I thought I'd share this with you guys. I really enjoyed doing it and I'm sure a few of you will like it too:
I'm on a minimalist kick right now. Today, I decided to get rid of pesky quick launch icons, and make my start menu _small_. The quick launch icons you'll have to figure out on your own (since it depends on what programs you have installed), but I can help you make your start menu look like mine:

Go ahead, run your mouse over it. That's *actual size*. Pretty awesome, right? Here's how you can do it yourself:
Step 1 - Create Shortcuts:
a) Create a folder (mine's called "customize_xp") and hide it somewhere deep in the bowels of your computer. You never have to see this folder after today.
b) Right click on the start menu and select "properties" and switch to regular start menu (if you already have it set like that carry on). Left click on the "run" icon and drag it to your desktop. Cut the shortcut that's created and place it in your folder from 'a)'.
c) Open My Computer, then click the "go up one level" button. Now right click on the My Computer icon and select "create shortcut". Cut and paste into folder from 'a)'.
d) Right click on the recycle bin and do the same thing (create shortcut, cut paste).
e) Create shortcuts to any folders or programs you want in your start menu. As you can see I only wanted Firefox, Winamp, and "Shorts". Alternatively, you can drag folders on to the start menu later, but that makes it so you can mouse over and see the entire contents (like the "Programs" folder). I don't like that, so I didn't do it that way.
Step 2 - Remove Some Things:
a) Right click on your start menu and select "properties". Switch to "Classic Start Menu" then click "customize. Deselect all of the options except for "Enable Dragging and Dropping", "Show Small Icons in Start Menu", and "Use Personalized Menus".
Step 3 - Change the Registry:
a) This is where it could get tricky. Lucky you, I already did all the hard stuff (i.e. googling for a couple minutes). In the attached file there are 5 files. "Hidebin.reg", "Showbin.reg", "small_start_menu.reg", "large_start_menu.reg" and "Allow_search.reg".
Hidebin.reg: This file hides the recycle bin on your desktop. If you don't want to do this, that's fine. I just prefer having my recycle bin on the start menu.
Showbin.reg: This file reverses what Hidebin.reg does. SURPRISE!
small_start_menu.reg: This removes everything from your start menu except for Programs and the power button.
large_start_menu.reg: This puts it all back.
Allow_search.reg: If you remove search from the start menu, you can't search at all. So, this keeps search in your menu. Run this file after you run "small_start_menu.reg" if you use search frequently.
b) Unzip the files into the folder created in step 1 then run Hidebin.reg and small_start_menu.reg
c) Drag and drop the shortcuts you created in step 1 onto your brand new, slim and sexy, start menu.
Step 4 - Troubleshooting and Warnings:
There may still be a few unwanted things on your menu. If so, tell me and I'll find the registry key to get rid of em.
After doing all this, you will not be able to modify your start menu properties. If you still want to be able to do this, find the line in "small_start_menu.reg" that says '"NoSetTaskbar"=dword:00000001' and change it to '"NoSetTaskbar"=dword:00000000'.
As mentioned the search is also disabled. Just run "Allow_search.reg" to fix that. However, enabling either of those things adds more stuff to your menu.
If you have more than one user on your computer, you'll want the logoff button still. Delete the line in small_start_menu.reg named '"StartMenuLogoff"=dword:00000001' (or change the value to 0).
As a final warning: editing your registry can be dangerous. I imagine most of you already know how to do it safely, but just in case back it up first by running 'regedit' then click "file > export".