m11x slow as hell out of the box

Hey everybody,

I got my new computer today and it seems to be sort of... slow. Start up takes 3 or 4 minutes, and I get certain errors when I do tasks that seem to be related to AlienRespawn. Any ideas?

Jeff

 

Also, programs seem to take *agessss* to open in many cases. Such as AlienFX, which also took a good minute and a half to two minutes. DataSafe (whatever that is) seems to be acting up a lot, as well.

 

Diablo - search m11x optimization and you should get serveral hits that will help resolve the issue. BW, StevenX

 

My solution for any new laptop is the same - reformat and reinstall.

Have found this is always due to the 'crap' installed - my R1 runs very well, apart from problems with the switchable graphics playing up (driver issues to be sure) it's rock solid.

 

It's slow because of all of the ridiculous bloatware that's packed into the system. When I first got my system, it was slow too. I uninstalled a lot of the bloatware that I didn't want, but it was still slow because uninstalling programs never totally removes everything.

I imaged the drive into an SSD (see my sig for pics). Still slow. Then I did a clean format, installed only drivers, and cleaned up a lot of the programs that run at bootup. Now, it's clean and fast. Power button to desktop in 25 seconds, 8 of which is POST.

 

While recommendations for optimizing are all well and good, if your system is taking 3 to 4 minutes to boot then something is seriously wrong. Out-of-the-box it shouldn't be anywhere near that bad.

If you're up for flattening it and reinstalling Win7 that's a great idea, but something tells me this is more than just the standard services and bloat causing the poor performance.

 

After uninstalling the bloatware and getting rid of AlienGuise, it seems to be running like a charm. Fingers crossed. Now begins the two week adventure of taking all of my things from my other two computers and putting them on this one. Program installations.. File transfers.. Gaming..

Quick question: I just got the laptop today. When I got it, the GPU switcher automatically worked (I didn't have to enable it in the BIOS). Will the most latest drivers and BIOS already be on the computer when I get it?

 

I stand corrected! Glad it's performing well now.

You're going want to install the 258.96 driver. I think the thread you need for making the necessary changes to the driver package is http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/501564-nv-verde-notebook-driver-258-96-whql-discussion-relating-m11xr2.html

 

I'm curious - but what do you consider as *bloatware*? Command Center in my opinion is needed only because I change my FX Lighting. As for DataSafe Local, I dont see an impact on system resources, so it stays.

Nero?

 

i agree with you. i dont understand why ppl keep claiming of bloatwares on the machine. in fact i find that this is one of the cleanest system i have seen so far (this is my first alienware btw). datasafe doesnt really take resource at all. i keep it for restore. another is alienfx which is necessary to control the lighting on the machine. i say this is a function than a bloatware. aliensense can be disable if u dont need it that is within command centre. an anti virus which is something essential and necessary too. apart from this 3 things i dont see any addtional stuffs unlike most other laptops out there. given a clean install the only thing that would probably would not get reinstall back by myself will only probably be datasafe since the partition would be killed by then and not much point installing them back. but command centre and anti virus will definitely get install back. in regards to anti virus this is really individual as in everyone can have different preference in which anti virus to use. but still its necessary.

 

Nero is installed on some M11x systems?

 

@Bat - I removed most all of it. The only reason I put command center back on was so I could dim the keyboard lights when needed. Fresh Win7 load + drivers+ optimization tools + games + TMT (blu-ray stuff).

Bw,

StevenX

 

Yeah I was just curious - thanks for the quick replies. IMO, "bloatware" hasn't been around for some time. When I see bloatware, I think of the old eMachines and that era. Game demos, light versions of games, apps, screensavers, etc. In other words... junk.

In the end however, its all up to the individual user

 

Command Center is overkill really. Most of its modules are pointless.

AlienFusion is clunky and not necessary when you have Win7's straight forward power plan management already.

AlienTouch, same thing. Not necessary, especially in light of the fact that drivers from Synaptics give you additional useful features such as two finger scroll and gestures. With those drivers installed, you will crash CC if you attempt to access AlienTouch's scrolling settings.

AlienSense is just plain silly. From a security point of view it's easy to circumvent, it's a resource hog and it's also known to cause problems with other applications' ability to access the webcam.

AlienFX is really the only thing we need from CC since it provides the best means of controlling lighting. AlienFX Lite is pretty close, but it doesn't quite cover all of the features such as dimming.

 

Totally agree with everything there. All the alien programs are bloatware in my book, as they are just front ends for other things that already have front ends, with AlienFX perhaps the one exception, since it controls the lights.

One clarification, though. AlienFX Lite does have dimming controls. You can choose the brightness of each item separately when you're making a profile, or you can control it all at once from the systray. It took me awhile to notice it in the systray, but it's here:

 

Hmmm... how did I miss that? Thanks!

Goodbye CC. It was nice.

 

I uninstalled Command Center and used AlienFX Lite, to solve a problem around Intel graphics dimming when the machine is not idle, and not returning to the default brightness when done.

I didn't like AlienFX Lite. It seemed unintuitive, and cumbersome to use. So I went back to Command Center, and simply tried disabling Alien Fusion to get around my previous problem.

So far, so good. Command Center only loads when I need it to, and stays out of the way most of the time. At the end of the day, I'm much happier spending the resident RAM to use Command Center, isntead of AlienFX Lite.

 

Heh i mean you were buying a laptop that you knew dam well can light up and has petty features which i like...Dont complain about "bloatware" such as CC. If you dont want it uninstall it. stupid cry baby.

 

Sorry I need to clarify. Command center is loaded but all services and start references are disabled. The lights will default to the last setting the notebook was shutdown at. If I need to make a change I will startup command center, change or dim whatever color I need.. do a quick reboot (which for me takes around 32 seconds round trip-shutdown+restart).. and whaallaa. Alienware apps take up way to much mem and cpu to leave running. Now if you have a "plethora" of cpu then sure, by all means let it run... but for us R1 folks.. well... I am fighting and kicking for every frame I can get! (or as my new motto says.. "TAKE EVERY FRAME PRISONER").

By, StevenX

 

Personally, I just disable all of the alienware Windows services that I don't use - namely "FAService" (facial recognition) and "Alienware Fusion" (power management). I would also disable the touchpad management as well, if there was a service associated with it.

If you really want to go a step further, you could also remove the Alienware AlienFX app from your startup routine (HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\), and launch that app only when you need to change lighting settings.

You get to remove all of the annoying memory-resident services, but still get to use Command Center to configure your AlienFX lighting when you need it.



P.S. "whaallaa" is supposed to be "voila". The "v" is pronounced like a "w" in a lot of European languages, since that is how it was pronounced in Latin.

 

I've left most of my Dell programs in mine, the only thing I disabled was the AlienSense camera log on. Seems to work pretty well for me, although the older Core2 Duo on mine is probably the main bottleneck.

 

For those of you who removed CC, keep in mind you may also have removed the code fix which was implemented in the current version of CC to adjust power consumption. This resulted in a boost to battery life.

AlienFX lite may not incorporate the change.

Just a thought.

 

yep ^ that sounds about right. Nice to know we have dell/alienware mod here

 

Can you tell us what was changed that adjusts power consumption?

 

No I can't since the release notes did not specify. I have no idea.

 

I would have to say that my M11x out of the box had the cleanest install of windows with the least amount of bloatware that I have ever seen on a new system. I just did some minor optimizations and left the factory install intact because it was so clean. I don't understand the people complaining about that at all!

 

Its just a personal choice in the end. Some favor a clean OS install, others are content with the factory install. Dell has come a long way in terms of removing bloat apps. The OP never replied back... we can continue with bloat discussion for now - I didn't want to continue with the side topic nature but he has not returned.

 

I was under the impression the update just reduced CC's cpu cycles. I've been getting 6.5-7 hours of battery life under use (including wifi) without CC, anyway.

edit: Actually, thinking about it more, I also changed the power settings along with uninstalling CC right away, so perhaps you're right. I guess all I can say is the battery life can be replicated without CC.

 

I didn't see any information that specified what it was in the previous version that was causing the shortened battery life. I'd be shocked if it had to do with AlienFX. I was think more along the lines of the AlienFusion module being the culprit.

EDIT: I'd been using the newer version of CC since the day it was released and I've always gotten 6.5 hours on average.

 

That is a god point slickie - I figured it was FX due to lighting. Reaching of course. Well, in any event, it has to do with CC, so no idea.

Alienware Command Center A07 (V2.5.54.0)
Release notes

1. Fixed Microsoft Register server error.
2. Fixed AlienFx shortcut key functions.
3. Improved language compatibility
4. Improved Upgrade compatibility with previous versions.
5. Removed unnecessary feature for Sleep /start menu in AlienFusion.
6. Improved Power Management features.
7. Fixed AlienTouch sensitivity panel layout.
8. Fixed AlienFx zone removal issue with lights still on.

Could be either one of those? Oh well. I'm not going to worry about it since I have it installed

Again, its all a personal choice - so one way or the other, as long as you are good with it - no worries.

 

Recently I've been having a problem with the AlienFx function keys. When I first got my m11x R2 the Fn+AlienFx and Fn+UFO were working fine but after about a week they stopped working.

So I downloaded the new Command Center for the increase in battery life and a hopeful fix of the function keys. Sadly it hasn't worked and I've searched all around the Command Center to see if I have missed something or accidentally turned them off but to no avail.

Has anyone else had this problem or would someone be able to give me a hand? I'd really appreciate it...

 

All of the Fn key combos are working for me with the latest CC. Tried reinstalling it?

 

Reinstalled Command Center and they are working again!

Thanks for the advice slickie88.

 

I think many have forgot what real bloat was like... back in the day real bloat was not only a pain but was hard to remove.

 

Thinking about those old HP laptops

 

ohh hewlett-packard.... how i recall the days of pathetic, overpriced, underperforming, poorly-built, poorly-designed laptops and desktops which deserve nothing less to be smashed with a sledge hammer

not much has changed

 

I think the only "bloatware" I removed when I got my R2 was McAfee, if you even want to call it bloatware.

I installed AVG right after, just prefer it

Other than that I didn't really think any other uninstalls was necessary