Speed Up Computers Running Ubuntu/Linux Mint

 

 1. Preload

Preload is an adaptive readahead daemon which runs in the backend of the system. The program checks which programs you use more frequently, and keeps them in the cache in advance.Instead of fetching all that information from the hark disk, it is fetched from cache, which requires less time.

To install Preload, enter:
 
sudo apt-get install preload

Preload equipped with default setting suffices your need. In case you want to use your own configuration, you can edit configuration file as shown below:

sudo gedit /etc/preload.conf

For Linux Mint,

sudo pluma /etc/preload.conf 

To check it's log file, enter this command:

sudo tail -f /var/log/preload.log

2. AutoClean

It cleans partially installed packages or the packages those are no longer installed in the system.

sudo apt-get autoclean

3. Reduce StartUp Applications

There are certain applications which are configured to run when the system starts. These applications are enlisted in "Startup Applications" which is present in Ubuntu Unity Dash.

You can also install Boot Up Manager (BUM) to control all start up services and applications.

sudo apt-get install bum

4. Swappiness

The swappiness parameter manages the ability of the kernel to shift processes out of physical memory and onto the swap disk. Disks being much slower than RAMs, this can cause slower response times of system and applications if processes are too aggressively moved out of memory.

To check current status of Swappiness, use this command:

cat /proc/sys/vm/swappiness

Default value of swappiness is 60. You can change it by editing this file:

sudo gedit /etc/sysctl.conf 

In Linux Mint:

sudo pluma /etc/sysctl.conf

Locate this line (if not found, add it):

vm.swappiness=10

Save the file and reboot the system for the changes to take effect.
 

5. Disable Grub Boot Menu

Whenever the system starts, it will display Grub Boot Menu on your screen. To disable it, enter following command:
For Ubuntu,

sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

For Linux Mint,

sudo pluma /etc/default/grub

Search for GRUB_TIMEOUT and set its value to zero.

GRUB_TIMEOUT=0

6. ZRAM

Using ZRAM you can optimize the functionality of a low RAM running on your own computer.

To install it, use following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:shnatsel/zram

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install zramswap-enabler

7. System Startup Optimization

If you are using Multi-core CPU, you can use all its core during system startup. To configure your computer as such, enter following commands:

For Ubuntu,

sudo gedit /etc/init.d/rc 

For Linux Mint:

sudo pluma /etc/init.d/rc

Locate the line CONCURRENCY=none and change it to CONCURRENCY=makefile.

8. Reduce Visual Effects

Reducing or disabling all unnecessary visual effects can improve functionality of your system. This can be implemented by using Compizconfig Settings Manager.

To install it, enter:

 sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager

9. TMPFS

When read/write operations are performed on a hard disk, /tmp folder comes into picture. By shifting this overload from hard disk to RAM, operations can be speeded up.

For this, edit /etc/fstab file:

Ubuntu- sudo gedit /etc/fstab 

Linux Mint-  sudo pluma /etc/fstab

Insert following two lines at the end of the file, Save and Reboot:

# Move /tmp to RAM
tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults,noexec,nosuid 0 0