Alienware M17X R4 beeping on turn on; Losing date and time settings

Hi all,

My ageing Alienware M17X R4 is having an issue wherein sometimes, when I turn it on, it only beeps, and doesn't go any further. Then when I turn it off and on again, it works, but the date and time settings have been lost in Windows. The beep code is either three or four beeps in a row (unfortunately I can't make it do it on request).

Any suggestions what the issue is, and how to fix it?