Ask HN: Best first steps for a reformatted Dell laptop?

I have a dell studio xps 1640 and just reformatted it. I've had the computer for about 5 years and the hope was that a factory setting restore (I think this is interchangeable with "reformat" but feel free to correct me) would speed it up a bit. Of course, all the Dell gunk is back. In addition to getting rid of that, what are some other first steps/installs people take to get an older computer a little more up to snuff (speed, reliability)? Do you have any favorite guides you recommend?