You can, if you feel like it, disable the Windows XP boot up splash screen. Although this doesn't speed boot times at all, it does allow you to see if there are any boot up messages appearing on your computer that might otherwise be covered up.

1. Edit boot.ini
2. Add " /noguiboot" right after "/fastdetect".

You will need to restart your PC for the splash screen to disappear. To enable the splash screen again, just remove the switch that you added.