One free upgrade you can make is to install Start Menu 7. This program changes the look and function of your start menu, one of the areas that I personally think is plain bad in the starter edition.
This program makes it much easier to find files and folders, and change any settings in the control panel and elsewhere. Here's a screenshot of the program when you click on start:
As you can see, most everything is available in one click. You no longer have to click and double click through links and folders to find what you want. Give it a try. As always, you can delete the program if you don't like it and your system will appear exactly as before.
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