How to optimize with XP?

[py258]

I am still getting used to XP, and my computer is starting to slow down, especially during boot up and shutdown. I am more familiar with 98, where in msconfig, I can tweak with the start up items. But with XP msconfig, theres all this stuff like SYSTEM.INI, WIN.INI, Services, and Startup. I am not familiar with these new tabs. So far, all I have done is disk defrag. What else should I do to optimize my computer performance?

[ktkendall]

I have unchecked system.ini. and win.ini.. I found you only may need those for certain apps but Xp does not need them. When I was using Microsoft exchange for email I had to enable win.ini.. Other than that, I disable everything in the startup tab, and services I tweek under administrative tools and use a guide to tell U what services are needed and which are not..