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Bob from California - Alienware M14 R2 - 256GB mSATA SSD (CRUCIAL M4) Installed... - Page 5

post #41 of 53
10/27/12 at 11:10am
Thread Starter 
I just realized I'm going to have to do it all over again next week as I'm upgrading to Windows 8.

I've heard its quicker,more stable, and better organized.

____________________________________________________________

Thanks for the tip of removing the mSATA card before sending a laptop to the repair depot. I didn't buy it from Dell because they did not have a 256GB in stock. And, if I had left it in; they would say " oh, here's your problem a defective mSATA Card. Looks like you will have to buy another one from us "

____________________________________________________________


Thanks for letting me know how to ad images to a thread.

____________________________________________________________


I've owned personal computers since the late 80's and have never seen one as screwed up as this Alienware M14 R2.

You would think a computer retailer would fully test a computer before shipping. I know they fully test the hardware with diagnosis software but why can't they test to see if the hardware is playing well with the software?




Bob
Edited by Bob-California - 10/27/12 at 8:19pm
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post #42 of 53
10/30/12 at 11:59am
Thread Starter 
Just reinstalled Windows 7 Home Premium onto the 256GB mSATA then formatted the 750GB HDD.

The computer still thinks there are two OS's as when I restart it asks me which version of windows do I want to use, the screen also has a countdown timer which automatically launches Windows on the mSATA in about 30 seconds. Or, I just select the top choice and it starts windows.


I'm going to have to figure how to remove this operation from startup.


I'm still missing tons of drivers, going to install all necessary drivers next.

Which bios version works best for the Alienware M14 R2?

Was going to use Windows 8 but I've read it locks Alienwares keyboards in the color red and not fully compatible with my other 3rd partyapplications.

There is mixed reviews about Windows 8 (mostly designed for touch screen computers) it is described as being similar to a smartphone (Android / iPhone)

Wouldn't it be nice if a new computer worked right out of the box?

Bob
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post #43 of 53
10/30/12 at 1:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob-California View Post

Just reinstalled Windows 7 Home Premium onto the 256GB mSATA then formatted the 750GB HDD.
The computer still thinks there are two OS's as when I restart it asks me which version of windows do I want to use, the screen also has a countdown timer which automatically launches Windows on the mSATA in about 30 seconds. Or, I just select the top choice and it starts windows.
I'm going to have to figure how to remove this operation from startup.
I'm still missing tons of drivers, going to install all necessary drivers next.
Which bios version works best for the Alienware M14 R2?
Was going to use Windows 8 but I've read it locks Alienwares keyboards in the color red and not fully compatible with my other 3rd partyapplications.
There is mixed reviews about Windows 8 (mostly designed for touch screen computers) it is described as being similar to a smartphone (Android / iPhone)
Wouldn't it be nice if a new computer worked right out of the box?
Bob

Bob,

Something was wrong there....

DId you remove the 750gb drive from the m14x?

Did you then start a windows install and delete the partitions for the drive and recreate them?

If not, then it is possible that windows still is looking for another install, also make sure your BIOS is set to boot from mSATA
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post #44 of 53
10/31/12 at 2:26am
Thread Starter 
I spent 10 hours this Tuesday loading every device driver, downloading windows updates and installing them.

I'm happy to say that this M14 R2 is running rock-solid.

I forgot that I had removed the mSATA card after the laptop stopped working which contained a good Windows 7 install so I just needed to format the HDD and install the appropriate drivers.

I'm not an expert at this so when I reinstalled the mSATA drive the laptop worked fine but was missing many drivers.

I installed the drivers and it works 100% better than the joke OS and driver installation that Dell / Alienware preformed.

It took all day but was worth it.

I can put up the weird start-up that ask my which version of windows do I want to boot ( option # 1 is Windows 7 and option # 2 is Windows 7 Home Premium). Very strange as the HDD was formated and contains no files.

There may be hidden files?

I think there were hidden windows files on the HDD or somewhere as the windows updates were loaded onto the HDD then had mysteriously disappeared after I restarted the laptop.

I think the updates were transfered to the mSATA as the HDD remained empty.

I did set the BIOS boot order to: mSATA, HDD, DVD DRIVE, and NETWORK.

Also, I set the BIOS to AHCI (I think those were the letters) not the RAID or ATA value.

It's working great, but would like to know how to remove that secound boot option at start-up.

I don't get it; I did a quick format of the HDD it should have been totally erased.

It was very difficult to get the Intel HD 4000 and nVIDIA M650 GPU to coexist. I was getting a GPU Windows Experence Index of 6.4 with the Intel HD 4000 (GPU) enabled. But, when I configured it to auto-detect the best video card I was now obtaining a Windows Experience Index of 7.1 which leads me to believe the nVIDIA M650 GPU is functioning.

Dam, I'm so f'n clueless about this computer stuff as the last time I built a computer was six years ago.

At least, I've got a computer that is now fast, stable and lacking those numerous error messages.

The full Windows Experence Index is now: CPU 7.7, Memory 7.7, (was 7.8 with the old RAM), Business Graphics 7.1, Windows Aero 7.1, and SSD at 7.9

Not to bad for a little 14 inch laptop.

Bob.
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post #45 of 53
10/31/12 at 4:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob-California View Post

I spent 10 hours this Tuesday loading every device driver, downloading windows updates and installing them.
I'm happy to say that this M14 R2 is running rock-solid.
I forgot that I had removed the mSATA card after the laptop stopped working which contained a good Windows 7 install so I just needed to format the HDD and install the appropriate drivers.
I'm not an expert at this so when I reinstalled the mSATA drive the laptop worked fine but was missing many drivers.
I installed the drivers and it works 100% better than the joke OS and driver installation that Dell / Alienware preformed.
It took all day but was worth it.
I can put up the weird start-up that ask my which version of windows do I want to boot ( option # 1 is Windows 7 and option # 2 is Windows 7 Home Premium). Very strange as the HDD was formated and contains no files.
There may be hidden files?
I think there were hidden windows files on the HDD or somewhere as the windows updates were loaded onto the HDD then had mysteriously disappeared after I restarted the laptop.
I think the updates were transfered to the mSATA as the HDD remained empty.
I did set the BIOS boot order to: mSATA, HDD, DVD DRIVE, and NETWORK.
Also, I set the BIOS to AHCI (I think those were the letters) not the RAID or ATA value.
It's working great, but would like to know how to remove that secound boot option at start-up.
I don't get it; I did a quick format of the HDD it should have been totally erased.
It was very difficult to get the Intel HD 4000 and nVIDIA M650 GPU to coexist. I was getting a GPU Windows Experence Index of 6.4 with the Intel HD 4000 (GPU) enabled. But, when I configured it to auto-detect the best video card I was now obtaining a Windows Experience Index of 7.1 which leads me to believe the nVIDIA M650 GPU is functioning.
Dam, I'm so f'n clueless about this computer stuff as the last time I built a computer was six years ago.
At least, I've got a computer that is now fast, stable and lacking those numerous error messages.
The full Windows Experence Index is now: CPU 7.7, Memory 7.7, (was 7.8 with the old RAM), Business Graphics 7.1, Windows Aero 7.1, and SSD at 7.9
Not to bad for a little 14 inch laptop.
Bob.

7.1 Graphics is what i get with my GT 650m so that sounds right.
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post #46 of 53
11/6/12 at 5:16am
Thread Starter 
The M14 R2 is now running ...

I purchased this laptop to quicken my video-editing tasks but I'm not able to use this laptop yet do to a Windows incompatibility error message when I launch my video player (AVS MEDIA PLAYER) the player hangs and is unresponsive.

The player runs fine on my 2006 , 32 bit, Dell Latitude D630 laptop, running Windows Ultimate.

I've spent over 20 hours trying to get the video player to function.

This video player is crucial to what I do, as it's the only one that can display the date and time stamp from a Sony videocamera using the AVCHD codec.

Bob
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post #47 of 53
11/6/12 at 5:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob-California View Post

The M14 R2 is now running ...
I purchased this laptop to quicken my video-editing tasks but I'm not able to use this laptop yet do to a Windows incompatibility error message when I launch my video player (AVS MEDIA PLAYER) the player hangs and is unresponsive.
The player runs fine on my 2006 , 32 bit, Dell Latitude D630 laptop, running Windows Ultimate.
I've spent over 20 hours trying to get the video player to function.
This video player is crucial to what I do, as it's the only one that can display the date and time stamp from a Sony videocamera using the AVCHD codec.
Bob

sounds to me like you might need to find a 64 bit version of the installer, or right click on the install executable and run in compatibility mode. Unfortunately I am not familiar with the software you are using, or its install process, but that is not necessarily a fault of the computer.
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post #48 of 53
11/6/12 at 6:00am
Reading the site for it it doesn't show that that is a supported Codec anymore:
http://onlinehelp.avs4you.com/AVS-Media-Player/MediaPlayback/formats.aspx
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post #49 of 53
11/7/12 at 2:08am
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I have tried setting it to run in: compatiblity mode, Windows 7 mode, Administrator mode, and Win XP Service pack 3 mode. And, I keep getting this message " Are you sure you want AVS Video Player to make changes to this computer" I don't get that messages from their other video software -- just the dam player!

I click yes and the player loads and freezes / hangs and remains unresponsive.

I'm thinking there is a conflict with the nVidia and / or Intel HD4000 graphics software. There is way to much video software selections installed within this laptop: WiDi (High-speed wireless video transmissions), Intel 3D Graphics, and Alienware GPU Gaming configurations.

I'm thinking of going to my local computer retailer that has an internet connection and temporarily installing the AVS VIDEO PLAYER on one of their 64 bit laptops to see if it installs and functions correctly.

Then I can probably deturmine that its a piece of software installed within my laptop that's causing this conflict.

Re: AVS Website not listing the AVCHD codec...

It looks like they apparently forgot to list that particular codec on their site as the other portions of their software (AVS Video Converter) fully supports the AVCHD codec. I've recently downloaded their other software and it works fine in the AVCHD format.

I've sent a help request on their customer help link provided on their website but I haven't received a response yet.

Bob
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post #50 of 53
11/13/12 at 6:24pm
Thread Starter 
Well,

It looks as if the last of the numerous Windows OS updates has somehow fixed this problem.

I've noticed that most of my problems with this Alienware M14 R2 laptop have been resolved by downloading and installing the Windows 7 Home Premium updates.

All available Windows updates have been installed and the laptop runs correctly.

So, if any of you have issues with your AW / M14 R2 just click on search and type "Windows Updates" (from your start / search command) then download and install all that are listed as important and skip the optional ones.

Bob
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