Alienware Aurora M9700 Troubleshooting

You may have plugged in your laptop and pressed the power button, but the device still isn't turning on.

If the laptop doesn't show any signs of operation, for example, LEDs lights not turning on, can't hear fans operating, this means that the laptop is not powered on. If so, make sure that the power on button, located on the top right-hand corner, is pressed. Pressing the button and holding it for 3 seconds should power on the laptop.

If the laptop doesn't seem to have any signs of power, check if the battery is securely inserted in the laptop. After doing so check underneath the laptop, on the bottom left corner, the battery is secured by a slide lock. Make sure that the lock is all-the-way to the left to make sure it's properly locked.

If power seems to be the problem, check if the charger is giving out power. Make sure that the charger is connected properly to the outlet. Then, check if the charger is properly connected to the charging port on the laptop. If it isn't, push in the charger into the charging port to secure a good power connection.

You may be trying to display something on but there’s only a black screen.

A damaged laptop screen can range from scratches, cracks, or may even contain lines going across the display. If the laptop is damaged, the screen is not repairable, replace it. Please refer to our Alienware Aurora M9700 guide for replacement instructions.

A black screen or better known as the “Black Screen of Death”, on your laptop can indicate a failure or error of a hardware component. If the laptop fails to boot up properly you should perform a hard reset. Disconnect all devices, USBs, and media cards making sure you want to test your laptop without any accessories interfering with it. The power adapter and battery will need to be removed, then press and hold the power button for at least 15 seconds. Reconnect the power adapter but do not connect the battery to the laptop yet. Press the power button making sure to look for the glowing LEDs near the caps lock and “num” lock keys on the keyboard. Listen for sounds of the fan turning.

Your laptop screen may be dimmed to conserve battery life. Check laptop dimming settings by pressing, simultaneously, the “FN” key and the “F2” key to brighten up the display. If the screen is dimmed and you’re still wanting to brighten up the screen, you could go down to the bottom right-hand corner, on the display, and click the battery icon. Once pressed, it’ll display the battery life with the amount of brightness the screen is set on.

You may be having problems getting the device to turn on.

If your camera is not showing any image or blank screen, make sure to check that no objects or debris are covering the lens. Privacy settings may also cause the camera function to be temporarily disabled. To solve this, go into the PC Settings -> Privacy Settings -> Camera. Then turn-ON the function to operate the camera.

If images are blurred or distorted, check the Lens to make sure debris is not altering it in any way. Low lighting may also cause the camera to take blurred images.

Some images may be distorted from camera shake. Check to make sure the device is on a stable platform. Check camera on the monitor to see if it is loose from disassembly/damage.

Continuing problems with lagging or freezing on the device.

If the device begins to crash and reboot, then restart the device. Locate the power button on the upper right corner of the keyboard, hold the power button for 15 seconds, and allow the device to automatically turn off then back on. Make sure that the device has the latest Windows OS downloaded.

If the device freezes or gives a blank screen, then perform a hard reset. To perform this, if possible, go to the PC Settings -> Update and Recovery (make sure to back-up wanted files such as documents or photos into an external drive such as a USB flash drive.) -> Remove everything and reinstall Windows. This process will prompt to erase everything from the device and restart it from factory settings. If this doesn’t work then Replacing the RAM will be needed.

You're trying to save files but they keep disappearing from your files.

If files and folders are missing first perform a complete search of all saved documents. Open the file browser -> This PC and on the top right corner search for the document. If losing files keeps reoccurring then the Hard Drive will need to be replaced.

If the device is not storing enough data or simply not enough room for more data check if the right file location is selected. If there’s still no room or need more space you’ll need to replace the Hard Drive.