Area-51 R2, CMOS failure

When you removed the old battery did you leave it out of the system for 15 minutes before installing the new battery? Also have you accessed the BIOS and made the appropriate changes to the settings?

Hi @NICEguy37 thank you for sharing update.

Please reseat RAM memory cards in their slots. How to Avoid ESD Damage (Official Dell Tech Support) - YouTube.  

When Alienware logo splash screen appears, the F2 and F12 keys should work. Please press and hold down the F12 key to enter boot menu, search for and run Diagnostics option. How to Run Dell ePSA | Dell SupportAssist On-board Diagnostics (Official Dell Tech Support) - YouTube. 

Initially I did not wait 15 mins. I waited 5 mins though. Just attempted 15 mins same results. F1 and F2 keys remain unresponsive before and after removing the CR2035 battery. Not able to enter into bios 

Hi @NICEguy37 welcome to this free user-to-user Alienware laptop discussion forum. 

Alienware Area-51m Hard Reset (Flea power release) should say remove Base cover, then disconnect main Battery and Coin-cell battery, then press and hold down power-on button. Shorting out across the two bright spots on motherboard surface is prone to fail unless a flat head screwdriver (or similar) is used to electrically bridge the two bright spots.  How to Avoid ESD Damage (Official Dell Tech Support) - YouTube.  

Reset memory cards; held down F12 at splash screen. Same results 

Are you using a wired keyboard or remote? In addition to leaving the CR2032 coin cell battery out, press and hold the Alien head power button for 30 seconds to discharge and residual power while battery is out and power disconnected from PSU.

Just curious, did you use a battery that you had already or did you purchase a brand new battery? It has to be brand new recently purchased.

Bought a new CR2032 battery. The keyboard is hardline. Left battery out plus PSU. Pressed power power button for 30 secs. Same results. 

consider trying this BIOS recovery process