Don't get hacked, there are a lot of nasty virus's going around these days.  To stay safe is is best just not to use IE, I have been using FireFox for a few years now and not have to really worry about virus's, spyware, mailware and anything else. 

Download FireFox

Actual Booster is a small and simple utility that can help you improve application performance by allocating the majority of your CPU/Processor to the currently active application/game. It will automatically set process priority to high (or lower), for whichever application is in the foreground.

Translation:  Fast!   I know I love the tweak programs but this one is a good one. 

Actual Booster

Download SpeedXP

This is a cool program to tweak some hidden internet settings in XP.  I use it quite alot actually.  It also has a tip section so can do some manual tweaks also.  Pretty good for free!

If you would like to run some programs faster than the others you can set priorities to high.  I would not set but one or two programs to high though, or you might crash.  And never set it to real time.  You can do this by right clicking on your task bar and choosing Task Manager, or just hit Alt, Ctrl, Delete.  Then choose the processes tab.

CacheBooster

Here is another good system tweaker.  CacheBooster will increase your hard disk preformance.  It has different settings for different programs, I just turn mine all the way up though. 

WinOverBoost

This is a really good program to increase your proformance on your PC.  Runs in the background and sits in your taskbar.  I have used this program for a few years now and it really speeds up your computer dramatically.  The program comes with the features of ram optimizer, system boost, cache boost, internet acceleration, LAN optimizer, and defrag activity monitor.  Can't go wrong with all that!  And the best thing is it is free! 

If you are using IE "Heaven Forbid" you should download TFlash it gets rid of those annoying flash ads that slowdown your downloads of web sites that employ them.  It also stops those ads on the popular messenger programs, thus increasing your load times.  More information can be found on the download page. 

Download TFlash