Shoot... so after further digging I realized that the Blu-ray option dell gives you is probably the drive I was looking at on Amazon. AND I read on these forums somewhere that if you get the R7 without an optical drive the chassis won't have the slot for a drive. AH! It's Saturday of course... so I just had to write customer service an e-mail explaining the issue to see if I can get my order modified before it's built/shipped out.
Hopefully this doesn't become too big an issue.
Seems like I keep having bad luck lately when ordering things haha
Shoot... so after further digging I realized that the Blu-ray option dell gives you is probably the drive I was looking at on Amazon. AND I read on these forums somewhere that if you get the R7 without an optical drive the chassis won't have the slot for a drive. AH! It's Saturday of course... so I just had to write customer service an e-mail explaining the issue to see if I can get my order modified before it's built/shipped out.
Hopefully this doesn't become too big an issue.
Seems like I keep having bad luck lately when ordering things haha
Yeah, I think you will have front-bezel trouble (aren't they different ?)
Remember, these internal opticals are low-volume laptop-models. For any serious burning/ripping ... I suggest a 5.25inch model in an external enclosure. Maybe a LG pre-built? Or, custom USB-3.0 external enclosure (with UASP support). Maybe Orico has one?
I would only ever do basic movie watching or CD ripping or dvd/Blu-ray burning, so a light duty drive doesn't sound too bad. Though what would the cost of a decent featured external be vs the $100 internal option from Dell?
I already bought the Samsung 970 Pro 512GB m.2 drive to use with the machine. It wasn't cheap but I figured it would be a good upgrade worth the money. I already have nearly 2TB of data on my existing mechanical drive and I think SSD only go up to 2TB don't they? And are pricier in that range? I would love to be able to get away from mechanical completely but i'm not super versed in my options and a little limited on funds.
To be able to do a clean install how would I obtain the image with the OS and all the finicky drivers? I don't think PCs come with a USB or recovery DVD still do they? If the W10 key is embedded I do already have a windows 10 image on DVD I could use I guess. Or is there a better way to do it?
1. I would only ever do basic movie watching or CD ripping or dvd/Blu-ray burning, so a light duty drive doesn't sound too bad.
2. Though what would the cost of a decent featured external be vs the $100 internal option from Dell?
3. I already bought the Samsung 970 Pro 512GB m.2 drive to use with the machine.
4. To be able to do a clean install how would I obtain the image with the OS and all the finicky drivers? I don't think PCs come with a USB or recovery DVD still do they? If the W10 key is embedded I do already have a windows 10 image on DVD I could use I guess. Or is there a better way to do it?
1. Sounds like moderate to heavy use to me. Have you ever actually used a laptop optical drive for frequent ripping and burning?
2. LG used to sell a pre-built 5.25inch burner. I think rare now-days because Optical Media is dying. At least M-DISC and 4K-Blu-Ray are keeping it alive.
As I briefly searched, looks like custom build might be the best option. Nice USB-3.0 external enclosure (with UASP). Famous-maker, high quality, durable, 5.25inch burner installed inside it. One that provides firmware updates.
Looks like LG and Pioneer are still the best (even after all these years).
Not gonna lie... kinda frustrated that I JUST purchased the R7 with a 1070ti and the RTX cards were literally announced like two days later haha
My system is still on hold for some reason too... called in and spoke with order verification team and they said the machine was verified and processed but I called in again today and the system still says my machine is on hold.
Already have the 970 Pro and 4TB drive sitting here on my desk waiting for the R7 so I can upgrade.
Ok I finally received my PC today... installed the 512GB 970 Pro and 4TB Mechanical drive. Easy peasy.
BUT
Now i'd like to transfer my existing files and settings from my old PC to my new one and remembered that I already have a transfer cable/software from 3 years ago so tried to use it for this as well.
When I got my XPS 8700 it came with a 256GB SSD and a 3TB Mechanical. To save space I somehow pointed all of the documents/downloads/desktop/videos/etc to my "D" drive (D:/Users/Jason) so they wouldn't go on the SSD.
When I tried to do similar today it started merging existing folders and messing everything up. My Desktop folder became a 3D Objects folder and I couldn't reverse it. Installed Windows over itself and it put the Desktop folder back but now my 3D Objects folder was gone and I had multiple Documents folders? Getting aggravated so I just blew my new SSD away to start from scratch haha
So what is going to be the easiest and most straight forward way to do this? I just want my desktop/settings transferred from C to my new C and all the data in my old D to my new D and all the shortcuts set up as they were before.
Man I should have known this wasn't going to be as straightforward as I was hoping haha
I do this kind of thing for clients occasionally (when I get persuaded into doing system swaps).
We copy over everything they need, and leave everything else behind. Not sure what "settings" you are talking about. Data-files are just "straight file copies" ... docs, SS, pics, music files, etc.
Browser Favorites are exported, and then imported.
If they run Outlook, you copy over their .PST file and re-integrate into new version of Outlook.
Easy.
For me personally, a lot of my stuff lives in the Apple and Google clouds. For example, all my Outlook 2010 Contacts are really in the Apple cloud (and synced). Everything Chrome (including my browser favorites) are in Google cloud. Login to some accounts and you are pretty much done. It starts to bring to Windows the cloud-tech we have on the Apple Mac.
I still login with "Local Accounts" on my Windows machines. If you login with an "Online Accounts" instead, you might find you have similar functionality on Windows using only Microsoft software.
But I never mess with it. When you start having more data files than can fit in default stores, it's no big deal to save your files to D:\Storage\Docs , your NAS, cloud drive, or where-ever.
I think you can even add D:\Storage\Docs to the "Documents" Library (for example).
Plus, with a 512gb SSD ... for files that Microsoft wants to save to C: somewhere, it's not like you are going to run-out of space. Also, C: needs to be Image-Backup occasionally anyway. This idea that all your real data is on D: and C: is expendable, in practice, is a fantasy in a Peer Network.
Yeah had a mini freakout over this but figured it all out pretty much right after I posted... haha
I realized what I did wrong previously and made sure to type the location correctly this time and everything went quick and smooth.
Well i only really use google backup for my phone, I know i NEED to do a local PC backup as well but i'm not there yet.
So install all my windows/program files on C, but all my pics and videos and random documents go on my D drive just because I don't really access them that often even though I have a fair amount.
I'm not a huge PC gamer typically but i'm wondering if I should be considering buying a 2.5" Samsung 860 1TB when I find one on sale and then plop all the games I may eventually get onto that, or just install them on the 512 m.2.. I want a performance benefit for PC games but I don't want to fill the 512 and it's the only M.2 slot available anyway.
(For comparison's sake, I have like 12 video game consoles in my house including portables. On my Xbox One X I have a 8TB external and a 5TB external and they're already about 50% full of games.)
Another quick question... my order contents list an Aurora R7 placement which I didn't receive. Also I didn't receive any video cables with my PC??? Is that normal? The only things in the box were literally the PC, a tiny quickstart guide, and the power cable.
The basic keyboard and mouse had a price, so I didn't add them. No worries.
Ok the only problem i'm having with this machine now is a near constant noise... whine? sounds like a fluorescent light maybe?
Not even happening under heavy load. Just happens when the machine is on sitting at a basic webpage. And then sometimes all of a sudden it disappears but comes back again.
Googled it today and it seems to be a very common problem with the R7. Some people say coil whine. Some people say the PSU and some the GPU but i'm not seeing an actual fix to the problem?
Starting to drive me a little crazy.
***Aaaaand just like that I opened the case and figured out that the buzzing noise was the Seagate 3.5" hard drive I put in it. I pulled the drive out just a bit and popped it back into place and it stopped making the noise. Haha. Whew.
I have the same problem with the optical drive. I ordered mine without an optical drive and want to add one. I took off the front bezel and the slot and all the wiring is there. I just need a front bezel that allows for the optical drive. Does anyone know the part number for it? The people at Dell are clueless.
JBSlaughter
32 Posts
0
August 18th, 2018 15:00
Shoot... so after further digging I realized that the Blu-ray option dell gives you is probably the drive I was looking at on Amazon. AND I read on these forums somewhere that if you get the R7 without an optical drive the chassis won't have the slot for a drive. AH! It's Saturday of course... so I just had to write customer service an e-mail explaining the issue to see if I can get my order modified before it's built/shipped out.
Hopefully this doesn't become too big an issue.
Seems like I keep having bad luck lately when ordering things haha
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.4K Posts
0
August 18th, 2018 21:00
Yeah, I think you will have front-bezel trouble (aren't they different ?)
Remember, these internal opticals are low-volume laptop-models. For any serious burning/ripping ... I suggest a 5.25inch model in an external enclosure. Maybe a LG pre-built? Or, custom USB-3.0 external enclosure (with UASP support). Maybe Orico has one?
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.4K Posts
0
August 18th, 2018 21:00
I suggest a M.2-2280/PCIe/NVMe-SSD in motherboard slot.
Yeah, Samsung Pros have high-endurance MLC flash, but EVO's are cheaper. A 512gb (as boot) holds a lot.
If it won't clone, just clean-install. Right, other drives can be 2.5inch-SATA SSD. It will hold ONE 3.5inch spinning-HDD (if you must).
Wired ethernet is almost always faster ... even at 100 (but maybe NightHawk has Gigabit 1000 ports).
JBSlaughter
32 Posts
0
August 19th, 2018 10:00
Thank you for the replies!
I would only ever do basic movie watching or CD ripping or dvd/Blu-ray burning, so a light duty drive doesn't sound too bad. Though what would the cost of a decent featured external be vs the $100 internal option from Dell?
I already bought the Samsung 970 Pro 512GB m.2 drive to use with the machine. It wasn't cheap but I figured it would be a good upgrade worth the money. I already have nearly 2TB of data on my existing mechanical drive and I think SSD only go up to 2TB don't they? And are pricier in that range? I would love to be able to get away from mechanical completely but i'm not super versed in my options and a little limited on funds.
To be able to do a clean install how would I obtain the image with the OS and all the finicky drivers? I don't think PCs come with a USB or recovery DVD still do they? If the W10 key is embedded I do already have a windows 10 image on DVD I could use I guess. Or is there a better way to do it?
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.4K Posts
0
August 19th, 2018 13:00
1. Sounds like moderate to heavy use to me. Have you ever actually used a laptop optical drive for frequent ripping and burning?
2. LG used to sell a pre-built 5.25inch burner. I think rare now-days because Optical Media is dying. At least M-DISC and 4K-Blu-Ray are keeping it alive.
As I briefly searched, looks like custom build might be the best option. Nice USB-3.0 external enclosure (with UASP). Famous-maker, high quality, durable, 5.25inch burner installed inside it. One that provides firmware updates.
Looks like LG and Pioneer are still the best (even after all these years).
https://nerdtechy.com/best-internal-blu-ray-burner-rewriter-drive
Use quality discs (Verbatim, Sony, etc.) . Stay away from burning DVD/BD Dual-Layer (DL) media and you should be fine.
3. Nice, perfect. Probably the best SSD on the market right now.
4. There should be an option to make a Dell Recovery USB Flash drive on desktop (that's your fail-safe).
https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-Desktops/Need-help-factory-reinstalling-Windows-10-on-new-Alienware-R7/td-p/6065268
Actually, I suggest first trying the one from microsoft.com.
https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-Desktops/M-2-NVMe-bootable-options/td-p/6073037
Not sure what finicky drivers you are talking about.
JBSlaughter
32 Posts
0
August 19th, 2018 14:00
Perfect thank you!
JBSlaughter
32 Posts
0
August 22nd, 2018 19:00
Not gonna lie... kinda frustrated that I JUST purchased the R7 with a 1070ti and the RTX cards were literally announced like two days later haha
My system is still on hold for some reason too... called in and spoke with order verification team and they said the machine was verified and processed but I called in again today and the system still says my machine is on hold.
Already have the 970 Pro and 4TB drive sitting here on my desk waiting for the R7 so I can upgrade.
JBSlaughter
32 Posts
0
August 30th, 2018 15:00
Ok I finally received my PC today... installed the 512GB 970 Pro and 4TB Mechanical drive. Easy peasy.
BUT
Now i'd like to transfer my existing files and settings from my old PC to my new one and remembered that I already have a transfer cable/software from 3 years ago so tried to use it for this as well.
When I got my XPS 8700 it came with a 256GB SSD and a 3TB Mechanical. To save space I somehow pointed all of the documents/downloads/desktop/videos/etc to my "D" drive (D:/Users/Jason) so they wouldn't go on the SSD.
When I tried to do similar today it started merging existing folders and messing everything up. My Desktop folder became a 3D Objects folder and I couldn't reverse it. Installed Windows over itself and it put the Desktop folder back but now my 3D Objects folder was gone and I had multiple Documents folders? Getting aggravated so I just blew my new SSD away to start from scratch haha
So what is going to be the easiest and most straight forward way to do this? I just want my desktop/settings transferred from C to my new C and all the data in my old D to my new D and all the shortcuts set up as they were before.
Man I should have known this wasn't going to be as straightforward as I was hoping haha
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.4K Posts
0
August 30th, 2018 16:00
I do this kind of thing for clients occasionally (when I get persuaded into doing system swaps).
We copy over everything they need, and leave everything else behind. Not sure what "settings" you are talking about.
Data-files are just "straight file copies" ... docs, SS, pics, music files, etc.
Browser Favorites are exported, and then imported.
If they run Outlook, you copy over their .PST file and re-integrate into new version of Outlook.
Easy.
For me personally, a lot of my stuff lives in the Apple and Google clouds. For example, all my Outlook 2010 Contacts are really in the Apple cloud (and synced). Everything Chrome (including my browser favorites) are in Google cloud. Login to some accounts and you are pretty much done. It starts to bring to Windows the cloud-tech we have on the Apple Mac.
I still login with "Local Accounts" on my Windows machines. If you login with an "Online Accounts" instead, you might find you have similar functionality on Windows using only Microsoft software.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.4K Posts
0
August 30th, 2018 19:00
There is also this:
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/change-default-save-location-windows-10
But I never mess with it. When you start having more data files than can fit in default stores, it's no big deal to save your files to D:\Storage\Docs , your NAS, cloud drive, or where-ever.
I think you can even add D:\Storage\Docs to the "Documents" Library (for example).
Plus, with a 512gb SSD ... for files that Microsoft wants to save to C: somewhere, it's not like you are going to run-out of space. Also, C: needs to be Image-Backup occasionally anyway. This idea that all your real data is on D: and C: is expendable, in practice, is a fantasy in a Peer Network.
JBSlaughter
32 Posts
0
August 31st, 2018 16:00
Yeah had a mini freakout over this but figured it all out pretty much right after I posted... haha
I realized what I did wrong previously and made sure to type the location correctly this time and everything went quick and smooth.
Well i only really use google backup for my phone, I know i NEED to do a local PC backup as well but i'm not there yet.
So install all my windows/program files on C, but all my pics and videos and random documents go on my D drive just because I don't really access them that often even though I have a fair amount.
I'm not a huge PC gamer typically but i'm wondering if I should be considering buying a 2.5" Samsung 860 1TB when I find one on sale and then plop all the games I may eventually get onto that, or just install them on the 512 m.2.. I want a performance benefit for PC games but I don't want to fill the 512 and it's the only M.2 slot available anyway.
(For comparison's sake, I have like 12 video game consoles in my house including portables. On my Xbox One X I have a 8TB external and a 5TB external and they're already about 50% full of games.)
JBSlaughter
32 Posts
0
September 1st, 2018 07:00
Another quick question... my order contents list an Aurora R7 placement which I didn't receive. Also I didn't receive any video cables with my PC??? Is that normal? The only things in the box were literally the PC, a tiny quickstart guide, and the power cable.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.4K Posts
0
September 1st, 2018 09:00
1. What is a "placement"?
2. Yes. A video cable usually comes with the monitor (but not the computer). Sometimes it's not even the correct one.
3. Sounds correct. I think you can also get the basic wired-USB keyboard and mouse for free, but you have to click to add them at config-time.
JBSlaughter
32 Posts
0
September 1st, 2018 19:00
The basic keyboard and mouse had a price, so I didn't add them. No worries.
Ok the only problem i'm having with this machine now is a near constant noise... whine? sounds like a fluorescent light maybe?
Not even happening under heavy load. Just happens when the machine is on sitting at a basic webpage. And then sometimes all of a sudden it disappears but comes back again.
Googled it today and it seems to be a very common problem with the R7. Some people say coil whine. Some people say the PSU and some the GPU but i'm not seeing an actual fix to the problem?
Starting to drive me a little crazy.
***Aaaaand just like that I opened the case and figured out that the buzzing noise was the Seagate 3.5" hard drive I put in it. I pulled the drive out just a bit and popped it back into place and it stopped making the noise. Haha. Whew.
Mc2472
3 Posts
1
September 10th, 2018 07:00
I have the same problem with the optical drive. I ordered mine without an optical drive and want to add one. I took off the front bezel and the slot and all the wiring is there. I just need a front bezel that allows for the optical drive. Does anyone know the part number for it? The people at Dell are clueless.