setup problem gigabit switch + 100mbit switch

Hello,

I installed a gigabit unmanaged switch in our network (3com 2824
10/100/1000mbit) to speed database operation and datatransfer.
the win2000 server and several pc's have gigabit interfaces, they work
fine, great even.

the problem is with the pc's (xp pro) that have 100mbit interfaces.
They were set at autonegotion and, I presume, this translated into
100mbit full duplex.
their network performance was simply dreadful.
the taskmanager network pane showed that the maximum transfer speed
topped out at 5% (or 5mbps)

I changed the interface setting to 100mbit half duplex. this had a
marked improvement averaging 30%.

Can I furter improve the speed with the existing hardware?

best regards
glenn