Need help with an old Alienware R4

[Caruthers612]

         So, I have an Alienware R4 Aurora that's about six years old. The installation of Windows 7 on it has gotten bogged down with errors and whatnot, and I need to do a formatting and a clean reinstall, though whether of Windows 7 or 10 I haven't decided yet. The problem is, these Alienware beasts are quirky and particular, as some of you may know, requiring various drivers and tweaked this and that because they're not quite the same as an ordinary PC. When the unit was under warranty, this wasn't a problem, because a Dell technician would take over my PC and fix and install whatever was needed. Now that it is no longer under warranty, I am wary about blowing away the installation and trying to get the fucker working on my own.

          If any of you have knowledge or experience about this, I'd be grateful for your advice. Thanks.

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

Greetings Caruthers612:
I just ran down the specs on your system at  http://www.cnet.com/products/alienware-aurora-r4-core-i7-3820-3-6-ghz-16-gb-2-tb/specs/
Are those accurate or have you modded it further ? - Nice system BTW.
Yes, dell systems are quirky ...and proprietary - meaning they don't follow industry standards in a lot of their designs. (Personally, if I were to purchase a prebuilt system I would go w/ M-Tech http://m-techlaptops.com/Products.cfm  but that's my personal preference.) I have some experience in system builds[understatement ].
  I have no idea of your level of experience so I will try to help you out as if you're computer illiterate. Please don't take offense as others may find this post useful also. My intent is not to insult or sound arrogant, but to go into detail and be understandable to all.
  OK, You seem set on re-installing Winblows 7 or 10. I'm a FOSS dude but have worked on, tweaked, gutted, and rebuilt plenty of M$ boxes. ( I really don't hate Windows,  just their business practices .) For driver Bkp I would recommend Double Driver. Download it directly from their website here:

http://www.boozet.org/dd.htm.

SIDENOTE: Be very careful what sites you download from as a lot of them have malware embedded in the downloads ( especially for Windows ), either from the site being hacked, or malicious code written directly into the software. Driver Bkp software is NOTORIOUS for this. Filehippo, Major Geeks, CNET, sourceforge.net and Softonic are usually pretty good as they scan the programs for download and listen to user alerts of malware in the warez. Here's a few trusted review sites on the software if you're leery about it.
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/doubledriver.html
http://www.ilovefreesoftware.com/16/featured/5-free-software-to-backup-device-drivers.html
http://download.cnet.com/Double-Driver/3640-2094_4-81936-1.html

  The program is stand-alone and freeware. Double plus (++)

  Once you have the drivers backed-up off disk (externally), I would recommend you to download a couple more programs you will need.

Darik's Boot & Nuke -- Here    http://sourceforge.net/projects/dban/

Mini-Tool Partition wizard - excellent freeware for partitioning WinBlows disks. Doesn't handle Linux file systems well though - (use gparted instead)
The really great part about this software is that you can select sector block size from 512-16k. You'll want to run 4k on a SATA HDD(Hard Disk Drive) or SSD(Solid State Drive) 8k works excellent - extremely fast - if your drive is large enough(500GB+), but cuts usable space down exponentially.
  -- Here http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/minitool_partition_wizard_home_edition.html

           Speed Tip: When setting up your partition, align your drive size in bytes to a number divisible by 4096 if using 4k sectors. The speed gains are phenomenal. Don't worry about the little bit of space that isn't used - even on a small drive. This article http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/113967-ssd-alignment.html uses 1k sectors instead of 4k. Good basic article and this works for HDDs as well as SSds. There's a bit of a discontinuity here, so please pay attention. 1k = 1024bytes, 1MB= 1024kBytes, 1GB = 1024MBytes. another thing to note: Don't confuse Megabytes(MB) w/ Megabits(Mb). A bit is a single switch( A 1 or a zero,) whereas a byte is 8 bits.

VLite - Allows you to rip the guts out of Vista & 7 to remove the bloatware. You will also need an installation disk ripped to .iso. I assume you still have yours ? The recovery partition will also work if you have IsoBuster http://www.filehippo.com/download_isobuster/
Get VLite here:  http://vlite.en.softonic.com/
Download and use this if you want to lighten up your Operating Sysytem(OS.) Search for tutorials online.

Burn to disk: VLite, Mini Tool, DBAN

Once you are set, Back up all the programs and data you want to save. Use Minitool Partition wizard to check for hidden partitions as this is where your backup partition most likely is if you have one. If you find a backup partition, you MUST copy it off to an external disk as DBAN will wipe it even if it's hidden. You can convert it to .iso later w/ ISOBuster. For windows full partition/disc Bkp, Drive Image XML http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/driveimage_xml.html is an excellent solution and very reliable, but you'll need it running on a second box to do the recovery

Then it's time to wipe.   All WinBlows boxes should be partition wiped on reinstall. The reason for this is there is malicious code out there that WILL survive a reformat. I won't get into how that works, here, but trust me, I've dealt with it before.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL DATA YOU WISH TO SAVE BACKED UP !!!!!!!!!!
I cannot stress this enough. DBAN isn't as good as Linux dd at wiping data, but you will need a data recovery specialist $$$$$$ if you forget anything. That's a true "Oh Shit" moment.

If you want to use VLite, now's the time to do it.
When you're done, pop open your CD/DVD tray and reboot into DBAN. Run it. This will take hours. When it's finished, your drive will be clean.
This is the point  where I resurface If I'm using an HDD. It's to detailed to get into here, and you most likely don't need to do it.
Insert your Mini tool Partition disk and set up your partitions to 4 or 8 K sectors. If you are using your 7 disk, it will automatically partition to 1 MB sectors on install, so pay attention when you reinstall. DO NOT Let The Windows Disk Format Your  Drive.
I would highly recommend sectoring off a 40GB partition so you can try Xubuntu on a dual install next to windows. If you decide to do this, do it after you have installed ( and/or upgraded WinBlows) else it will screw up the bootloader. That's an entirely new can of worms It's an extremely fast OS and fun to play with. With your system specs, It can be made instantaneous on response. Xubuntu 14.04 LTS is awesome. Consider giving it a try. (Install playonlinux for games and windows programs) There are tons of tutorials out there for it too. You can customize the living snot out of it and you won't be plagued with viruses and malware. Go ahead, you know you want to try it.
Reinstall and register Win7. I believe it is still a free upgrade to 10 if you go that route, but 7 has to be installed first. http://www.pcworld.com/article/2873214/windows/windows-10-will-be-a-free-upgrade-for-windows-7-and-8-users.html
I hope this helped. Your question was kind of open ended. If you still need help in specific areas, please post details. I'll see what I can do.

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

After re-reading your post, it almost seems like you're system is just bogged down. Before reformatting, try using CCleaner https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download . If the tech got inside your box and helped you, he more than likely did registry upgrades. I need more specs on your system and what was done to it in order to give an informed answer. Be carefull with registry cleaners. Most are junk. CCleaner is the safest one out there. Try cleaning out your temp files too. If you are a more advanced user, Try ASC 3.4, but be careful, it can damage your system if improperly used. The versions after this went to shit. Don't use them. Run this program in compatibility mode. It also has an awesome booster function that was removed in later versions. get it here http://download.cnet.com/Advanced-SystemCare-Free/3000-2086_4-11118615.html
RegCompact.NET also works well & has never hosed any of my systems. It looks like it isn't working when you run it, but just give it time. It really speeds up load and boot times. Just don't interrupt it when it's running. get it here  http://sourceforge.net/projects/regcompact/.
  I have lots of experience speeding up WinBlows systems, and have a good idea of what works and what doesn't. Ask anything you like and I'll try to answer.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Logan-5

[weeberwubber]

  I have no idea of your level of experience so I will try to help you out as if you're computer illiterate. Please don't take offense as others may find this post useful also. My intent is not to insult or sound arrogant, but to go into detail and be understandable to all.

Thank you very much, sir!

[Caruthers612]

After re-reading your post, it almost seems like you're system is just bogged down. Before reformatting, try using CCleaner https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download . If the tech got inside your box and helped you, he more than likely did registry upgrades. I need more specs on your system and what was done to it in order to give an informed answer. Be carefull with registry cleaners. Most are junk. CCleaner is the safest one out there. Try cleaning out your temp files too. If you are a more advanced user, Try ASC 3.4, but be careful, it can damage your system if improperly used. The versions after this went to shit. Don't use them. Run this program in compatibility mode. It also has an awesome booster function that was removed in later versions. get it here http://download.cnet.com/Advanced-SystemCare-Free/3000-2086_4-11118615.html

      Sandman, it was *really* nice of you to take so much time to write all this out for me. I'm very grateful. I read part of it and will read the rest when my Aurora has been carried down two flights of stairs for me by some young person (those older Alienwares are like aircraft carriers), and I'm ready to begin working on it. I went to computer school in the 90s and while I've forgotten a lot and don't have anywhere near your knowledge, I'm familiar at least in the broad sense with the things you mention. Thanks again, I'll let you know how it goes.

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

@ Caruthers612 & WeeberWubber:

   Thanks Guys.     

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

      ... (those older Alienwares are like aircraft carriers)...

LOL True.

I just scrapped an old IBM w/ the Bigfoot HDD. That 2.1GB Hard drive itself weighs 5Lbs.

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

Time to fire up the stream for MITD. I'll see you guys there if you're staying up.
MITD chatroom is open already.
'Lady lives w/ Bigfoot' tonight.
Should be another good one.