An excellent idea that hadn't occured to me, r72019.  I'm pretty sure I have a 256Gb SSD somewhere that was bought for a project that was never completed.  It might be next weekend before I can get to it, but I'll report results back here when I do. Thank you.
I have a problem with my Alienware Aurora R10. The machine won't restart cleanly, either after selecting the restart option or choosing shutdown from the Power menu in Windows 10. In order to restart it, I have to shut it down, turn off power at the wall socket for a few seconds, then restart the computer. If I don't follow this procedure the machine appears to restart  - the fans start and the LEDs glow the normal colours - but nothing is displayed on the monitor. The machine is shown as a connected device on my ISP Router web interface at these times, displaying the expected IP address but with a temporary hostname such as 'minint-3kfm8ti'. The 'minint' part is unchanged each time this happens, but the last 7 characters are different every time. I can't use Remote Desktop Connect to control the machine - as I can when it's working normally and reporting its correct hostname. The RDP app reports that the device can't be connected. In order to regain control of the computer, I have to power it off by holding down the power button, turn it off at the wall socket for a few seconds, then restart. It usually takes more than one round of this process. It reports 'diagnosing your PC' on restarting, then, more often than not, attempts another restart, which fails again. I wait until the disk activity has stopped and force it off again with the power button. If this process has been initiated by an attempt at a Microsoft update, it then usually reports that the update couldn't be completed and changes are being undone, before I get a login screen and can then use the machine as normal. As the last few Microsoft Updates have used the restart function in order to install themselves completely, at least some of these have failed. This is evidenced by messages that the PC is being 'repaired' or update changes are being undone once I've been able to get the machine restarted cleanly. This has occurred for the last two or three major Windows updates. I turned off updates to prevent the system trying to install them overnight and being unresponsive when I got to it in morning. Today, I turned Windows update back on to have a look and it's currently showing several outstanding patches:2021-06 Cumulative Update for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.8 for Windows 10 Version 20H2 for X64 (KB5003254) - Status: Pending Restart2021-06 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 20H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5003637) - Status: Pending RestartKiller - Net - 10.47.121.2021 - Status: Download error - 0x800f0246Riven Networks LLC - SoftwareComponent - 2.4.3337.0 - Status: Download error - 0x800f0246Optional quality update available2021-06 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 version 20H2 for X64-based Systems (KB5004476) I've tried to manage updates in the past by shutting down the machine rather letting the update system restart it. (The Power option shows 'Update and shut down'). I think that's how some of the updates have been installed successfully, but the larger updates, which require restarts during the update process, have failed and ended up being rolled back as the machine next starts normally. I just tried that again now with the updates listed above, (I didn't select the optional one). On restart, using the same convoluted process outlined above, there's a report that KB5003637 failed to install, with another 8 successes reported for today - with KB articles not mentioned in the list earlier (KB4023057, KB4504738, KB4493143, KB2589338, KB4461579, KB4022206, KB3055047, KB2956076, KB2597087). The .Net update (KB5003254) is listed as a 'failure to install' under 'Other Updates' and there's also a success listed for an update to the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool X64 - v2.90 (KB890830). As a result of these issues (I assume), I now have several errors showing in Device Manager. Initially, there were 3: Qualcomm QCA61x4a Bluetooth under 'Bluetooth', Unknown Device under 'DellUtils' and another Unknown Device under 'System Devices'. I tried to update the driver on all three, but was shown a similar error for each: "Windows encountered a problem installing the drivers for your device. Windows found drivers for your device but encountered an error while attempting to install. One of the installers for this device cannot perform the installation at this time". The Unknown Device under DellUtils was shown as a 'DBUtilDRV2 Device' and the one under System Devices was shown as a 'Dell Data Vault Control Device'. I tried uninstalling the Qualcomm Bluetooth entry in the hope that it would re-install fully and correctly after a restart - including the usual power-cycle. Unfortunately, it now shows as an 'Unknown Device', the only entry under the heading 'Other Devices'. If I try the Update Driver option, it fails in the same way, but reports itself as 'Qualcomm QCA61x4a Bluetooth'. I ran the Pre-boot diagnostic, but all tests were passed. (I didn't run the extended memory test) I ran a Hardware Scan under SupportAssist and, while most components passed, it reports that the 'USB Composite' is 'misconfigured'. The Drivers and Downloads components reports 3 updates available: 'Qualcomm QCA61x4A/QCA9377 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Driver - A42', 'Killer PCIe Ethernet Controller Driver - A28' and 'Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition System BIOS - 2.1.3'. I tried updating the hardware components individually and they report failures. I'm reluctant to try the BIOS Update in case something doesn't work and the PC becomes permanently unresponsive. I'll install it when the other issues are resolved. Please advise anything else I can try in order for this issue to be resolved. Many thanks, Steve
Aurora R10 won't restart without power-cycle