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I have just wiped and reinstalled vista on a laptop, I have all genuine original discs that come with laptop new, it does not have recovery partion but has genuine recovery disc with vista on it all branded dell.

after vista installed, the hdd shows used 56gb, this can't be right can it.

You know how there was an uproar after Vista was released because it was so bad? Yeah

Use it to torrent win7 and install that imo.

ps. disagree all you want Matt; Vista still sux!

willo hard drives always keep some space free.
for example a 500 gig hard drives usualy only has approx 468 gigs free. it's just the way it works.

although i now use Windows 7 i never had a problem with Vista.

yeh vista destroys HDD capacity like you wouldn't believe, 56GB sounds pretty right to me.

I have a desk top running vista and its great, i find it really fast, but when its on laptop, its so slow, i have got all drivers from dell site, put service pack 2 on, done all updates and it nearly takes up half of the 250gb drive.

maybe your laptop has less ram than your desktop ?
also laptop hard drives are usualy slower running at 5400rpm compared to 7200rpm on desktop hard drives.

this was improved alot with a windows update some time ago i beleive.

my laptop has 3gb ram, my desktiop has 3gb of ram, but vista for laptop is 64bit

You shouldn't be using 64bit if you're under 4gb memory.

Under 4gb memory is always 32bit (otherwise known as x86).

I know, but thats the disc's that came with laptop, and i dont have a 32 bit with product key, i have been told the product key on base of laptop will not work with 32bit

my other laptop is win 7 which is 64bit and has 2gb ram, it come like that from factory, i wish i could change to 32bit, but i dont have code

yes i would try 4gigs of ram.
also laptops need cleaning inside.
get a can of compressed air and unclog those fans.
the hotter a laptop runs the slower it can perform.

a better solution if funds allow is stick windows 7 on it as
it does run smoother and more efficient.

what anti virus are you using?
although "microsoft security essentials" isnt the best its rather good for free and has a small foot print on windows.

You say the laptop is Dell. i have a sneaky suspicion your anti virus is " mcafee " if so it's known for clogging up and slowing systems down. in my opinion ofcourse

the recovery discs is just windows vista, no anti virus, i put microsoft s essentials on it, been informed that due to power pack not being right wattage it slows laptop down, i dont believe this.

power pack just runs laptop, but will not charge battery, battery is on 65% not charging

sometimes if the laptop doesnt get enough power depending on the processor "make/model" the speed can run in a reduced state.

right click my computer and select properties and see what speed the processor is running at against what its full potential advertised speed is when you bought it.

I bought it second hand, all i know is its dual core

Look on C:/ and check if it has "Windows.old" if so delete it as this is what will be taking up space.