• Hi there and welcome to PC Help Forum (PCHF), a more effective way to get the Tech Support you need!
    We have Experts in all areas of Tech, including Malware Removal, Crash Fixing and BSOD's , Microsoft Windows, Computer DIY and PC Hardware, Networking, Gaming, Tablets and iPads, General and Specific Software Support and so much more.

    Why not Click Here To Sign Up and start enjoying great FREE Tech Support.

    This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Alienware 17 P18E Screen Distortion/Glitching

Status
Not open for further replies.
This laptop was given to me secondhand a few years ago and I'm not very technologically-literate, so please be patient with me - I'll try to explain the issue as best I can.

My screen started glitching (thin lines and boxes) a couple of weeks ago and a video error appeared before the computer shut itself down. I can't remember the exact error message. This kept happening (minus the error message, that only appeared the first time) for several days before I gave up and completely wiped the drives, reinstalled windows 10 and updated the drivers. It seemed to be working fine for a while, doing basic things like email and watching YouTube videos. But the glitching happened again today. I ran pre boot diagnostics and everything came back fine (the screen was all messed up WHILE the message popped up saying everything was fine lol), and I ran a hardware scan through Dell's SupportAssist app and everything came back fine there too. Another weird and probably related issue - sometimes when I shut the computer down, the screen will go black but the Alienware logo and keyboard will stay illuminated and the touchpad will light up when I touch it. So I have to do a hard shut down to actually get it to turn off.

I have no idea what the issue is. If its hardware, why aren't these tests showing up with any issues?

Pretty sure the below details are correct:

2.9GHz processor
Intel Core i7-4910MQ
NVidia GeForce GTX 880M
32GB RAM
250GB SSD
1TB HDD
Windows 10
 
20210909_220751.png
 
Status
Not open for further replies.