Windows 7: Computer running slow; All applications (not responding)

Ok, so here is what has gone down so far:

I had Windows Home Premium x64, and decided that I wanted to go back to factory settings. I used Dell Datasafe to revert to factory settings but it froze (I let it sit for 24 hours just to make sure) and I had to turn it off. It wouldn't boot up after that past the Windows animation, so I tried to install Windows Ultimate x64 over it. That worked as far as I can tell, but now it is extremely slow and all my applications say (not responding) whenever I try to use them.

If anyone knows what I can do to troubleshoot or fix this, that would just make my day.



A few things I tried already:
- Used a clean boot, still extremely slow, takes about 10 minutes just to get to the login screen
- Tried safe mode, still extremely slow, and applications still doing the same thing.
- Tried safe mode, ran slow until I deleted my system.old. It ran fast for the remaining time I was on it, but when I went back to normal startup it slowed back down. I will try safemode again to make sure that wasn't just a spurt of luck.


Thanks in advance,
moneybagman

Perhaps someone else will jump in with a better suggestion, but I'd recommend doing another clean install of the Ultimate x64. I think this will be a faster approach (even if you have to reinstall updates, programs etc) than tying to troubleshoot the issue. This tutorial may provide a clue if (for example) a step was missed during the original install.

Clean Install Windows 7

If you used an Ultimate upgrade disk follow this tutorial:

Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

The problem OP describes isually is memory or disk related, time to start diagnosting.

You're absolutely correct. It could definitely be hardware related. My reasoning was simply to rule out a software installation glitch since the computer was apparently working when the OP decided to go back to factory settings. (Granted, an assumption on my part since the OP didn't say why he wanted to restore.) If a second clean install produces the same issues, then he can move on to hardware diagnostics.