How to Make Windows XP Startup Faster

1. Click on Start, then Run, and type "msconfig". Wait for a new window to pop up.

2. Look under the "BOOT.INI" tab. You will see a box labeled "Timeout:", and a numerical value. By default, it's 30, which means 30 seconds of wait time before boot. This can be changed, make it 3 seconds. (Note: if you have more than one operating system, this means the wait time to startup to the highlighted Operating System. Sometimes you might want a bit more than 3 seconds than you can opt 5 or 10 seconds)

3. Delete The Temporary Files Periodically From Your Computer To Make The Applications Run Faster. Type %Temp% in the run dialog box by clicking on Start -> Run, and click on "OK". You will see an open folder with many files. Click on the Edit menu and click on Select all and then click on the File menu and select Delete. Note: Always confirm that the folder which is opened has a "temp" on the top of menu bar and the folder indicates that it is a temporary folder.

4. Perform a Scandisk To See That Your Computer Hard Drive is in Healthy Condition and it helps Your Computer Run Faster.

5. Always Perform a Disk Defragmentation at least once in a month. Start the disk defragmentation from the system tools available in the accessories from the start menu. It takes a longer time and it is advised not to run any applications in the computer including the screen savers, while running disk defragmentation.

6. Clean Windows Registry Regularly. For that use the good registry cleaup tool.

7. Simply browse to the windows folder (Ex: C:\Windows) and under there you would see the prefetch folder. Go into the prefetch folder and delete all the files (Beware! It should look like this c:\windows\prefetch). We need to edit a registry key to tweak it. Open regedit and browse to this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters

Under this key you should see a value named: EnablePrefetcher

It has 4 possible values:
0 - Disabled : The prefetch system is turned off.
1 - Application : The prefetch only caches applications.
2 - Boot : The prefetch only caches boot system files.
3 - All : The prefetch caches boot, and application files.

You need not to disable it entirely. This would actually make boot times *longer*. This is because this feature is also used to speed up the loading of boot files. That is why you should pick the number 2 option. It allows you to keep the advantage of caching system files, without continually clogging the system up with applications.

Set the value to 2 and reboot.