13.  Turn off Windows animations. Turn off Windows animations.  Turn off Animation - Go to Start> Run, type in regedit.  Follow this path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics. Click on WindowMetrics once to open its contents in the right pane.  Look for "MinAnimate", double-click it and set the string value to 0 to turn off animations.  If MinAnimate does not exist, right click inside the right pane and choose New> String Value.  Type MinAnimate then press enter.  Now that the string value is created, double click it and set the string value to 0. source - http://www.internetfixes.com/help_desk_nt4/winsNT_12.htm 14.  Use the Disk Cleanup Utility. Start Menu ->(choose) Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup Pick a time just before you will not be needing your computer for a long stretch, and run the Disk Cleanup Utility.   The process can go very fast or it can hang your computer for hours. You can be aggressive about what to delete, although if Disk Cleanup finds Office Setup Files, its generally better to keep them.  This is because if you ever update MS Office via the Microsoft Office Website (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdate/default.aspx) its generally handier to use the files on your computer, rather than find and load the Office disks (although finding the setup files is difficult too). Also keep setup logs as they are sometimes necessary for software uninstallation. There are many freeware tools out there that can help you do the same thing as Disk Cleanup and more, but be careful not to delete uninstall launching executables themselves (as some programs do) as these are obviously necessary for software uninstallation, if you decide to do so later on down the line.   15.  Delete unneeded programs. Start Menu-> Settings -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs Delete unneeded programs.  These clog up your disk, registry and slow the display of your Start Menu.  You can do this by clicking on Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs. 16.  Delete unneeded files. Delete unneeded files.  Apparently once your disk gets past the 50% full its performance degrades and as it gets near the full mark, it seriously degrades. 17. Disconnect unneeded or little used Network Drives. -> right click on your mapped drive -> choose disconnect If you have a network or home network and you have used the My Computer or Explorer option "Map Network Drive," you may have network mappings where the drive or folder no longer exists or is accessible from your PC. Unfortunately, this greatly increases time before your Desktop appears after you log on (or a plain start your computer if you do this automatically  and by pass the login screen).   What happens is the PC will try a set number of times to contact this drive or folder before giving up, but this can be a minute or two. In fact according to one technician I know he has seen it delay boot up 30 minutes! You can do this by right clicking on the drive and choose "Disconnect." 18. Use the Quick Launch Toolbar. This is not displayed by default, so right click on a blank part of the toolbar and choose toolbars and then check Quick Launch, see below: The Quick Launch Toolbar allows you to start frequently used programs without opening the Start Menu or going to the Desktop.  You can drag shortcuts onto toolbar from the Start Menu (which will cause them to move off the Start Menu) or your Desktop (which causes them to be copied). 19. Use keyboard shortcuts. Use keyboard shortcuts.  Once you get in the habit of using these, they are such a boost to efficiency   20.  Don't wait for Internet Downloads, start them and move onto something else. Don't wait. You've visited a search engine and got a list of sites to check out. You click on the first link, and it's taking ages to load. Don't hang around waiting, just click on the Stop button.  Often the bulk of the page will appear immediately. If it doesn't, hit Reload to fetch the rest. An alternative approach is to work your way down the list of sites, right-clicking on the best links and choosing Open in New Window.  Once you have three or four windows open, switch between them, viewing whichever page is displayed first. source - http://www.netmag.co.uk/features/default.asp?siteid=23&sectiontypeid=8&subsectionid=511&subsubsectionid =220&pagetypeid=2&articleid=9938&page=2 21.  Break folders up with large amounts files and few folders, to many folders containing manageable amount of files. The effect of this is to cut down the amount of time WIndows takes to build views when traversing folders. Windows may stop and build a view of each folder as you try to get deeper in a folder structure or find one file in a folder of a thousand documents. This can take an annoying amount of time. 22.  For the same reason as in step 20., if you have a large amount of programs on your Programs part of the Start Menu, break them up into categories.  Put often used programs and folders on the initial Start Menu. It's easiest to work with Explorer when you want to manipulate the Start Menu.  In fact if you right click on the Start Menu and choose "Explore," it will open most likely open right to the Start Menu Folder in you you C:\ Drive File Tree. 23.  Switch from the new XP Start Menu to the Classic View. Choose the Start Button -> Settings -> Taskbar and Settings -> Start Menu Tab -> Classic Start menu The Classic View packs information (actually program shortcuts) more efficiently. 24.  Turn off personalized menus on your Start Menu and in all your MS Office Programs. Choose the Start Button -> Settings -> Taskbar and Settings -> Start Menu Tab -> Classic Start menu -> Customize -> Uncheck "Use Personalized Menus" For MS Office Programs: Right Click -> Choose Customize -> Choose the Options Tab -> Check "Always Show Full Menus" This is a pet peeve of mine.  That is I get annoyed at, not being sure something is on a menu because it is not immediately shown, or having to wait for less used item to appear. 25.  If your using dialup, turn off the download of graphics. Internet Explorer -> Tools Menu -> Options -> Advanced Tab -> Scroll Down to Multimedia -> Uncheck Show Pictures ImageToggler for IE 5 (works with IE 6 too - it's  part of the Web Accessories for Internet   Explorer 5 - it installs a shortcut on the Links Toolbar in IE) To Display the Enact the Image Toggler After Installation: Choose View Menu in IE -> Toolbars -> Check Links-> Go to the Links Toolbar. Select "Toggle Images.exe," which should be the last item GO TO PREVIOUS PAGE