I turn off EVERYTHING. Remove everything from your start up Except XP's backup services and reg scan (they are valuable tools that don't hurt performance) Turn off Active Desktop, firewalls, antiviruses, funny animations like that nekkid Vicky dancing on the taskbar, Windows in general don't need anything but Explorer and Systray running. Now I am still on Win98, there are a few other items to take in consideration with the NT engine so I would check in the Poser Technical forum for more specifics before going all willy-nilly!