Skip to main content
Sign Out

Welcome to Dell

My Account
  • Place orders quickly and easily
  • View orders and track your shipping status
  • Enjoy members-only rewards and discounts
  • Create and access a list of your products
Sign In Create an Account Dell Financial Services Premier Sign In Partner Program Sign In
Contact Us

Your Dell.com Carts

Alienware Computers Windows 10 Upgrade Issues

Summary: This article helps you with the most common issues that come up while upgrading your Alienware computer to Windows 10.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
Check out other resources

Symptoms

Computer Restarts in a Loop to a Black Screen

  • Symptom: After the first restart of the upgrade process the computer begins restarting in a loop.

Black Screen During the Upgrade

  • Symptom: During certain portions of the upgrade process you may get a black screen after a restart

Alienware X51 R2: Black screen with a cursor after the upgrade

  • Symptom: AMD Video Card Driver assigns a monitor to each video output even if a monitor is not plugged to the card. This assigns the HDMI port as the primary display, if you have the screen plugged to the DVI or Display Port outputs the driver show you an extended desktop.

NVIDIA Driver Fails to Install After the Upgrade

  • Symptom: If you did not uninstall the video driver prior to the upgrade there will be a conflict with the new version.

No Sound or Distorted Audio

  • Symptom: After the upgrade you may lose audio intermittently or completely, or you may experience distorted sound.

Cause

Affected Platforms:

  • Alienware 13
  • Alienware 14
  • Alienware 15
  • Alienware 17
  • Alienware 17 R2
  • Alienware 18
  • Alienware ALPHA
  • Alienware Area-51 R2
  • Alienware Aurora R4
  • Alienware X51 R2

Resolution

Computers Restarts in a Loop to a Black Screen

Solution:

  1. Restart your computer.
  2. Start tapping F2 when the Alienware Logo shows up.
  3. Inside the BIOS go to the Boot tab.
  4. Go down and highlight Secure Boot.
  5. Press Enter and select Disabled.
  6. Press F10 to save and exit.

Black Screen During the Upgrade

Solution:

  • This is a normal behavior of the upgrade process, but the black screen should not stay on for more than 20 minutes. The entire upgrade process takes an average of two hours. The duration of the upgrade process depends directly on the number of applications installed on your computer before the upgrade.

Alienware X51 R2: Black screen with a cursor after the upgrade

Solution:

  1. Press the Windows Key + P key three times.
  2. Download and install the latest driver from AMD.

NVIDIA Driver Fails to Install After the Upgrade

Solution:

  1. Uninstall the old video driver by going to Program and Features inside the Control Panel.
  2. Download and Install the latest driver from nvidia.comThis hyperlink is taking you to a website outside of Dell Technologies. or simply run Windows Updates.

No Sound or Distorted Audio

Solution:

  1. Uninstall the existing audio driver by going to Program and Features inside the Control Panel.
  2. Download and Install the latest driver from our Drivers Page or run Windows Updates.

Affected Products

Alienware 13, Alienware 14, Alienware 15, Alienware 17, Alienware 17 R2, Alienware 18, Alienware Area-51 R2, Alienware Aurora R4, Alienware X51 R2, Alienware Alpha
Article Properties
Article Number: 000178585
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 11 Jun 2024
Version:  5
Find answers to your questions from other Dell users
Support Services
Check if your device is covered by Support Services.