Everyone who uses Windows operating system has to face often undecipherable error messages sooner or later. Microsoft may claim the errors are rare occurrences, but they can't deny the reality.

Top display Some of the tips for enhancing your system's visual performance are given below: Change toolbar backgrounds: By changing the default toolbar pictures for Explorer and Internet Explorer, you can have a custom background bitmap that looks much better than the standard, bland Windows XP one.
Using the Registry Editor, navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar  Right-click and create a new string value. Rename it as "BackBitmapShell." Then double-click it and type the location of the background on your hard drive in the "Value data" box, for instance, C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\background 1.bmp
similarly, if you wish to change the Internet Explorer toolbar picture as well, repeat the same process as above, but this time create a string named "BackBitmapIE5." But remember that the picture has to be a bitmap (*.bmp). The balancing act: The visual effects of Windows XP deserve due credit. The incredible fading and sliding menus, complete with the shadows under them make your system look pretty cool. However, best appearance doesn't mean best performance.
If you want optimal performance, you can turn off some or all visual effects. To do so, you'll have to make use of the Performance Options (Right-click My Computer> Properties> Advanced>Settings, under the Performance section). To turn off all effects, simply choose "Adjust for best performance."
Performance matters  If you are bent on getting most out of your Windows XP system in terms of performance, these tips will help you a long way:
A super fast Startup: Boot-up time can be dramatically improved by simply disabling any startup services you don't need, as discussed before. But there is yet another way of starting Windows XP quickly, without wasting any time: logging on automatically.
Most single PC users aren't fond of entering the password every time during startup. If you want to shed several seconds of time from startup, you can simply remove the password screen and auto logon, although this may impose certain security concerns.
To do so, you'll have to make changes to the Local security policy (Control Panel> Administrative Tools> Accounts>Password Policies). Over there, set the minimum password length to 0 and reboot your system. If that doesn't work, you can try another approach. Click Start> Run and type, "control userpasswords2." Then choose the user you wish to have auto logon set to. Next, uncheck "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer". Save the changes before exiting. Go back to the "Run" menu and type, "control user passwords." Next, click on "Change the way users log on or off." Over there, uncheck both "Use the Welcome Screen" and "Use Fast User Switching." Reboot and see the noticeable difference in boot-up time. House-cleaning chores: To speed up launch time considerably, WindowsXP creates a "Prefetch" folder that includes files loaded during startup as well as frequently used programs and executable files. However, after some time, junk items and obsolete links accumulate in the directory, making your PC sluggish. To clean things up, once every few weeks, you can delete everything contained in the Prefetch folder, located at C:\windows\prefetch, and reboot your PC after you're done. Out of hibernation: If you don't use Windows' Hibernate feature (you most probably don't), you can disable it to conserve a lot of precious disk space. Basically, the hibernate feature saves memory contents on disk and turns off your monitor and hard disk, after which it shuts your PC down, thereby conserving power. Whenever you restart your PC, your entire desktop environment is restored exactly as you left it. On the other hand, if you plan to be away from your PC for a while, you can put your system on standby, where it enters a low-power state. During standby, devices, such as your monitor and hard disk turn off, saving power. Whenever you want to use your PC again, it comes out of standby quickly, restoring your entire desktop.
Unlike hibernation, standby is much faster and doesn't hog disk space. On the downside, your desktop state isn't saved to disk. To disable hibernation, go to the power options in control panel and click on the hibernate tab. Simply deselect "enable hibernation" to gain a mammoth 512MB of real estate.
Crash-proof
PC A steady browser: If you use Internet Explorer, you must've seen it crash unexpectedly for no reason (and conveniently apologize by means of a little error note), whenever you're working on something very important. There's a simple fix, which may work in some cases. By opening each instance of Internet Explorer in a separate window, not all windows will have to close whenever the program encounters a cryptic error.
Using the Registry Editor, navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
Create a new string and name it as "BrowseNewProcess." Next, set its value to "yes".
A stable desktop: To stabilize your desktop environment, navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
Create a new DWORD value and name it as "DesktopProcess." If it's already there, you're in luck. Now sets its value to 1.
Evade the explorer crash: Based on the same principle, this will let you run Windows Explorer in its own process. Go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
Create a new DWORD value by the name of "Separate Process." Even if it's already present, ensure that its value is set to 1.
Manage unruly programs: By setting a Low Level Hook timeout, you can stop certain programs from crashing and thereby ensure stability in the Windows environment. In simple terms, any program that does not return control to Windows before the timeout (in milliseconds) expires is terminated.
Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Create a new string value, naming it "LowLevelHooksTimeout." Set its value to a small number, for instance, 3500, meaning 3.5 seconds.
Miscellaneous tips
Tell it to wait: Whenever you wish to go to the Control Panel or connect to the internet through the start menu, the colossal All Programs menu always gets in the way, eclipsing the stuff you wish to see. However, there's a straightforward fix. You'll need to open the Start menu customization window (Right-click Start>Properties >Customize under Start menu> Advanced. Simply uncheck "Open submenus when I pause on them with my mouse". Save, exit and see the difference.
The staggering start menu: You're probably aware of the start menu's slow response time. To tweak it, just go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel \ Desktop \ MenuShowDelay
If you wish to break the speed limit, change the default value to 0. Reboot your PC to see a faster, more responsive start menu.