Right click on "My Computer" in your start menu located
in the bottom right of your
menu bar (or just press the windows key) and go
to properties.
Then click on the Advanced tab and go to settings under Performance.
Under Visual Effects change "Let Windows choose what's best for my computer" to
"Adjust for best performance" then press Apply.
Note that doing this your computers eye candy has now disappeared
and will now allocate your
CPU's power to other more important things like
letting you do more with the time in your day.
Please note that if you want to keep the Windows XP look leave
the last box checked
"Use visual styles on windows and buttons".