Alienware M17xR4 Official Dell Service Manual MUST READ

DDuB420 · Oct 28, 2012

DeRon1 · Nov 8, 2012

Thank you for this manual but i need information on how to add an additional HDD to bay #2 and what would need to be done in bios if anything at all! Upon installing the 2nd HDD will I have to wipe the primary HDD of all data and then do a clean install of the win7 OS or could I just place the 2nd in the bay then go to bios and adjust some settings ??``?

DDuB420 · Nov 8, 2012

DeRon1 said:
Thank you for this manual but i need information on how to add an additional HDD to bay #2 and what would need to be done in bios if anything at all! Upon installing the 2nd HDD will I have to wipe the primary HDD of all data and then do a clean install of the win7 OS or could I just place the 2nd in the bay then go to bios and adjust some settings ??``?

Since you only have one hdd in, your not in a raid array. So all you need to do is:
-take bottom cover off
-install new hdd
-put cover back on

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?c=us&cs=19&docid=544495
Done. No need to change anything in the bios.

AeonSoul · Nov 9, 2012

Yeah if it's just for extra storage you just have to plug it in and format it from windows if necessary.
To do that just remove the battery, remove the screws that hold the lower cover and plug the HDD in the empty bay.

shankc · Dec 26, 2012

Hi I have the same question as above I would like to install a second hard drive on M17Xr4 but I have the
500gb7200rpm and 32gb solid state its a hybrid drive just I think the solid state part of the drive is in raid configuration or if I bought a solid state drive for my primary drive would I be best doing a fresh install of windows 7 or should I just buy a cloning cable with SSD.just I've read that if you just clone your original drive you don't get the full speed potential by cloning but because mine is a hybrid drive will it be okay to clone.many thanks to anyone who can help me with this in advance

Is

MattyB · Dec 26, 2012

Personally I would do a fresh install of Windows. It's more time consuming than cloning but you are going to get the best results. Just remove your 32gb drive and plug a new SSD in its place and install windows and all your drivers onto that. When I did my first drive install I was a bit worried but it worked out great. Make sure you install your drivers in the correct order. This should help.

http://www.alienowners.com/showthre...er-Install-Order)-Guide-for-Alienware-Systems

Good luck!

DDuB420 · Dec 26, 2012

Never use a clone from a mechanical drive on a solid state. Fresh install always, even if it is a hybrid.

shankc · Dec 27, 2012

Thank you very much for your advice I
Thought I would be better doing a fresh install
Just part of me was hoping with it being a hybrid drive
I might of got away with it,But thanks again for the excellent
Advice and the help with driver installation not only have i got
Myself a cracking laptop it has an excellent forum

DDuB420 · Dec 27, 2012

No problem, if you got any more questions that need answers about your AW, you know where you can find us

shankc · Feb 3, 2013

installing windows 7 on ssd

Hi thanks for your earlier info but I gave you info that wasn't totally correct it isn't a hybrid drive its a 32gb msata caching drive.I do apologise I'd only had my system a couple of weeks when I posted.I now have a 512gb crucial solid state drive I payed the extra few quid for the the cloning cable and software but I am wanting to do a fresh install I'm just not sure what to do with this 32gb msata caching drive its in a raid configuration at minute.will I still be able to use it as a caching drive and if so how do I do it after installing ssd another thing I'm worried about is when I upgrade will all my function keys still work and does the command centre and all the other alienware software come on the disc's I got with my system.I'm sorry about coming across as a total newbie I have reinstalled new operating systems on my other laptops but they haven't been as complex and expensive I will be keeping my original 500gb hard drive unformatted so if anything goes wrong or need to send laptop back to dell I can just put it back to the state I bought it in and I have created a backup on usb using respawn so I have all bases covered that way.But any advice on making transition to solid state drive would be greatly appreciated as the ssd was not cheap and I don't want to break that I have been tempted to clone drive then reinstall windows again leaving on all drivers and software but I still don't think I would get full benefits of ssd.Thanks for sticking with me threw this long winded question but as I said all contributions will be much appreciated

skylery · Mar 18, 2013

Just wanted to say thanks for the manual. Definitely gonna be reading this soon, Hopefully I'll be upgrading to a SSD soon.

Falcon · Jul 7, 2013

Thnx DDuB420 for the links. Just printed everything in the links. Who knows what might happen when we need to open all of a sudden.

thewizardoz · Aug 10, 2020

DDuB420 said:
Alienware M17xR4 Official Dell Service Manual

Battery Pack
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?c=us&cs=19&docid=544496

Base Cover
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?c=us&cs=04&docid=542611

mSATA SSD
http://support.dell.com/support/top...c=us&cs=19&docid=543193&doclang=en&l=en&s=dhs

Hard Drive
http://support.dell.com/support/top...c=us&cs=19&docid=544667&doclang=en&l=en&s=dhs
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?c=us&cs=19&docid=544495

Memory Module(s)
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?c=us&cs=19&docid=543194
http://support.dell.com/support/top...c=us&cs=19&docid=542613&doclang=en&l=en&s=dhs

Wireless Mini-Card(s)
http://support.dell.com/support/top...c=us&cs=19&docid=544711&doclang=en&l=en&s=dhs
http://support.dell.com/support/top...c=us&cs=19&docid=544493&doclang=en&l=en&s=dhs

Keyboard
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?c=us&cs=19&docid=543192

Palm Rest Assembly
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?c=us&cs=19&docid=544492

Optical Drive
http://support.dell.com/support/top...c=us&cs=19&docid=544666&doclang=en&l=en&s=dhs

Internal Card With Bluetooth Wireless Technology
http://support.dell.com/support/top...c=us&cs=19&docid=543382&doclang=en&l=en&s=dhs

Coin-Cell Battery
http://support.dell.com/support/top...c=us&cs=19&docid=542438&doclang=en&l=en&s=dhs

Display Assembly
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?c=us&cs=04&docid=544663

Graphics Card Fan
http://support.dell.com/support/top...c=us&cs=19&docid=542612&doclang=en&l=en&s=dhs

Graphics Card
http://support.dell.com/support/top...c=us&cs=19&docid=543191&doclang=en&l=en&s=dhs

CPU Thermal module
http://support.dell.com/support/top...c=us&cs=19&docid=544494&doclang=en&l=en&s=dhs

CPU Fan
http://support.dell.com/support/top...c=us&cs=19&docid=544668&doclang=en&l=en&s=dhs

System Board
http://support.dell.com/support/top...c=us&cs=19&docid=544287&doclang=en&l=en&s=dhs

All of the links are dead! Do you have one of these manuals in PDF format that I could download please?
Thanks,
Mark

Alienware M17xR4 Official Dell Service Manual MUST READ

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Alienware M17xR4 Official Dell Service Manual MUST READ