There is number of ways you can speed up Windows XP. In this article I will show you a few of them.

1. Disable the Indexing Service. The indexing service can use up a lot of RAM. To disable this follow these steps:

Go to Start
Click Settings
Click Control Panel
Double-click Add/Remove Programs
Uncheck the Indexing Service
Click Next

2. Speed up folder browsing. Sometimes when you open a folder it takes a few extra seconds to open. You can speed this up by doing the following:

Open My Computer
Click on Tools menu
Click on Folder Options
Uncheck Automatically search for network folders and printers
Click Apply
Reboot your computer

3. Remove fonts for speed. TrueType Fonts can use up a bit of resources. To remove do the following:

Open Control Panel
Open Fonts folder
Move fonts you do not need to a temporary directory (e.gC:Fontbackup) just incase you need the back. Remember, the more fonts you uninstall the more system resources you will get back.

4. Optimize Display Settings. Everyone (well almost everyone) thinks Windows XP look cool with the visual styles XP uses, but that can slow down the computer. To optimize do this:

Go to Start
Click Settings
Click Control Panel
Click System
Click System
Click Advanced tab
In the Performance tab click Settings
Leave only the following ticked.
Show shadows under menus
Show shadows under mouse pointer
Show translucent section rectangle
Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
Use visual styles on windows and buttons.

5. Remove programs or files you no longer need or use. Having old programs installed that you don’t use any more can take up a lot of space and slow down your computer a bit. To do this:

Go to Start
Click Settings
Click Control Panel
Click Add/Remove Programs
Click on the programs you don’t need or use
Click Remove

6. Clean the registry. When you remove programs, they leave leftover registry keys in your registry. The keys can slow down your computer.

For more information about registry cleaning, please go here-- Cleaning the registry