Set your desktop to Windows Classic Mode as opposed to XP mode. Turn off Windows Transparency. Set your desktop to "Best Performance" as opposed to "Best Appearance", by right-clickong My Computer and selecting the "Advanced" tab. And definitely, definitely go out and get yourself Tweak-XP (found at http://www.totalidea.com). It has a built-in RAM defragmenter and all kinds of tweaks. I've got two XP Home boxes and won't even consider running XP without it.