These ideas come from a great source: You (with help from PC Magazine). Click for more.

Create a Shortcut: to executable (.exe) programs or data files associated with executables. Launch Windows Explorer and navigate to the folder holding the file you want. Right-click on the file and drag it to the desktop. When the menu pops up, choose Create Shortcut(s) Here. That's it. Now you can launch it much quicker. Click for more.

Stop Programs Launching at Startup: When you remove an application from your Start menu, only the shortcut goes away. Not the app; it's still on your hard drive.

But if you want to keep the shortcut, do this: Right-click the Start button. Choose Explore. Open the Programs folder. Create a new folder called StartNOT within Programs. Open the Startup folder in Programs. Drag the shortcut for the application from Startup to StartNOT. Now the app will not launch at start-up. To launch it yourself, just open the StartNOT menu under Programs and click the app's menu item. Click for more.

PrtSc Doesn't Print Screen: The PrtSc (or Print Scrn) key captures your screen image, but doesn't send it to the printer -- how inconvenient. Windows copies the image to the Clipboard. So from the Clipboard, you paste it into a graphics program -- like Windows Paint -- and print from there. Easy. Sort of. Click for more.

Move Your Favorites Folder: Use Windows Explorer to move the Favorites folder and Windows will update the internal fields that identify it. For instance, your current Favorites folder is C:\Windows\Favorites. Right-drag this folder to the location you want to use instead and choose Move when the menu pops up after you drop the folder. Click for more.

Get Rid of Startup Logos: You may be able to stamp out a manufacturer's logo by pressing Esc during boot-up and utilizing the BIOS setup program. The manufacturer's logo generally displays during the Power On Self-Test. So it doesn't actually waste any time, but getting rid of it might make you feel better. Click for more.