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Sudden crash and blinking cursor on startup...
I own a Aurora R4 and was playing a computer game when it suddenly turned itself off and seem to become stuck in trying to reboot itself. I unplugged it and after a bit plugged it back in and tried to reboot it. All the screen will show is the Alienware logo and then switched to a blank screen with a blinking cursor in the top left corner. The running lights will turn on using the theme I had picked.
Any help will be much appreciated!
Wispr
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May 23rd, 2014 01:00
Hey Naomi,
I'm very happy to say that after rerunning the HDD test it came back OK. Then followed all the instructions on doing a clean install of the video drivers and install the Alienware video drivers. Computer running nice!
I also found out after using Sestem Detect I was behind on some other drivers, chipset and such and will update them this weekend.
I really appreciate all the time and help you provided, a huge hug from me! 
Take care...
Wispr
Wispr
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May 23rd, 2014 01:00
Hey Naomi,
I'm very happy to say that after rerunning the HDD test it came back OK. Then followed all the instructions on doing a clean install of the video drivers and install the Alienware video drivers. Computer running nice!
I also found out after using Sestem Detect I was behind on some other drivers, chipset and such and will update them this weekend.
I really appreciate all the time and help you provided, a huge hug from me! 
Take care...
Wispr
Alienware-Naomi
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May 23rd, 2014 08:00
That's great to hear Wispr! If you have any other questions let me know.
Wispr
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May 20th, 2014 13:00
Hey Naomi,
First thanks for the fast reply and once I get home from work will run the diagnostic you directed me to. Been at least a couple of weeks since I upgraded the video card drivers and I still have the old video cards that came with the computer dual GeForce GTX 555. Still trying to save up for one of those video cards you told me about before.
Luckily got my old computer so I can still access this site!
Thanks again and will let you know what I find out...
Wispr
Alienware-Naomi
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May 20th, 2014 13:00
Hi again Wispr!
First, run an ePSA diagnostic to check for hardware problems. If no errors come up, I would then recommend that you try to access Windows on Safe Mode (press F8 repeatedly when you reach the Alienware logo screen) and do a clean installation of the video card drivers as explained here.
Just for the record, did the problem start after a video card upgrade?
Let me know how it goes!
Wispr
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May 21st, 2014 04:00
Hey Naomi,
Ran the ePSA and the first quick test found nothing wrong. It then ask if I wanted to run a longer test and I said yes. Everything basically pass, though when it got to 94% on the hard drive test it was taking close to a half an hour to move up 1% and I just had to abort so I can get ready for bed. Working tomorrow.
Do you think I need to rerun the hard drive test or do feel it be OK to go ahead and do that clean install of the video card drivers? Which BTW I figured out that I screwed up on the video card drivers. I was updating them from Nvidia web site and not alienware drivers. Will make sure to use only alienware from now on!
Interesting side note when I exited out of the ePSA the computer booted just find. But to play it safe I switched back to my old computer until I heard from you. Didn't want to risk having the alienware computer crashing like it did before.
Again huge thanks for the awesome help you've been!
Wispr
Alienware-Naomi
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May 21st, 2014 16:00
When you have more time, I would recommend you complete the HDD test. If it's a No Boot problem it could be caused by a bad HDD or a problem with the OS.
Otherwise, you can skip to re-installing the video drivers using the ones from the Dell Support website.