m18 R1, unknown keyboard layout?

Hi @BRONCO-30 welcome to this free user-to-user Alienware laptop discussion forum. 

The keys that are identified in your image are consistent with a AZERTY keyboard. AZERTY - Wikipedia. 

However in the top LH corner there is ECHAP key (not ESC key). A dvorak version (traditional Canadian french layout) is also supported by Microsoft® Windows®. In this keyboard, the key names are translated to French, and includes the ECHAP key. List of QWERTY keyboard language variants - Wikipedia. 

Wikipedia does not have a List_of_AZERTY_keyboard_language_variants. Open "Edit language and keyboard options" to reveal the Microsoft Windows language options. 

On most Dell laptops the keyboard settings can be changed to use a different key language layout, and a plastic overlay mask can be used with different key labels. 

Please share a picture of the labels on the Base cover's external surface. Hopefully this will say which Microsoft Windows language this system has been designed to use. 

Hi @BRONCO-30 please put the Service Tag found on Base cover into Product Support which opens in the Overview tag, and on the RH side click on link to Identify your product. Open system configuration and look at list to see which Microsoft® Windows® language option has been installed. (For your own protection do not share the private system Service Tag in this public forum.) 

In the opening post, the keyboard image could be the Alienware m18 R1 or the Alienware m18 R1 AMD or other. 

crimsom,

Good troubleshooting!

m18 R1, originally shipped to Belgium, Alienware M Series per-key AlienFX RGB keyboard French

Hi @DELL-Chris M thank you for acknowledging good troubleshooting. 

Good morning,
I have exactly the problem with my new Alienware M18 R1.
The French keyboard has a bad layout and those are the wrong characters that are displayed.
On my old Alienware M17 R2, the French keyboard has the layout conforming to an AZERTY.
Brilliant, Dell managed to get the French keyboard layout wrong.
Geniuses.
We're doing Dell, can you come and change my keyboard?
Windows 11 shows me a different character than the one on the keyboard.

I wouldn't even mention AWCC version 6. It works fine for 3/4 days and for no reason it stops working.
DELL's only response. You have to uninstall and reinstall AWCC and still it's not even sure that it works. So right now I reinstall AWCC every 4 days.
Big consumer of Alienware, I hesitated between a LENOVO and Alienware but the next one, I think I will not hesitate.

Best regard.