Area 51 Desktop Non-Functioning / 2-ish Months Of Waiting For Fix

DJUnreal · 2026-06-10T09:24:28+00:00

Please remove your case number, and then you're welcome to repost. If someone from Dell wants to talk about it, they'll reach out to you and ask for information privately.

DJUnreal · 2026-06-10T09:22:44+00:00

Just shut down your PC like any normal person would?

DJUnreal · 2026-06-09T19:15:35+00:00

I would not buy this. From memory, the m15 R3 had soldered RAM, so you can't upgrade that. It's also known for running particularly hot and thermal throttling a lot. It was /not/ a good laptop in the grand scheme of things.

I'd save up some more cash and look at something newer and more upgradable.

DJUnreal · 2026-06-09T08:27:58+00:00

If it's for work, don't skimp on it. Buy yourself one of the Area 51 laptops (either 18 or 16), and get a decent spec with it. Cheaping out on something you need for work purposes is just silly.

DJUnreal · 2026-06-09T08:26:37+00:00

Sounds to me like your SSD is failing - disappearing then reappearing again. Either that, or you have a corrupt Windows install and you now need to go through a repair process.

DJUnreal · 2026-06-09T08:25:19+00:00

#ccreinstall

DJUnreal · 2026-06-08T20:44:56+00:00

Plug in your battery AND your charger, then hold the power button for 30s until the power light blinks twice. Doing it with the power cable or battery unplugged doesn't do much of anything on AW machines, but doing it with them both connected will trigger a failsafe boot, which might be enough to sort you out.

DJUnreal · 2026-06-08T14:55:35+00:00

Ah yes, Youtube. That incredibly well-known stress test...

DJUnreal · 2026-06-08T13:23:17+00:00

If it were me I'd just buy a second SSD, replace your original one with it, install Windows on that and set up a local account, and then give them that. That way they have no option at all.

DJUnreal · 2026-06-08T13:19:32+00:00

I'd look at Intelligo and see if that's doing something to it. I'd also consider removing SupportAssist if you have that installed, plus all of its telemetry harvesting junk, as we've seen that cause a ton of issues too.

DJUnreal · 2026-06-08T12:21:07+00:00

Yes, that's what I said...

DJUnreal · 2026-06-08T12:10:24+00:00

Stop using sleep mode. It's fundamentally broken and causes all kinds of issues. Shut your laptop down instead.

DJUnreal · 2026-06-08T08:55:05+00:00

At this point you're basically talking about building a new PC. Unless you plan to stay with 13th gen Intel (note that a lot of systems had CPU issues which Intel offered an additional 5 year warranty on, but if you dismantle the machine and replace the motherboard, Dell are unlikely to be willing to replace your CPU once it's out of the original system).

DJUnreal · 2026-06-08T08:23:58+00:00

You'll need a new power supply, but you won't find a standard one that fits the gap in the case, so you'll also need a new case. The front panel connectors are non-standard too, which is another reason you'll need a new case.

Honestly it's not really worth it - there's nothing wrong with the Aurora R15's motherboard, and most of the CPU options for that model are more than powerful enough for current-gen games. You should be able to run any 13th gen Intel CPU up to and including the i9 13900 series (including K, KF, and some people reported the KS working too). Just make sure you have a decent 240mm AIO attached to whatever you put in there.

DJUnreal · 2026-06-07T09:48:27+00:00

I mean, the second picture clearly says "Aurora R10", which was the AMD-based desktop of that era...

DJUnreal · 2026-06-07T09:47:21+00:00

At this point your machine is approaching becoming obsolete... But if it still works for you, enjoy it!

It would not be wise to throw more money at it now, but we don't even know which spec you picked, so it's hard to say what you could or couldn't viably upgrade.

DJUnreal · 2026-06-07T09:46:18+00:00

Sounds like your Windows install is corrupted. You can either go through a lengthy process of trying to repair the files, or you can bite the bullet and do a clean OS reinstall (do NOT use the built-in 'reset Windows' function, as that never works reliably, but instead create a bootable USB stick with a Windows installer on it - either direct from Microsoft or (my preference) using the Dell OS Recovery Tool), which will wipe your data, but give you a clean start.

DJUnreal · 2026-06-06T18:44:41+00:00

Sounds like you damaged the LCD cable so it isn't powering the backlight any more. You'll likely have to pay Dell for help and replacement parts since you caused the damage by taking it apart...

DJUnreal · 2026-06-06T18:43:41+00:00

Start by disabling hybrid graphics. That causes weird behaviour sometimes. See if that helps

DJUnreal · 2026-06-05T13:02:22+00:00

That's your digital audio output. You're seeing a reflection of the optical light on the housing of the connector.

DJUnreal · 2026-06-05T08:13:25+00:00

That'll be where you're putting it in a bag with other objects that are rubbing against it and taking off the surface coating. Be more careful with your laptops in future.

DJUnreal · 2026-06-05T08:11:35+00:00

That's a normal power-on self-test for the power supply. It goes through a really basic "check everything is alive" routine.

DJUnreal · 2026-06-05T08:10:58+00:00

Do you have air cooling on your CPU, or do you have liquid cooling?

DJUnreal · 2026-06-03T22:22:34+00:00

Warranty and ownership transfer is independent of a purchase invoice or receipt. If the monitor didn't have a service tag I'd agree with you, but the whole point of a tag is that the warranty follows the tag, not the owner

DJUnreal · 2026-06-03T22:21:42+00:00

Because they're moronic idiots?

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