcam in device manager under “imaging devices”. Once you find the webcam right click and uninstall. After the webcam is uninstalled, restart your laptop to check if the issue is resolved.

If your webcam is not detected by programs, ensure that the webcam is properly set as the default device. In order to change this the webcam has to be properly set under the settings of each program.

If these fail to fix issues with your laptop, it may be possible that your laptop camera is damaged and may need to be replaced

Your laptop overheats and shuts off due to temperature.

Alienware laptops run very hot in general. However, if you are just using simple programs (i.e. pain, Word, Google Chrome, etc.) and the device heats up, the fans may be malfunctioning.

Try opening the laptop and locating the fans. Once you have located the fans, remove them and gently clean the fans to clear out any blockages in order to make sure they spin smoothly. It may also help to remove any dust build-up forming on the vents.

Overheating can be caused by resource intensive settings in games. In order to reduce strain you may need to lower resolution during gaming. You may also need to close any programs not necessary to the game or video.

Running music or videos in the background may also cause overheating. Try reducing tabs or applications you are not using.

Press the "Windows Logo" key + R at the same time. A search bar will pop up and type in "msconfig". Click on the "Boot" tab that opens up and then click the "advanced options" on the menu. From there you can manually change the number of processors active and improve performance. Lowering the amount of processors running will reduce performance but also reduce overheating.

If your laptop is overheating when idle, first ensure the laptop is on a flat cold surface with nothing block the fans. If your laptop is still overheating, consider a cooling pad or a laptop cooler as a cheap fix.

If the following solutions fail to help with overheating, it may be possible that your laptop fan is malfunctioning and needs to be replaced.