You might have noticed that when you click on the Start menu and go to Programs, that there's a delay before the menu expands. Although it might not exactly be frustrating, it can become mildly irritating — especially as there's no fathomable reason for the delay.

Fortunately, there is a way to get rid of it in Windows XP.

But before I show you how, please just take note of the following: the solution requires you to tweak your system's registry. Working in the registry could potentially stuff up your computer, so if you're uncomfortable with that, then it's better to just live with the menu irritation.

First, you need to back up the registry:

1. Log in as an Administrator.
2. Click on "Start" and then on "Run".
3. In the text field that appears, type "regedit" and click on "OK".
4. A new window appears, showing your computer's registry.
5. Click once on "My Computer" so that it is highlighted.
6. Click on "File" and then on "Export".
7. Select a place where you can save the backup file, give it a name and click on "Save".
8. Copy this file onto an external, separate drive (such as a memory stick) for save keeping.

Now to get rid of that pesky Start delay:

1. Log in as an Administrator.
2. Click on "Start" and then on "Run".
3. In the text field that appears, type "regedit" and click on "OK".
4. A new window appears, showing your computer's registry.
5. Click the "+" sign next to "My Computer" to expand it if it's not already expanded.
6. Click the "+" sign next to "HKEY_CURRENT_USER" to expand it, then on "Control Panel" and then click once on "Desktop" so that it's highlighted.
7. Look for the file entitled "MenuShowDelay" in the right-hand pane (if there's no such file then right-click with your mouse anywhere in the right-hand pane and click on "New" and select "String Value". It will now create a new file — name it "MenuShowDelay" and press Enter.)
8. Double-click on "MenuShowDelay".
9. A new window pops up.
10. In the text field, type in a number of your choosing. The closer to zero that the value is, the less of a delay there will be when you click on Start/Programs.
11. Click on "OK".
12. Close the registry.
13. Now, click on "Start" and then on "Control Panel".
14. Click on "Appearance and Themes" (if you don't see this heading, click on "Switch to Category View" on the left).
15. Click on "Display" in the bottom part of the window.
16. A new window pops up.
17. Click on the "Appearance" tab and then on the "Effects" button.
18. A new window pops up.
19. Make sure that the box next to "Use the following transition effect for menus and tooltips" is not ticked.
20. Click on "OK".
21. Click on "OK" again.
22. Close all windows and programs and restart your computer.
23. Log in as normal and give the Start menu a try — it should open up a lot faster. If not, follow these instructions again and make the value of the "MenuShowDelay" entry in the registry even smaller.