Despite all the hoopla about the introduction of Windows Vista, the truth of the matter is that the new OS isn't due for at least another seven to nine months — and it will probably be even longer before most of us start adopting it. Meanwhile, we've still got to deal with Win XP.

In order to make the waiting easier, we've decided to assemble the greatest tips in the history of Windows XP. Here you'll find the tips that give you the most bang for your buck; that are most useful in terms of security, functionality, and PC performance; and that are just plain cool.

	Danger, Danger!
	Before you jump into the story, a word to the wise: Some of the tips discussed here involve hacking Win XP's powerful registry. Before you make any registry changes, make sure you back up your existing registry; that way, you'll be able to restore it in case something gets fouled up. Backing up your registry is easy. Simply open RegEdit (click Start > Run, type regedit and click OK), then select File > Export from the main menu. You can export a copy of your registry to any folder on any hard drive in your system. Exporting a copy to the desktop is usually easiest.

One final thought: As you parse our Top 10, consider the following: With any luck, this time next year we'll all be reading Windows Vista tips stories.

And now let's start the countdown.

	Top 10 Windows XP Tips Of All Time
	•  Tip 10: Halt background services to improve performance. •  Tip 9: Increase available disk space by scaling back System Restore. •  Tip 8: Scrub your hard drive clean. •  Tip 7: Run two displays on the same PC. •  Tip 6: Force unresponsive applications to close at shutdown. •  Tip 5: Automatically optimize your hard drive. •  Tip 4: Set a custom resolution. •  Tip 3: Stay on top of registry changes. •  Tip 2: Recover lost data. •  Tip 1: Automatically log when and why shutdowns have occurred. •  Bonus tips! •  Image Gallery

Tip 10: Halt background services to improve performance.

This tip is one of our favorites because it always works. Running in the background of Windows are scores of services, small processes used by Windows and many Windows applications. The thing is, you don't need all these services — especially for applications you never use — and many of them actually slow your PC down.

Win XP power users have long known that you can easily eke a little extra performance out of your PC by disabling services that are completely unnecessary or that don't need to be running all the time. Here's how it works.

1. Click Start > Run, type services.msc and click OK. This will bring up the Services management console. Click on the Extended tab at the bottom of this window; each background service running on your PC is listed here. Windows includes a fairly detailed description of each service; simply drag the Description column wider to read more of each description, or click on a service to see its full description in the left pane.

2. Double-click a service to bring up a window with several options. In the Startup Type area, you can set the service to run automatically in the background at all times so it's ready whenever it's needed, or you can tell it to run manually, which means you'll have to go into this Services management console and re-enable it if an application needs it.

Speed up your PC by disabling unnecessary background services. Click image to enlarge and to see image gallery.

You can also completely disable the service. In general, you want to disable services tied to applications and/or features you don't use or rarely use. You can find a great list of appropriate services to disable at the Elder Geek's Services Guide For Windows XP.

If you're logged onto the computer as the administrator, you can also pause the service (click the Pause button in the Service Status area just below the Startup Type area), then see how the computer behaves. Danger signs include crashes or other erratic behaviors in your applications, such as running slowly or getting stuck on a query prompt. Click Resume to start up the service again.