I tend to make quite a few changes to a clean install of Windows to make things a bit tidier and run smoother. Below are a list of some of my most belowed registry hacks / settings and scripts, some of which I hope can be useful to you too:
Disclaimer:
The files are located at my private site (http://www.anothereon.net), and are as such under my control. I do not, however, give any guarantees with these hacks. If you do not fully understand what implications changes to the registry can impose on your system, are not able to understand the details of what these hacks do, or you aren't prepared to scrap you system if they should mess things up THEN DO NOT DOWNLOAD ANY OF THESE FILES.
[Registry settings]
TaskbarIconsOnly - Sizes the taskbar items so that only the icon is visible. I don't like the auto grouping function in XP very much, so this setting allows me to fit a lot more windows in there without clutter.
OpenAllFoldersAsExplorer - This hack will force all windows you open to display the explorer bar at the left side of the window. I find this one particularly useful since I don't always use the Windows+E shortcut to launce new windows (ThinkPad anyone?).
CmdToRightClick - Very, very useful, since it inserts a "Cmd from Here" item in the context menu when you right-click a folder. Saves you from having to CD to that folder.
DisableBaloonTips - Disables the most annoying baloon tips (all baloon tips are annoying baloon tips, right? ) from popping up on the task bar at all times.
CmdQuickEdit - Enables shortcuts in the command prompt.
VSNet2003CmdHere - The same as CmdToRightClick but lets you launch a cmd prompt with VisualStudio 2003 variables loaded.
[Scripts]
RemoveWindowsMessenger - Completely removes Windows Messenger from you XP installation.
DisableAVIScan - Prevents Windows from searching AVI files for meta information, something that causes the CPU to pike at a 100% for a long time just by highlighting such a file in explorer.
The files are all packaged into one archive and can be downloaded here: http://www.anothereon.net/Downloads/XPTweaks.zip