Hi, I have an older Alienware M15x with an i7 720qm processor, 750GB 7200rpm hard drive and 4GB (2x2GB) ram; Currently running Windows 10.

I am wondering what the best plan for this computer is? Its kind of a special case so I'll explain whats wrong with it and what I'd like to use it for and go from there.

This computer worked perfectly for the first 3-4yrs but then it started having issues. When I contacted Dell they told me the hard drive had bad sectors and it should be replaced so I replaced it with a 750GB 7200rpm drive. While reinstalling the hardware there was a bios update from dell so I gave the computer to a friend and he did the bios update and reinstalled the factory OS. Since then none of the alienware stuff works and the computer has had some issues. I looked on the Dell forums and it seems the bios update from Dell messes up a chip on the mother board and to fix it you need to replace the motherboard at your own expense.  I still use the computer but none of the alienware lights or features work at all anymore. It shows all these .NET framework errors when i boot it up. Sometimes it doesn't boot at all but it does most of the time.  Recently the touchpad has stopped working entirely. 

I am now trying to learn to code and would like to use the laptop once and a while when I'm visiting family etc. I have started The Odin Project and am enjoying it. I set up my home computer with a partition for dual boot and may just go entirely to Ubuntu at some point. I can't seem to do the dual boot on this computer though. I looked into it and apparently its not possible for the Alienware. I could use a VM so I don't really care if its Windows or Linux or Mac even as long as it works well.

So my main question is what is my best option for this computer? I don't really want to buy a new motherboard but they are available from aliexpress for about $100US. I don't mind if I need to buy ram but I have a single 8GB PC4-2400T ram i can install but I think that is not the same as whats in there so i'm not even sure if I can use it? I don't really care if the lights work but it would be great if I could get them to work. I am more concerned about the video card, cooling system and all the peripherals. Anyways, my other questions are:

- Will Ubuntu work on this computer and have all the functionality I have now?
- is there any chance of getting the lights to work with ubuntu
- am I better off running a VM for coding and keeping windows?

I'd love to hear what other, more experienced people would do with this computer. Thanks in advance for any help and advice you have.