Alienware X51 R2 Fails to install Windows 10

Question

I had recently bought an Alienware X51 a few weeks back.It had Windows 8.1 on it,and it was working normally before.But I had also reserved a free copy of Windows 10,that was ready to install,so I proceeded.

I did the normal installation processes,and it began installing,starting with the files.However,after 30% of the process was completed,it turned to a black screen.After a while,it rebooted,and there was still a black screen.I had waited 2 hours after the reboot,and still a black screen.My brother had installed Windows 10 on his Toshiba without a problem,but mine just wasn't going to function.

I do have a recovery disk for the Windows 8.1 OS,but I'm not sure whether to use it or not.After a couple of reboots,Auto Repair finally appeared,and it told me I was on Windows 10,so I was sure I was not on 8.1.I decided to continue and once again, a black screen appeared,I waited another hour,and still a black screen.

I was starting to get concerned,as I spent $1000 on this new computer,and I did not want it to go to waste.Hopefully I can get a response so I can fix this problem.

Thanks again

Spikyhat335

RageMonkey77 · Accepted Answer

HI there.

I have had the same issue. the install is fine but for some reason windows 10 thinks we are running an extra screen?? When you get to the black screen with the cursor press enter and put in your password if you had one, if not press enter again. Give it a few mins to load up then press windows key and P this will open up the projected screen box. there are 4 options in here (you will not be able to see them!) I seleced the bottom one which is screen 2 by pressing the down arrow three times and pressing enter - this will allow you to see the screen, I had to try a few times with different amounts of down key presses but it works. as for the issue its still there when I reboot but at least I can get it open for now.

oCyNiCaL · Accepted Answer

I've found a solution that has fixed everything for me . All I did was attach a HDMI cable instead of my analog and everything went fine from there

oCyNiCaL · Answer

I also have the same problem with my Alienware x51 r2! I had also reserved windows 10 I proceeded and now I'm stuck on a black screen - HELP please

alieo01 · Answer

i am having the same problem with mine, but now i cant do anything on mine, it wont boot up now.

gnar · Answer

Thanks. That worked for me.

I was able to fix it was I did not have to do this after every reboot. To do that, I did a right-click on the desktop and selected "Display Settings" from the context menu. In the dialog set "Display only on 1". For me, this fixed it so that on reboot everything works correctly now.

bigbearandy · Answer

I've heard of the HDMI trick, but I need to find an HDMI cable to confirm. :p

bigbearandy · Answer

Alternately, go into the system recovery console and go back to previous build under 'More advanced options.' That will bring you safely back to Win8.1.

RageMonkey77 · Answer

Glad it worked fella. I did a fair bit of looking round before I got that fix. Mine is ok now rebooting fine too. It's still set as screen two! But hey its working at the moment.

Jonas200 · Answer

RageMonkey's process worked for me.

The whole thing with changing BIOS settings turned out to be useless and quite disastrous because the video card stops working if you change the SecureBoot setting from the default and i needed to waste a lot of time to do a CMOS reset to undo it.

FlameThrower618 · Answer

Thanks very much for posting. This worked great for me. What a nuisance. I tried the Update 4 times and on the 5th try, this allowed me to at least get in to tell Windows 10 I don't actually have 2 screens.

Kudos!

Divine44 · Answer

We had the same problem with our 51 we spoke to Dell they were backed up with calls on this issue as our warranty had ran out we would have to wait a week for help ,we reinstalled 8.1 after buying it again ! What a farce

bigbearandy · Answer

Wow, I must be an innovator since they told me I was 'the first person to call about the problem' last week. :p

Johno0 · Answer

I had the same issue.

I noticed that windows 10 was using the DVI window as a second window because the mouse was still showing up on the blacked out window. I used a hdmi cable and a second monitor to log into windows 10 and then disabled the integrated Intel hd graphics driver as I was already using the dedicated Nvidia driver. It seems to pick up both and so treats the intel one as the primary window.

Chowi · Answer

Hi, that really ***,  i lost all my info the 1st time i have the same probkem.  Now on the 2nd try I finally can do it.  Just on the black screen press win + p p p it change the screen to the correct one.  All the alienware are doing this.

bigbearandy · Answer

I think part of the problem was under the previous BIOS it was assumed that you could either use the HDMI or the discrete graphics, not both. Under Win10, both appear to work at the same time, which is not something I think was anticipated before the update.

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Alienware X51 R2 Fails to install Windows 10

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