| Your Ubuntu system can run so smoothly that you'll wonder why you didn't make the switch earlier from an operating system with a slow-loading desktop like Windows. Ubuntu runs smoothly on most modern machines, and some older machines using some variants of the Ubuntu system, such as Lubuntu, Xubuntu and Ubuntu MATE, are equally impressive. |
On rare occasions, your experience with the Ubuntu desktop will go from bad to worse. If you're very unlucky and your Ubuntu system isn't running as smoothly as you'd like it to, there are a few things you can do to improve system performance and responsiveness.
But first let's take a look at why the computer runs so slowly? Here are some of the reasons I listed:
- outdated computer
- Too many apps installed
- Something is broken in the system
- And many more reasons...
Now let's look at some techniques to improve this problem.
1. Exchange value
If your system has a swap partition, then this trick will work best for you (note: swap partitions are not recommended for solid-state drives, as this will shorten the life of the drive). Swap partitions help systems, especially systems with low memory capacity, manage system memory. Writing data to the swap partition (hard disk) is slower than writing to memory, so you can limit how often data is written to the swap partition by reducing the swappiness value. By default, Ubuntu's swappiness value is 60%, so you can reduce it to 10% with the following command :
sudo bash -c "echo 'vm.swappiness = 10' >> /etc/sysctl.conf"
2. Stop indexing
The purpose of indexing is to speed up search results, but on the other hand, indexing can cause some issues with systems with older configurations. To stop indexing, enter the following command to remove the indexer:
sudo apt-get purge apt-xapian-index
3. Manage startup applications
Launching applications can have a significant impact on system performance. When you install some applications, these applications will add startup items so that they will start when you start the system, but you can remove these applications to improve system performance. Open "Startup Applications" by searching in the Unity window. Most of the autostart options will be hidden, so enter the following command in the terminal to make them visible and you can stop certain "startup applications":
sudo sed -i "s/NoDisplay=true/NoDisplay=false/g" /etc/xdg/autostart//*.desktop
4. Try preloading
Preload ( preload ) is a daemon/background service that monitors the applications used on the system, and preloads the required binary libraries before they need to be loaded into memory, so that applications start faster quick. Enter the following command in the terminal to install the preload:
sudo apt-get install preload
5. Choose a more lightweight application
What applications do you use on the Ubuntu desktop? Are there lighter alternatives? If there are, replace them - if they also meet your needs. LibreOffice can give you the best office experience, but its alternatives, such as Abiword, can greatly improve system performance.
6. Switch to a more lightweight desktop environment
Are you using Unity or KDE as the desktop environment on your Ubuntu system? These desktop environments have high system requirements. Instead, you can install a LxQt or XFCE environment at the same time as the current desktop environment, and then switch to them. Alternatively, you can switch to a different flavor of Ubuntu, such as Lubuntu or Xubuntu, for a faster experience.
7. Clean up system garbage
Although an Ubuntu system won't become as slow as a Windows system, it will. Clearing unnecessary files from your system can improve system performance. Try using the Janitor tool from Ubuntu Tweak Tools to clean up your system. There is also a Bleachbit tool that can also be used to clean the system.
Also read - Bleachbit - An Alternative to CCleaner
8. Try to reinstall
Sometimes, something might be broken, and cleaning out the trash or using most of the tricks mentioned above won't help. At this point, your only option is to back up your files and try to reinstall.
9. Upgrade hardware
The last trick on my list is to upgrade the hardware. In the vast majority of cases, this is fine. If you can do this, it will greatly improve system performance. You can increase the installed memory, switch from a traditional disk to a solid-state drive or upgrade your processor, especially if you are running Ubuntu on a desktop computer, which will greatly improve system performance.
in conclusion
I hope these tips go a long way with getting your Ubuntu desktop running at an impressive speed . Note that you don't need to try all the tricks, just find one that works for your situation and watch how the system responds. Do you know of any other tips to improve the performance of your Ubuntu system? Please share it with us in the comments.