Help with Alienware

Terrysdelight

Hi

My son has an issue with his desktop. It's about 16 months old so out of warranty.
.

This is his problem:

When going full screen in my games (most games are in full screen by default) I will get a black screen in which i cannot do anything. If I am in Skype I will still be able to talk to people but I cannot do anything to leave the screen. Every time this happens (clicking full screen is something I do subconsciously) I have to hard reset my X51 which is painful as I do not want a damaged system.

Originally I thought the problem was being in a Skype call, I then thought the problem was my turtle beaches (not sure why) and eventually i have come to realize that Skype is not the issue. I have noticed that there is a small chance that the black screen will not occur but when it does it is upon entering and exiting full screen.
Since i realized this problem I have not been playing games, the games I have played are all meant to be played in full screen (except minesweeper).

Games I have played since the problems started occurring (every on of them have crashed other than minesweeper):
Minecraft (fine windowed but full screen crashes)
Dark souls
Team Fortress 2
Terraria
Minesweeper (no full screen on this game)
Dishonored

P.S I don't think any of my related drivers are outdated.

Sorry if i dragged on, many thanks :beer:

forgotmyname

Changing the screen resolution to something the monitor cannot display?

Drivers installed correctly? Done windows updates?

Possibly the video card is not upto the job.

andydiysaver

you need to put the spec up - appreciate alienware should be pretty top line as standard but some of the games need top line and the things are only as good as their weakest part. how much RAM has it got in it, what OS is on it - what processor - i7? also 64 bit OS may cause issue with games, as above the video card, what's the memory on that?

you can generally look at the games which give a idea of what they need - you need to be well above that, or set the games to run lower frame rates/detail

Johnmcl7

Have you checked the Windows event logs to see if anything is showing at the time of the black screen? When it goes to the black screen is it locking up completely or is the system still partially responsive? (caps lock key working for example).

John

Icey370

First thing I would do (as mentioned) is to check the logs then make sure the bios and all other items are up-to-date.

Additionally, try to trace back what you did when the problem first started I.e. Install a new program, deleted a file, etc.

WTFH

Would like to know the spec of the machine, the screen and how you are connecting the two, also, are you just running one screen or do you have more than one plugged in?

Terrysdelight

Icey370 wrote: »

First thing I would do (as mentioned) is to check the logs then make sure the bios and all other items are up-to-date.

Additionally, try to trace back what you did when the problem first started I.e. Install a new program, deleted a file, etc.

Sorted. Traced back to an installed program. Removed program and now sorted. Thank you.