Getting the most from Ubuntu on an old PC

Introduction.

The requirements for the normal use of the latest versions of Ubuntu have 384 MB of RAM and 700 MHz processor.
As is often the case with all operating systems, the MB and Mhz base required (usually much lower than the computers on the market today) are, in practice, too few to allow effective use of the system ..
Assuming then that you have installed the latest version of Ubuntu, the 9.10 (Lucid Lynx) on an old PC in our possession, we will soon realize that without the appropriate changes, loading and execution of programs is rather slow.
It is therefore necessary to intervene on our version of Ubuntu to minimize the request of RAM.

So let's see how to run a maximum of Ubuntu on an old computer and even obsolete.

Reduce the programs that run at startup.

In this sense, the first and easiest action to be performed is to reduce the programs launched automatically at startup GUI.
Selecting the menu System -> Preferences -> Applications startup opens the Preferences window that shows the applications startup list of applications running at startup.
As shown:

The applications are those that disable the user feels superfluous and therefore it can reasonably do without selecting and removing the check mark or click on "Remove" button to delete them permanently.
For example, you can remove or disable from the startup list of programs' "visual support", useless service for people without disabilities of sight, "Print Queue Applet", which only serves to show an icon during printing, "Check for new hardware drivers", as if the system is updated and working properly is just a waste of resources, or even "Bluetooth Manager", if you do not use devices with this technology.

Reduce the icons of the applet from the panel of the GNOME desktop.

A second and important work to be performed is to minimize the applets on the panel 2 horizontal bars remove the icons in some cases can take up much space in memory.
You can remove, for example, the icon of the heavenly "Service Center" ("?") On the top bar by clicking on it with the right mouse button and selecting the menu item "Remove From Panel", you can use the 'applet running from a terminal the following command:

 



 yelp

 

Or you can remove the trash icon on the taskbar at the bottom right of the panel and then replace it with an icon on the desktop, thus reducing the use of resources.
To provide the trash can icon on the desktop, you must do the following:

• hit ALT + F2
• in the window that appears, type the command gconf-editor and click Run
• This opens the 'Configuration Editor, double-click on apps on nautilus and then select Desktop.
  On the right side of the editor select the tick with the voice trash_icon_visible (see figure below) and the trash can icon will appear on our desk.

Note: in the usual way you can bring up the Computer icon computer_icon_visible checking the voice, the one with your home network and that of home_icon_visible network_icon_visible.

You can then completely remove the horizontal bar at the bottom of the panel by clicking on it with the right mouse button and select Delete This Panel.

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