INPUT ARTICLE: Article: If your drive is using FAT16 or FAT32, you can gain performance by converting it to NTFS. To do so, press WinKey + R simultaneously to open the Run dialog, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS, and click OK. Follow the instructions and your drive will be converted to NTFS. Setting the priority of a program determines its importance to the computer and whether it will receive extra processing power from it or not. If you often use a program or a program freezes constantly when you use it, setting its priority to a higher state often helps. To set the priority of a program, open the program which you want to increase the priority of, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete simultaneously on your keyboard to open the Task Manager, click the Applications tab, right click the name of the program, click Go To Process, right click the selected process, click Set Priority, and either choose High or Realtime. When Windows starts, you might see the loading bar and the Windows XP logo. This is the GUI boot. However, this is useless and can lengthen the boot of Windows. To disable GUI boot, press the WinKey+R simultaneously to open the Run dialog. Type MSCONFIG into the Run dialog and click OK. In Microsoft Configuration Utility, click the Boot tab and check No GUI boot. Go to My Computer > Tools menu > Folder Options > View tab. Uncheck "Automatically search for network folders and printers" and "Launch folders in a separate process". Click Apply, then click OK. The context menu has a fade effect by default. The menu may take a long time to fade in or out, especially if there are many commands on it. Press WinKey + R simultaneously, type "regedit" in the Run dialog, then press Enter to open the Registry Editor. Now navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop in the Registry Editor, click Desktop, double click "MenuShowDelay" in the right pane, reduce the Value Data number to around 100 (but not too less), and click OK. Services are Windows processes which essentially run Windows. Think of them as the cogs of a motor. Services exist for various reasons like giving you the ability to search, access the internet, use your USB device, run your programs, etc. They might be helpful, but some services take up lots of your memory and are not useful to you or the computer. To disable services, press WinKey + R simultaneously to open the Run dialog, type services.msc, click OK to open Services, double click on the service(s) that you want to disable, and change the startup type to Disabled. Click OK once you're done. Following is a list of services that can be disabled on most machines: Alerter, Clipbook, Computer Browser, Distributed Link Tracking Client, Indexing Service, IPSEC Services, Messenger, Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing, Portable Media Serial Number, Remote Desktop Help Session Manager, Remote Procedure Call Locator, Remote Registry, Secondary Logon, Routing & Remote Access, Server (do not disable if you share folders with other Windows systems in your household), SSDP Discovery Service, Telnet, TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper, Upload Manager, Universal Plug and Play Device Host, Windows Time, Wireless Zero Configuration. (Do not disable Wireless Zero Configuration if you use a wireless network) Do not disable services which you know may be vital for your computer or programs which you use. Lass Access Update updates the Last Accessed date in the properties of a file. This is not entirely useful and slows down the computer, so it is safe to disable. To disable Last Access Update, press WinKey + R  simultaneously to open the Run dialog, type "regedt32" and click OK to open the Registry Editor, find HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem in it, select FileSystem, click Edit>New>DWORD Value at the top of the window, name it "NTIS Disable Last Access Update" in the right pane, then double click the new value and change the value data to "1", and save it. When Windows shuts down, it waits for background processes to close. Slow shutdowns are caused by faulty processes which fail to close. Eventually, Windows XP force-closes these processes. This tweak reduces the time that Windows XP takes before automatically closing any running programs when you give it the command to shutdown. To perform the tweak, press WinKey + R simultaneously to open the Run dialog, type in "regedit", and click OK to open Registry Editor. Find HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop, click Desktop, double click Wait To Kill App Timeout in the right pane, change the value to "1000", and click OK. After that, double click Hung App Timeout in the right pane, change the value to "1000', and click OK. Then, find HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control, click Control, double click Wait To Kill Service Timeout in the right pane, change the value to "1000", and click OK.

SUMMARY: Convert your hard drive type to NTFS. Set priorities of programs. Disable GUI boot. Speed up browsing in Windows Explorer. Force context menus to load faster. Disable unnecessary services. Increase the speed of your hard disk by disabling Last Access Update. Improve Windows XP's shutdown speed.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: If you want to make up a simple sleeve to keep a CD in that you can design by hand, all you need is a piece of paper, some glue, and some good folding. It's easy, if you've got a ruler or a CD for a guide. All you've got to do is:  Fold a sheet of US letter-sized, or A4 sized paper horizontally, leaving a 1-inch (2.5 cm) overlap. Fold in both sides approximately 1.75 inches (4.5 cm) inward. Open the paper flat and re-fold the two vertical side strips, then slide the CD into the pocket of the longer side, beneath the vertical side strips. Refold over the horizontal and fold in the 1-inch (2.5 cm) overlap to complete the square. Tuck the overlap into the remaining pocket and press flat. After you create the pocket, it's a good idea to secure it to make sure the CD will stay up and won't fall apart when you give it away to someone. Good options are usually staples, glue, or even just tape. Use the same method described in the previous section, using old pictures or drawings to decorate the outside of the CD case as normal. It's usually a good idea to remove the CD from the sleeve while you're doing this, so you don't have to worry about messing it up with glue or ink. One cool idea is actually designing the paper before you fold it, making the image wrap around the outside of the case. It can make the case look unique, if you don't know where the folds are going to be in each one. One little hack for securing your DIY CD cases is to take the pages from one of those old CD books people used to carry around in their cars, pre-iPods, and carefully cut the pockets out to use for security. You can even use these and just slip CD-sized track lists into the same pocket for a quick alternative.

SUMMARY:
Use plain paper to fold a sleeve. Secure the folds with staples or glue. Design the sleeves accordingly. Slip into a plastic slip case for protection.