17 R5, not restarting

Dead or dying battery is my best guess. If you have the original 3 year old battery, it needs to be replaced. Batteries fail sooner now (18-24 months) than those from years ago.

FAQ - Laptop battery articles - Dell Community

A long press on the power button is how you turn off the computer in an emergency. It is not for turning it on.

Hi @Shepherd Masawi  the Alienware 17 R5 insistence that the ac adapter shall be used is an indication that the main battery is not holding its charge. Please create Windows Battery Report to determine if it should be replaced with an OEM battery.

Alienware 17 R5 Alienware 17 R4 / 15 R3 Original 4-cell Battery 68Wh - DP/N 44T2R
Alienware 17 R5 Alienware 17 R4 / 15 R3 Original 6-cell Battery 99Wh - DP/N 9NJM1 

When battery arrives look at white label, to check that correct DP/N is declared, and look beneath the square matrix to ensure that year/month date is less than six months old. 

Laptop with no battery is designed to function as Desktop on ac adapter power. This gives time for user to get a new internal battery, or a suitable external Dell Notebook Power Bank Plus (Barrel). 

Please share an update on progress, so that other users derive benefit from your experience. Thank you. 

Hi @Shepherd Masawi  my Alienware 17 R5 MLK is stuck in dark mode. Having removed rear panel, all the keyboard backlight cables are installed and laptop has per-key RGB lighting. 

How to resolve LED issues with your Backlit Keyboard using the latest Dell Utility | Dell US 

There is no help entry for Alienware. In BIOS there is option to enable touch pad back lighting, that does not get the touch pad LED to work. 

How to Turn Off or On and Troubleshoot the Backlit Keyboard on Your Dell Notebook Computer | Dell US 

There is no help entry for Alienware. In my 17 R5 BIOS, there is no Keyboard backlit enabled option. Does your 17 R5 BIOS include the Keyboard backlit option? Please post an image, so that I know what to look for. 

Thank you in anticipation. Kind regards. 

Hi @DELL-Cares please ask for these Dell Support Knowledge Base webpages to be updated to include Alienware products. Thank you. 

Managed to solve the restarting problem by doing some updates with the software assist.

The main issue though is the battery which now can't hold much power due to depreciation. Would need a new battery though. 

Where are you located in?

Here’s one for the US

Alienware 17 R5/R4 and 15 R3/R4 Battery Replacement US ONLY. 

Here’s on in UK

Alienware 17 R5/R4 and 15 R3/R4 Battery replacement UK ONLY. 

Hi @Shepherd Masawi  thank you for sharing update that a new replacement OEM battery is going to be purchased, see my earlier post with Dell part numbers (DP/N).

IMHO always get battery with the Dell white label attached, which includes year/month date beneath square matrix that is less than six months old. Purchase on Amazon gives extra protection, if item delivered is not as advertised. Getting a fraudulent battery of dubious pedigree should be avoided, so I do not purchase new OEM battery without white label. 

Alienware 17 R5, 17 R4 & 15 R3, 15 R4 Original 6-cell Laptop Battery 99Wh DP/N 9NJM1 

Removing and Replacing the Alienware 17 R5 battery requires significant work, because it is located deep within the laptops base enclosure. I know, because I have Alienware 17 R5 laptop. Dell seems to have responded to user complaints, and more recent laptops provide easy access for battery replacement. 

There are many YouTube videos that show the battery replacement process. I watched this Alienware Support video a number of times before undertaking battery replacement. My other laptop played this video, just in case I encountered problems. 

Please share an update on progress, so that other users derive benefit from your experience. Thank you.