Clicking "Sort by Name" in the All Programs menu makes finding your applications a lot easier, but Windows XP needs constant reminders to sort applications this way. This hack will permanently sort all your programs alphabetically.

Go to Start > Run > type "regedit". Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Menu Order.

On the Edit menu, select Permissions.

In the "Permissions for MenuOrder" dialog box, click Advanced.

In the "Advanced Security Settings for MenuOrder" dialog box, clear the "Inherit From Parent" check box.

In the security dialog box that appears, click Copy.

Click OK to return to the "Permissions for MenuOrder" dialog box, and then clear the "Full Controll Access" entry for your own account and for any security groups that you're a member of, leaving the "Read Access Control" entry in place.