The Annoyance: A text balloon repeatedly pops out of the system tray on Windows XP's taskbar to warn you that an update is ready to install, or to provide some other nugget of information you don't really need to address at that instant.
The Fix: This is another job for Tweak UI If it isn't already on your system, download and install Microsoft's free Tweak UI utility from the following URL:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx
Open the program and select Taskbar and Start menu in the left pane. Then uncheck Enable balloon tips on the right, and click OK.
The Annoyance: Windows Explorer's Details view (choose View, Details) lists much information about your files, but sometimes you have to scroll to see it, or what you want may not be there at all.
The Fix: To get the details you need, right-click anywhere in the column headings and uncheck items to remove their columns, or check items to add them. Click the More button to see additional choices. To reorder your columns, drag a column heading (for example, Date Modified) left or right to drop it on a column boundary. To resize a single column, double-click the right boundary of its column heading. To resize all columns to the best fit for the Explorer or folder window, press -+ on the numeric keypad.
The Annoyance: When you open a folder in Thumbnails view (choose View, Thumbnails in Explorer or any folder window), Windows XP creates a Thumbs.db file in that folder to cache the thumbnail images for quicker viewing next time. You won't see it unless your folder options are set to reveal hidden files. But this cache file may be doing little more than adding unnecessary clutter to your hard drive.
The Fix: Once you've reset your folder options, search for and delete Thumbs.db files you don't want. To keep the files from coming back, open any Explorer or folder window and choose Tools, Folder Options. Click the View tab, and then check Do not cache thumbnails . Click OK.
The Annoyance: When you use the Start menu in any version of Windows, you may accidentally--and frequently--drag items out of the positions you prefer.
The Fix: If you're a little sloppy with your clicks and drags in the Start menu, you can turn off the ability to drag and drop menu items. First, make sure items on the menus are in the order you want. Then right-click the Start button (XP) or the taskbar (other versions) and select Properties. In XP, click the Customize button next to either the 'Start menu' or 'Classic Start menu' option. Uncheck Enable dragging and dropping in the scrolling list of options (you may need to click Advanced to see this option). Click OK twice.