Any advice on Windows 7 clean install?

My laptop is running very slow and I cant figure out why. Im not a genius on computers but I have a Dell Latitude D530 and Windows 7. I have 3 partitions on my Hard Drive:
(1) OEM Partition (Healthy) (86MB)
(2) Systems Reserved (System, Active, Primary Partition) (100MB NTFS ; Healthy)
(3) (C:) (Boot, Page Dump, Crash Dump, Primary Partition) (74.35GB NTFS ; Healthy)

I did a Clean-Install of Windows 7 a month and a half ago and wiped out everything, and it still did not really help the speed. I deleted/cleared the big 75GB (C:) partition, and left the other 2 partitions because I was afraid to delete anything else. I have run virus scans/malware.

I am about to clean install windows again and start fresh again, but is there something I should do to the other partitions as well? I feel like there may be a bug or something on one of them since its acting so slow..could this be a possibility? I just need to know if it is okay to delete these other 2 partitions and just start fresh with a new, single partition. Any help and steps to diagnose this would be greatly appreciated everyone! Thank you

Did you run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to see if it flagged any issues? I see your model has Core 2 Duo but what about RAM? Is it maxed out?

Other than hardware and any flagged software issues, make sure you get a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

You don't mention a Recovery partition but it likely wouldn't run anyway if there is one. Dell OEM partition houses Dell Diagnostics which I would run from boot now by tapping the F12 key at boot. Since it can also be downloaded and run from CD or stick using Dell DIagnostics downoad I would strongly consider wiping the HD before reinstall to clear the boot sector, using Diskpart Clean Command from the DVD accessing DISKPART At PC Startup. This will give you the cleanest slate.

gregrocker said:

Did you run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to see if it flagged any issues? I see your model has Core 2 Duo but what about RAM? Is it maxed out?

Other than hardware and any flagged software issues, make sure you get a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

You don't mention a Recovery partition but it likely wouldn't run anyway if there is one. Dell OEM partition houses Dell Diagnostics which I would run from boot now by tapping the F12 key at boot. Since it can also be downloaded and run from CD or stick using Dell DIagnostics downoad I would strongly consider wiping the HD before reinstall to clear the boot sector, using Diskpart Clean Command from the DVD accessing DISKPART At PC Startup. This will give you the cleanest slate.

Thanks for your reply! So you are saying it is okay to delete the main harddrive (C:), the systems reserve, and the OEM partition? How would I burn them onto a CD if I wanted to keep a backup of the OEM partition?

Burn the Diagnostics ISO file to CD using built-in Windows Image Burner. Then compare how it runs to the built-in Dell Diagnostics which runs off the F12 menu at boot.

If you are going to delete all parttions then I would wipe the HD to get it cleanest. Follow Diskpart links.