Alienware M18xR2 Crash

Hi videorfeak,

Reinstalling the Operating system and latest drivers update along with hardware part replacement should have resolved the issue. Since the issue is persisting, I recommend you to flash BIOS if it is not already flashed. Click on the link below for the same:

http://dell.to/GzHIR8

If the issue persists even after the BIOS update, please run diagnostics on the hardware components of the system. Press and hold the Fn key and power on the computer to launch diagnostics. Refer to the following link for assistance:

http://dell.to/16KQ3r0

Reply to this post in case of any error message

Since the HDD is replaced, the image will not be available. Only option is to clean install the Operating system. You need to download the trial version of Microsoft office and activate the software with the product key sent along with the system.

  Hello, and thanks for the reply. i re-installed the bios and after that was done and the laptop re-started i started gaming online with my friends; during that time the highest temperature my video card reached was 77 degrees Celcius and it crashed after maybe 10 minutes of playing. I ran the diagnostics and all the basic tests were passed. i did the extended tests from the pop-up and it went by pretty quick however it got stuck at 95% done and about every 23 seconds the message "Waiting DT Connection" would flash on screen above the progress bar in white letters for maybe half a second if even that (I had to see it flash a good 5 or so times to finally be able to read what it was saying).

Hi videorfeak,

Thank you for performing the suggested steps. Please run last step that is diagnostics on the video card. Please click on the below link:

http://dell.to/18jhlEt

Under ‘Hardware’ from the listed components under ‘Diagnostic Selector’ select ‘Video card’ and then click on ‘Run Diagnostics’. Follow on screen instruction to run the test. Next select ‘Video card stress’ test and reply to this post with the status to assist you further.

Hello, I have tried doing that and during the 3rd or fourth test my screen went black though my computer was running so I waited a while and my screen never came back on so I had to hold down the power button and re start my computer. I went inside alien autopsy under the recent blue screens and it said this: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M driver (c:\windows\system32\drivers\nvlddmkm.sys) appears to have caused a system crash. It says this for the last few crashes Ive had. I hope that this+ the info i messaged you the other day is enough to help you diagnose the problem.

After having searched online for answers I found that re-installing windows from the cd that came with the computer and the re-updating the drivers sometimes helps if the drivers didnt install correctly so I uses the windows 7 disc and re-installed windows and once that was done I noticed that my network drivers were no longer installed. I tried restarting the computer and even re-re-installing windows via the disk however the drivers arent installed. I am in device manager and they all show up under "Other devices":

BCM20702A0

Ethernet Controller

Network Controller

PCI Device

PCI Simple Communications Controller

SM Bus Controller

Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller

and 2 Unknown devices

i have tried updating the drivers via manual update through the windows.old folders as well as by category but nothing has worked. Also I tried uninstalling all of the  and scanning for hardware changes but again nothing has worked. 

Hi videorfeak,

After installing the Operating system, make sure the drivers are installed in the order given in the link below:

http://dell.to/1dOf2lR

Click on the link below, enter the system service tag and click Submit. Select the Operating system from the drop down list to get drivers for your system model:

http://dell.to/14Xsnmd

Revert for further queries.

Well after staying up all night and morning re-installing everything I have found that i am still having the same crashes when I try to play games on my computer; at this point I am very reluctant to say I fully believe it is a harware issue. I dont know if the brand new gpu that was installed was defective and I need it exchanged or if my motherboard somehow got messed up and is not working with the gpu as it should. I am at the point where Im about ready to just pay the out of pocket fee to send the laptop to Dell and have it fully inspected and fixed. I called support earlier today and was given a number specific for alienwares so tomorrow when the department is open I will call them and see what they have to say, however the agent i spoke to told me that sending my laptop in to Dell would most likely not be my best option because if there were a problem with the gpu it would take over a month to get a replacement and that it would take them no less than a month just to get to trouleshooting my laptop after they received it. So I don;t really know what I'm gonna do at this point. I have given all the information I have to offer and I cant use my computer for what is was originally intended for. And every time I try to ru na diagnostic my laptop crashes before the diagnostic ends and can create a report.

Hi videorfeak,

System crashing even while running diagnostics indicates it is a hardware issue. I recommend you to go by the suggestion provided by the technician.

Hello, i was having this problem with my alienware m18xr2 also i couldn't find the problem for the longest time after constantly bringing it in to best buy to see if they could fix it  after about the 4th time i sent it in they told me it was a faulty VGA board, and after that its been working since, until just now i really hope its not the same problem, and yes i realize this is 2-3 years later but also i was just researching and came across this with the same problem yet again, im not sure if you have fixed it yet, you problably have but yes my problem was bad VGA board.