Use the prefetch switch to load applications faster

Windows XP's media player has a little extra command included in its shortcut, the '/prefetch:1' switch. This helps the application load slightly faster. You can try out this possible performance boost on other programs by editing the shortcuts to the program in question.
Right click the shortcut and hit 'properties.'
In the 'target' box, put '/prefetch:1' at the end of the line.
Press 'ok.'
Note that this may cause loading errors in some programs. If it does not work, simply remove the /prefetch:1 entry from the shortcut.