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I have an Acer 4736z with 2gb Ram and ubuntu 12.04 is running too slow for my standards.

I would like to know if I am running useless processes that I am not aware of and remove packages I will never use.

How can I do that?

free -m output:

              total used free shared buffers cached
Mem:          1944  1627 316  0      15      340
-/+ buffers/cache:  1271 673
Swap:         1976  676  1300
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  • Is it using more ram than required , post the output of free -m
    – atenz
    Aug 7, 2012 at 19:27
  • total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 1944 1627 316 0 15 340 -/+ buffers/cache: 1271 673 Swap: 1976 676 1300
    – Nishant Vergani
    Aug 8, 2012 at 16:35
  • I would suggest you to notice your system monitor , look for highest RAM or CPU eater process and post if found something unusual. Try top in terminal to view in CLI.
    – atenz
    Aug 8, 2012 at 17:18
  • Will "sudo apt-get autoclean" make any difference?
    – user94056
    Oct 2, 2012 at 12:32

3 Answers 3

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  1. You could probably remove the indicator-messages service, but that won't save much.

  2. Another option would be to run unity 2d or gnome-classic from the login screen. The 3d desktops use more computer to do "compositing" and newer software tends to consume more resources than older software. Unity uses compiz to do its compositing and it does seem to accumulate notable cpu time on my laptop.

  3. The next time you want to install Ubuntu you could install the Xubuntu flavor of Ubuntu. It is built to be lighter weight.

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Run sudo apt-get autoremove to remove any useless packages.

Also I installed ubuntu-tweak and this has a janitor function for clearing up your system, but this is not recommended. See How do I install Ubuntu-Tweak? for instructions on how to get it.

Use the Software Center to remove any unwanted apps.

Hope this helps you.

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    Use of janitor from Ubuntu-tweak is Really Not Recommended :)
    – atenz
    Aug 7, 2012 at 19:25
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    Mind if I ask why I used it with no problems
    – Mark Kirby
    Aug 7, 2012 at 19:29
  • I find the Janitor in Ubuntu Tweak is much safer to use than the Computer Janitor utility which used to be installed by default in Ubuntu. That being said, you should be careful if you do decide to use it. (I only use mine to clear out any kernels older than the two most recent, as well as my apt-cache.)
    – Knowledge Cube
    Aug 7, 2012 at 19:42
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    removing "useless packages" is not going to affect machine performance in any way, at least if the definition of "useless" is "not used by the system and eligible to be auto-removed". The OP will need to uninstall some packages which are currently in use and consume RAM when the system is running.
    – Sergey
    Aug 8, 2012 at 3:27
  • @markkirby - it is mainly because it is Third party PPA , i would not not trust such tool to clean my temp , or unwanted cache files. i read something about that here. My only intention was to convey the use of inbuilt safer tools as mentioned in this answer .
    – atenz
    Aug 8, 2012 at 5:42
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Another solution would be to install an Ubuntu derivative that is lighter, such as Lubuntu.

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