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Alienware X51 requires multiple "attempts" to boot
I've had an Alienware x51 since early 2012, and it recently has been having a few issues powering on.
When I press the power button on the computer, the lights come on and the fans start up, but after ~ 1.5 seconds everything shuts off. Then, all by itself a few seconds later, the lights come back on and the fans start up again. And then everything shuts off again. This cycle repeats 3 or 4 times after which the PC actually boots up, but afterwards I cannot usually get a feed to my monitor from the graphics card or from the Intel HDMI.
A power drain or two usually lets me get a feed to the monitor after the computer makes these multiple "attempts" to boot. I do not get any beep codes.
One thing I've found rather odd is that after I do a power drain (disconnect everything including power supply, hold power button for 30 s), when I reconnect the power supply to the computer it starts up -- before I have even pushed the power button. I connect the power supply cord to the back and the thing turns on. And off. And on again before booting up for good just like before.
All of my system diagnostic tests from SupportAssist come back as OK, and I've tried reseating the CMOS battery to no avail.
Does anyone have any suggestions about what might be wrong? It's rather tedious to spend 10 minutes fiddling with cords and power drains each time I want to turn the computer on. Thanks.
AAA737flyer
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November 30th, 2015 07:00
If you have OC'd or changed the BIOS in any way, reset to original settings and try again.
Run a memory check.
Make sure power button isn't sticking.
Disconnect all external equipment except one monitor and keyboard and try again.
Reseat video card.
Make sure you are hooked up to a surge protector and battery backup system.
If you have a drive backup software make a copy of your drive ASAP should a drive be failing. Acronis is a perfect drive cloning software.