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What's Slowing Down Your System, and How to Solve With Linux

hehe2.net — Computer users expect their systems to work well at all times, but unfortunately this isn ’t always the case. If your system becomes slow, there certainly is something you can do about it. This article will help you understand what’s happening on the system, whether it’s the computer in front of you or a system you’re accessing remotely.

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  • dotCOMmie, on 06/10/2008, -1/+34htop is a worthy mention. Its quite a bit more user friendly than top. On the downside it's not as standard -- unfortunately.
  • Falldog, on 06/10/2008, -3/+67The title is a bit deceptive. I was expecting something like "Window's is slowing down your system, install Linux instead" but ended up pleasantly surprised.
    • heartless_, on 06/10/2008, -17/+2Agreed. Almost every Linux user I know, average Joe to admin, has learned the value of all the tools described in this article within a few months, unless they are Ubuntu users... then they just accept whatever happens to their PC.

      Yes, I'm poking Ubuntu.
      • mrsteveman1, on 06/10/2008, -1/+8Thats ok, i've been screwing OpenSuSE for months.

        shhh don't tell anyone
        • grimward, on 06/10/2008, -1/+2DSL fan here .. *zips back in the closet*
    • TheMachine1, on 06/10/2008, -0/+15Well as a Vista user my biggest complaint is the latency between when I stop/start an application or read/write files.
      Theres a painfully slow delay for an impulsive person like myself.
      • MWeather, on 06/10/2008, -3/+12Next time, don't buy an OS in impulse.
      • retawd, on 06/10/2008, -1/+1My dad had a similar problem. He solved it with a 74GB Raptor. Yes, it's an added expense, but it's something he's going to keep using through OS upgrades until solid state (or equivalent) becomes a practical option.
        • Tenoq, on 06/11/2008, -1/+2I had a similar problem - I solved it with XP. :p

          Besides, the raptors are slower than the new TB HDDs anyway, in every way except seek. And it's not seek that's slowing down his system - it's Vista.
        • sirmasterboy, on 06/11/2008, -0/+2Yes but the new velociraptors are much faster then the TB HDDs.
    • built2spill, on 06/10/2008, -0/+3Falldog: Yeah, I did, too. I had a snarky comment regarding Adobe products ready to go but, after reading the article I see that would be wrong...
    • iamjames, on 06/11/2008, -6/+1Actually the articles completely worthless for Windows users: "Naturally, I presume you’re running Linux, and the tools described here are Linux tools. "

      Surprised there's so many Linux users on Digg for the article to already get 650+ diggs.

      Title's deceptive. Thought the story was about running some Linux utility that would fix slow down issues within Windows, like a Linux boot-cd that would scan Windows and fix issues. It should say "FOR LINUX OS ONLY" somewhere in the description because f you're running linux you know all the information in the article anyway.
      • HonoredMule, on 06/11/2008, -0/+1Come on now. It could be better, but the title and description weren't THAT unintuitive.
        And the "whether it’s the computer in front of you or a system you’re accessing remotely" part is a dead giveaway.
  • Sammi84, on 06/10/2008, -3/+26Yeah I was plesantly surprised too.

    No bad idiot fanboy juju in this article. All good quality and useful info for any newcomer to Linux with an open mind and a will to learn.
    • willfe, on 06/11/2008, -0/+4Agreed; the best kind of advocacy isn't to actually advocate -- it's showing off how to accomplish things or solve problems with the platform. And this information isn't just relevant to newcomers; I've been working with Linux for ten years (and other flavors of Unix longer than that) and this is the first I'd ever heard of ionice. That's just frickin' cool stuff :)

      Practical example of usage: run rtorrent (or whatever bittorrent client you normally use) and set it to "idle" priority. Now when a 40GB torrent finishes your machine (with slow-ass SATA drives (under heavy load, anyway)) won't crawl as it checksums the whole set).
  • Iluvator, on 06/10/2008, -6/+44A surprisingly useful and fanboyism-free article. What is this doing on Digg? ! Bring back the Windows-hate and iPhone mongering!

    Seriously, decent read.
    • atdigg, on 06/10/2008, -10/+1There's no need, we have people like you.
  • AlexBellisBrown, on 06/10/2008, -3/+8Ive changed from Windows XP to Ubuntu fully, and I love it. I just wish somebody could make a version "Ready to use". Im not saying its not already, but i mean, come installed with Flash and DVD compatibility. Granted, that stuff costs money, but most people would still pay €10 for the extras!
    • danfive555, on 06/10/2008, -9/+1This is why I dual boot Ubuntu and Mepis.
      • halobender, on 06/10/2008, -0/+7making things more complicated is not the answer.
      • zwaldowski, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2... Because its impossible to do that on Ubuntu? Dugg down.
      • danfive555, on 06/11/2008, -2/+1First Mepis, does all multimedia upon install (no codecs, repos needed).
        Second it's not more complicated to have the full functioning Mepis distro and new Ubuntu (w/c will take a while to setup a few tweaks and playing with Flash-plugin). Unfortunately Ubuntu 8.04 has a lot of problems like Firefox constantly crashing and kernel updates that ruin the OS.
    • RetepNamenots, on 06/10/2008, -2/+11The only problem is that it costs money and/or these things aren't free to modify etc.. meaning that they would go against everything that Linux stands for..
      • HamNCheese, on 06/10/2008, -7/+2Yes, watching Movies and browsing Flash-enabled websites goes against the principals of linux...

        This is why Windows still has that 90% of the marketshare. Linux needs to grow up and evolve out of the Colo and into the desktop environment.
        • zwaldowski, on 06/10/2008, -2/+7Of course, in-built DVD compatibility breaks the idea of Linux BECAUSE IT'S ***** ILLEGAL TO DO WITHOUT PAYING FOR IT.
        • cubicledrone, on 06/10/2008, -2/+7Windows has 90% marketshare because most middle managers are assclowns.
        • danfive555, on 06/13/2008, -0/+2You can use Mepis for free (though some donation is encouraged).
          And like I said it works upon install.
    • mrsteveman1, on 06/10/2008, -6/+8Flash doesn't cost money, but there are fanatical idiots who would scream and cry that their system didn't come with fully GPL software out of the box, even though the default ubuntu cd lets you choose only FOSS stuff from its boot menu.

      Most users don't care, and install flash immediately anyway.

      DVDs are another issue, but i think Dell did pay to have LinDVD included on their boxes didn't they?
      • zwaldowski, on 06/10/2008, -1/+5Pay is a big issue. Fluendo charges ~$30 for use of their codecs in Linux. Otherwise, it's illegal in the United States to install DVD codecs and the like.
        • danfive555, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Pretty sure those codecs are "available" for a lot less.
      • eldridgea, on 06/11/2008, -0/+2yes
    • MWeather, on 06/10/2008, -0/+17You're asking a bit much. Windows hasn't shipped with Flash in years and has never (except Media center, I think) shipped with a DVD codec.

      Striking a deal with Adobe may be possible, but unlikely given their requirement that THEY must be the ones to distribute flash.

      The DVD codec is never going to be included until the patent is up or the DMCA is repealed. DVD codecs are either paid for, or illegal.
      • mrsteveman1, on 06/10/2008, -0/+4The DMCA just attempts to prevent the breaking of CSS, but the codec itself is patented.

        You can't even make a read only MPEG-2 video codec for use on non-dvd video without paying that patent license.
        • MWeather, on 06/10/2008, -0/+3"The DMCA just attempts to prevent the breaking of CSS, but the codec itself is patented."

          Yeah, that's why yo either need to pay the license fee, or break the DMCA by circumventing CSS with an illegal codec. So you either need to wait for the patent to run out, or until the DMCA is repealed.
        • mrsteveman1, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2Both things have to happen, even if the patent runs out you can't break CSS without running afoul of the DMCA

          Even if the DMCA is repealed you have to have a patent license until that patent expires
        • HonoredMule, on 06/11/2008, -0/+2You cannot patent the software directly with complete generality. Only a method of implementation of the codec can be credibly patented. Patent law is ***** up enough without bringing in the idea that I'm not even permitted to develop my own method for accomplishing a common high-level task (translate video in encrypted DVD format into a usable format). The problem lies entirely with the DMCA making encrypted DVDs hallowed content, as any method other than the patented one is marked as illegal "hacking" because it's not the way the content-producer intended for the content to be accessed. Worse still, it is unlikely that even the patent's invalidation/expiry would allow the U.S. to legally program/distribute any implementation without purchasing legal blessing from an arbitrarily created virtual monopoly. Thanks, DMCA.

          I can't help but wonder...why is a DVD format that is very easily read without access keys so much more clearly "encrypted content" than, say, strings translated by an arbitrarily-defined mapping (ASCII) into a series of ones and zeros?
        • HonoredMule, on 06/11/2008, -0/+1(I really hate that the edit timer lies to me about how much time remains...)

          You cannot patent the software directly with complete generality. Only a method of implementation of the codec can be credibly patented. Patent law is ***** up enough without bringing in the idea that I'm not even permitted to develop my own method for accomplishing a common high-level task (translate video in encrypted DVD format into a usable format). The problem lies entirely with the DMCA making encrypted DVDs hallowed content, as any method other than the patented one is marked as illegal "hacking" because it "circumnavigates" the the use of purchased keys. Worse still, it is unlikely that even the patent's invalidation/expiry would allow the U.S. to legally program/distribute any implementation without purchasing legal blessing from an arbitrarily created virtual monopoly (the process of generating our own keys to use in the reference implementation would still be labeled as hacking/reverse-engineering). Thanks, DMCA.

          I can't help but wonder...why is a DVD format that is very easily read without access keys so much more clearly "encrypted content" than, say, strings translated by an arbitrarily-defined mapping (ASCII) into a series of ones and zeros?
      • tian2992, on 06/10/2008, -0/+5Well, illegal for USA ;)
        • danfive555, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1Well the DVD media is obsolete in the USA, too.
    • HamNCheese, on 06/10/2008, -2/+3There are only about 3000 guides online telling you exactly how to do this step-by-step. It's a minor inconvenience really....
    • mossblaser, on 06/10/2008, -0/+6Linux mint is probably the closes thing to an ubuntu with the things that you aren't technically allowed to distribute, still it is becoming so much easier to just let ubuntu install things as you need them.

      If you like openSuSE they ship (or when i last used it did anyway) an addon-cd which contains all the propriatary stuff like nVIDIA drivers, flash and java (when it was closed source) and lots of other goodies (including a lot of fonts and things.
    • 3242130193, on 06/10/2008, -0/+4In any case, hopefully Gnash will be usable for end users at some point, so we may get our wish, just yet. Patience, my friends
    • bj1989, on 06/10/2008, -1/+2Sorry to be rude but why do people always make pointless comments like these on any linux related article: "I'm using linux for a month and really like it, except for x and y" or "Linux is really ready for the desktop", "I wish someone could make linux ready to use, using his magical powers". So what, this doesn't have ANYTHING to do with the article.
    • golvin, on 06/11/2008, -0/+1Try Linux Mint. =)
  • shadoweva09, on 06/10/2008, -6/+10All of your solutions have windows equivalents that don't involve going into a command line. like setting process priority from the task manager. (and linux also has a gui for this, so this is unnecessary.) I will say I do have ubuntu on dual boot since on vista robs to much performance from programs like blender (about 2x), and compiz fusion at least distracts me from looking at all of the shortcomings.
    • djbon2112, on 06/10/2008, -2/+10And once again I ask, how does this make it bad? CLI > bloated GUIs.
      • PueSi, on 06/10/2008, -2/+3Only if you now what you're doing, most of the time we don't. A GUI is more helpful because you don't have to know which command to use or which parameters to put.
        • bluntphallus, on 06/10/2008, -7/+1Congratulations, DorkTard. That kind of attitude isn't going to help Linux's adoption at all, dickface.
        • bluntphallus, on 06/11/2008, -0/+1Hm. My last message was to a user called DorkTard, who replied to PueSi, but it looks like the account no longer exists. Oh well - sorry for any confusion.
      • Ademan, on 06/11/2008, -0/+2Agreed, I spend the vast majority of my time on the command line because once i got used to it (i was kinda forced to for ssh, since X over ssh blows ass/is too slow across the interwebs, and vnc just sucks...) i find i get alot more work done alot quicker. I still use GUI programs for lots of things though, like irc (x-chat), aim (pidgin), and browsing (firefox). You'd be a fool to pass these up for irssi, finch and lynx if you have the choice... (ok not irssi, i know alot of people prefer it regardless, but the others stand.) And I still prefer nautilus for most file management. It's all (to me) a matter of what works best for me and gets things done quickest, some parts GUI some parts CLI.

        BUT! Many people aren't familiar with the command line, and even fear it (i know i did at first) and those sorts of things can and should be addressed. Heck, it's absolutely nothing to crank out a pygtk application that wraps a command line app. I've been looking for an excuse to write one honestly.
    • stix213, on 06/10/2008, -1/+5CLI commands are better than GUI commands. For one, if any of these tips are something that you commonly end up doing for certain apps you can easily script them so you don't have to manually click around each time. You do it once and then never do it again when you can script it.

      But if you prefer repetitive/redundant GUI clicking be my guest.
    • 4321234, on 06/11/2008, -1/+2most how-tos for linux on the internet use command line because thats the one thing thats the same no matter what distro, desktop enviroment, window manager etc. you use or have installed. Besides, the article's about diagnosing a slow machine, the last thing you need is to have to open another gui application.
    • BlackAdderIII, on 06/11/2008, -0/+2Your Premise:

      Using a shell is bad, something you only "need" to do if there isn't a GUI.

      ...might apply to you, not necessarily to the rest of us.
  • Rabbittt, on 06/10/2008, -12/+2I really love Linux and all, but I'm starting to wonder why people want to push it so hard on the Public.. As soon as Linux becomes mainstream, it won't be Linux any more.. :(
    • traxen, on 06/10/2008, -0/+4Better to be mainstream than hard to understand and obscure. You can still use Linux the way you want to... problem is that your Mom and Dad can now sit beside you and start getting whats happening..

      That example was not perfect since you can still use obscure applications and hide your activities that way... but they wont shy away from using your workstation anymore :)
      • Rabbittt, on 06/10/2008, -3/+1I didn't explain myself, I was being lazy, sorry.. Where I'm coming from is security related.. One of the main factors that contributes to Linux's tight security is the limited exposure Linux has on the open network.. As Linux gains more and more market share, it will become more and more likely that hackers will attack Linux systems for information, $$, or kicks.. I'm not saying don't push it, I'm just concerned about Linux getting too big for it's pants, which is bound to happen to any OS that newly represents a dominant share of the network.. It's just a security concern..
        • 4321234, on 06/11/2008, -0/+4You've got it backwards. The bigger linux gets, the more developers will be working on it, keeping it's goodness level high. As Windows userbase shrinks, it's sucking level will get even worse. Linux is already gooder than Windows at only a few percent market share. Yeah baby! (Terrorist fist jab)
    • jtorkbob, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2/disagree
    • mrsteveman1, on 06/10/2008, -3/+2Because there are people abusing the open source community to try to hurt Microsoft instead of just focusing on the software and making it better.
    • CrackyJSquirrel, on 06/10/2008, -1/+4There in lies the beauty of Linux. You can customize your distribution to your liking. Since I have been using linux for a while now, and used it before it was all fancy fancy with the user friendly X windows features, I am very partial to a minimal X windows and command line. My Linux does not look like something my Mom or Dad would end up using. Because of their knowledge being limited to MS Windows, they would most likely feel more comfortable with a X windows that provides all the graphical interfaces, desktop features and WYSIWYG programs.
      • Rabbittt, on 06/10/2008, -1/+1Hopefully the complexity of Linux will keep it out of the hands of inept users, thereby strengthening the integrity of Linux's presence on the open network, overall..
    • stix213, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1There will always be more "elite" distro's if that is your thing. I like using Ubuntu personally because of the number of other people using it makes for quick and easy resolutions to any and all problems (abundant support forum posts, etc). Some people like the adventure of compiling everything on their own to streamline their machine as much as possible. I say more power to you....

      The only thing I ever recompile is the kernel, so I can check out the new RC kernels from time to time, but that is more for fun than for practicality.
    • smotpoker, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1Ambiguity and versatility are what define Linux, not popularity. If every windows user on the planet suddenly switches to SuSE or Ubuntu, Linux would still be Linux and we would still be free to do what we want with it on any distribution. The only difference would be more commercial/vendor support (which can usually be applied to any distribution)
    • mrsteveman1, on 06/10/2008, -1/+1Really? including things like flash by default justifies an entirely separate distribution? Why? to make fanatics happy?

      Very few things justify all this division with Linux.
  • UltamateAddict, on 06/10/2008, -3/+9Can anyone here run TF2 with directx 9 full settings? What's your specs? Thats the only thing keeping me on windows
    • RetepNamenots, on 06/10/2008, -2/+6C2D E6750@3.2
      XFX 8800GTX OC
      2Gb DDR2 PC2-6400 CL4

      Runs at 1680x1050 maxed out at 60+ fps in XP, about 35 in Ubuntu 7.10 with Compiz.
      • UltamateAddict, on 06/11/2008, -0/+1I see, I have a somewhat older computer (over 1 year, customized desktop, though) With a 7600 GT 1gb DDR2 ram and a 250gig HD and a horrible processor, but I just got a new computer from work that we weren't using and that has a much better processor so maybe I can put my video card in there and maybe 1 gig will be enough. idk need to try i guess. I love linux though, i love the command line.
    • nickert0n, on 06/10/2008, -10/+2I wouldent use Linux for Windows games as a general rule.

      But thats me.
      • stix213, on 06/10/2008, -3/+8I wouldn't use Windows as a general rule.

        But thats me, and I'm even MCSE certified.
        • nickert0n, on 06/11/2008, -3/+1Good for you that means your qualified to click Start, You ***** *****
        • stix213, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1"Good for you that means your qualified to click Start, You ***** *****"

          Not even sure what to say about that. Yeah, 3,000 pages of reading material to pass 8 or so different tests..... all to click the start button. If only MS's software were actually that stable and functional that the start button is the only thing that ever goes wrong. I'm sure you'd say my Cisco cert just qualifies me to play lan games, or my security and desktop support certs are for making paper airplanes.

          The truth is that MS's server software is the worst thing you could ever install, and the only reason I can see it ever does is because noobs install it because they are used to using XP at home and don't think there might actually be different needs when it comes to supporting web sites, e-mail servers, and file servers.

          Good thing there are people like me who understand why MS's software ***** up so much, so that morons like you can continue surfing the internet in complete blindness to all the little miracles that can actually keep an MS network up 24/7 on the internet virus/hacker free.

          I'm sure all your friends at school think you are the greatest thing to ever happen to computers, or there just aren't any real needs for servers up in Canada, but you need to grow up and learn a thing or two before you mouth off about things you know less than nothing about.
    • CrackyJSquirrel, on 06/10/2008, -9/+1Dual boot...
      • MWeather, on 06/10/2008, -1/+7Why reboot if you don't have to?
        • Zounas, on 06/10/2008, -5/+0So you can switch from productivity into mind-blowing gaming experience. Doh.
    • HyperionHK, on 06/10/2008, -0/+0I've heard of it happening, however I've never been able to get it to work, or most window's games under linux with my ATI card. I think it's mostly the drivers, since I've seen it running before.

      It's one of the more major things keeping me on windows, though there are still a ton of other things I find a lot harder to do/impossible under linux, and unfortunately I don't have a large HDD so dual booting isn't really an option, plus it's so damn inconvenient anyway
    • gavintlgold, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1Hehe, I still do directx 8 TF2, but wish with every new release that they somehow fix it...

      Something that may help: Someone found a way to play it in dx9 by commenting out some code in wine and compiling by hand. The downside is everything is "greyish" but I think it looks better than dx8. I still prefer dx9 though because the compile is a pain.

      From the page here: http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=v ...

      "HDR mode speed improvements
      by FeepingCreature on Sunday April 27th 2008, 15:57

      In dlls/wined3d/texture.c; if you comment out line 111 - 115 (the one that starts with "else if (GL_SUPPORT(EXT_TEXTURE_SRGB)", HDR speed goes up to nicely playable levels.

      Graphics look a bit gray, so I presume that code is something important :) but it still looks nicer than DX8 mode, imnsho."
  • KyjL, on 06/10/2008, -12/+6While a great article, I'm burying it. The title is seriously inaccurate.

    A better title would have been: "What's slowing down your linux system and how to solve it."
    • jay019, on 06/11/2008, -1/+2Dont know why your being dug down, I agree that your title suit the article more than the one given.
  • kyletehgreat, on 06/10/2008, -1/+4Hahah i think digg is slowing down THEIR system.
  • biggrz, on 06/10/2008, -10/+4I have some Direct-X games that are running slow, how can anyone tell me how Linux can help with that?
    • mossblaser, on 06/10/2008, -4/+3This article has nothing to do with your closed source OS.

      But to be helpful certain games run considerably faster on linux (WINE or native) that on windows, examples include Counterstrike, ETQW and CoD.
  • Me0wmix, on 06/10/2008, -2/+3I was expecting to see some puns about the girl.

  • aserer511, on 06/10/2008, -9/+34. you have not the slightest clue how to poweruse a pc
  • DeFex, on 06/10/2008, -2/+4im wondering where the "this would never happen on a mac" people are.
    • FFXIfrohike, on 06/10/2008, -0/+3There's a mac screenshot in the article...
      • bj1989, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1I'm pretty sure that's a linux system with a mac background running compiz. Look at the icons top right
      • Megatog615, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1That's Linux. There was a video a while back on Digg about a guy who ran over 100 user processes on his linux box(and it hardly broke a sweat). That screenshot is from that video. It just had a MacOSX background.
  • HamNCheese, on 06/10/2008, -16/+1I love how the article is all about "Linux" (not really, but Unix in general), yet the photos all refer to Mac OS X (One Infinite Loop in Cupertino, cheap linux Time Machine ripoff, etc.)

    So, GO CLOSET MAC FANBOYISM (or something...)
    • mossblaser, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1The "cheap time machine rippoff" is actually a cheap flip-3d ripoff (which is actually better than the real thing). Also the top tool in UNIX differs in some key areas to the one in linux so this article does not cover UNIX neccesarily.
    • jpjandrade, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2Well, it's not time machine ripoff, it's Win+Tab with compiz, and, also, you only use "etc..." when you have more than two arguments.
    • stix213, on 06/10/2008, -1/+4Funny how Mac fanboyz always talk about "Time Machine" like it is some innovative, ground breaking feature that Apple came out with first, when it isn't all too different than any of the many GUI wrappers for Linux/Unix rsync that have been around for ages. Rsync has been around since 1996, so Linux users have been happily doing these types of backups for over a decade..... Nice of Apple to join the 20th century...

      Next time you brag about people ripping off OSX, can you at least mention a feature that isn't a ripoff of a 12 year old Linux/Unix app?

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rsync
  • Viriatus2, on 06/10/2008, -13/+1buried for not including Windows
  • jetblackz4, on 06/10/2008, -7/+8# 4 you are using Vista
  • Silverjam, on 06/10/2008, -1/+4Nice article, which described some extra features that I didn't know about (like ionice).

    Anyways: I'd love to see the same article for MS Windows, which would probably end up with a "tiny" list containing 587 things that should be checked before you can be sure your system is running nearly as neat as Linux.
  • IWDA4, on 06/10/2008, -8/+2I've tried this game before, and it only made things worse!
  • mrisi, on 06/10/2008, -12/+8Buried as inaccurate - picture of chick using Linux.
  • j3ff86, on 06/10/2008, -2/+6Perhaps the hackers have stolded your megahurtz?
    http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a1/wiretap25/Misc ...
  • dtfinch, on 06/10/2008, -0/+13In the case of Vista, the developers had quad cores with 8gb ram and solid state hard drives, and you have a 1.8ghz celery with 512mb ram and a 40gb 7200rpm IDE. If the cpu usage goes to 100% for 20 minutes with heavy disk activity, it's just Microsoft Update (not actually installing anything, just checking for updates). If you're still seeing heavy disk activity after it finishes, that's just the indexing service, system restore, background defrag, superfetch, and explorer rebuilding its thumbnail cache all at the same time.

    A default Ubuntu install has some similarly annoying tasks, like updating its slocate database once a day (updatedb), which can take minutes or hours depending on how many files you have. Then there was that separate tracker/scrollkeeper thing in Gutsy doing the same thing at the same time. Those are the first things I disable. They exist solely to disappoint new users.

    What is it with developers acting as though hard disk speeds follow Moore's law, as though next year's technology will make their slow overly disk bound process a non-issue? They've been 7200rpm for a decade. Throughput increases, but seeks will always take forever until we stop using disks entirely.
  • FFXIfrohike, on 06/10/2008, -3/+7Gist of the article:

    "
    1. A program is monopolizing the cpu.
    A program is using all of the cpu cycles, blocking access to the cpu to other programs. This may be intentional (programs that do heavy processing) or accidental (programs get stuck repeating something over and over).
    2. You’re nearly out of physical memory.
    You are either running too many programs, or programs that use too much memory. Your physical memory is almost entirely exhausted, and the running programs are using the harddisk as fallback memory, which is very slow.
    3. A program is doing heavy I/O.
    You may be copying a large file, for instance. The program that is doing the copying is requesting lots of data from the harddrive, but while it’s doing this the cpu is actually waiting for this data to be read from the harddrive, blocking access to other programs.

    "

  • NecroDigg, on 06/10/2008, -15/+4Until Linux runs games at the same or better quality then windows, I don't see any reason at all to change.
    • Gavagai80, on 06/10/2008, -1/+7It's wonderful to get an update on what you're not doing, but it has nothing at all to do with the article. If there's an article on speeding up Solaris next, you're going to post again that you don't use Solaris either?
      • NecroDigg, on 06/10/2008, -9/+2YOU SHUT UP. Title said something about Linux. IM TALKIN BOUT LINUX.
    • 4321234, on 06/11/2008, -1/+4Windows doesn't run games better than Linux. People write games for Windows rather than Linux because they want to sell their games and Windows is installed on most computers that are sold.
      • NecroDigg, on 06/11/2008, -2/+1Yeah I realise that, but it doesn't change anything. I'm not a linux hater, I like linux. It's just being held back on the gaming side of things, and has to resort to stuff like WINE etc.
        • jay019, on 06/11/2008, -0/+1Well, take it to the streets and send letters to the game developers. I dont know what whinging on digg is going to do to help.
    • willfe, on 06/11/2008, -0/+1Somewhere a bridge is missing its troll ... :)
  • KaJuN4, on 06/10/2008, -10/+3I switched to Linux and my computer is still slow. ***** thing sucks!
    • NecroDigg, on 06/10/2008, -4/+2***** it, we'll do it live
    • mcrules, on 06/10/2008, -1/+1That would be your computer, right?
    • 4321234, on 06/11/2008, -1/+1No you never.
    • golvin, on 06/11/2008, -0/+0You should switch to another computer.
    • TheWindBlows, on 06/11/2008, -0/+1Linux is fast or slow depending what choices you make mainly desktop environment wise.

      Normally its best to choose something that fits your system specs. If you want true performance and usuability Xfce(or even LXDE but thats under heavy development) and Gentoo
  • kevthecatslayer, on 06/10/2008, -1/+4Any good resource for wireless drivers? I have a HP pav zv6000 series that I dont use a whole lot due to lack of wireless.

    Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN
  • bj1989, on 06/10/2008, -2/+3I'm astonished by the amount of people who automatically start posting random linux related posts that actually have nothing to do with the article. I'm also astonished by the predictability of these comments: X program/game is keeping me from using linux. Using linux for three month and loving it. Where can I find drivers for my hardware. Linux is not ready for the desktop. Linux is ready for the desktop.
    • retawd, on 06/11/2008, -0/+1I guess there are only so many comments one can make about an OS. "Those tomatoes Linux planted in my garden are coming up nicely" would be a nice variation within the comments, but I don't see it coming anytime soon. ;-P
  • DerangedPenguin, on 06/10/2008, -7/+1What's Linux?
  • dood, on 06/10/2008, -2/+2"A program is monopolizing the cpu.
    A program is using all of the cpu cycles, blocking access to the cpu to other programs. This may be intentional (programs that do heavy processing) or accidental (programs get stuck repeating something over and over)."
    This problem was solved ages ago on BSD. What does Linux do differently? The BSD scheduler will reduce the process's priority if it uses lots of CPU, so other applications have a chance at their fair share. In my experience it has done a pretty good job at it.
  • 4321234, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1You can list your processes sorted by memory or cpu use like this
    ps -eo pmem,pid,user,args | sort -k 1 -r
    ps -eo pcpu,pid,user,args | sort -k 1 -r
  • tusseyd, on 06/11/2008, -0/+1Very professional article. Good things to check on my new Ubuntu box. Could you do a similar article for Windows and Mac. Also interesting to explore regarding their performance impact would be desktop search programs, auto-updates, etc. Thanks.
  • matt.rubin, on 06/11/2008, -4/+1when i have a client ask me to speed up their computer I run spybot search and destroy then collect my money then leave
    • whereisian, on 06/11/2008, -0/+2which is why you're a crappy technician
    • matt.rubin, on 06/11/2008, -2/+1it fixes 99 percent of problems happening
      • BlackAdderIII, on 06/11/2008, -0/+2No really, it doesn't fix 99 per cent of problems happening. You're welcome.

        Not in any sense, and certainly not on anything that isn't windows (RTFA?).
    • matt.rubin, on 06/11/2008, -1/+1well wiping a system clean of windows cause its slow doesn't solve any problems it just bypasses them
  • black2night, on 06/11/2008, -0/+0swapping sucks!!
  • yahoofrom, on 06/11/2008, -0/+1renice firefox.
    ionice firefox.
  • danfive555, on 06/11/2008, -0/+1Try Mepis 7.0
  • retawd, on 06/11/2008, -1/+1I understand that Vista is slow, that's a given (hence the faster HD) but your assertion about the speeds of HD doesn't match the numbers given by manufacturers. The Raptor's numbers (read, seek, latency) are faster than any 1 GB Seagate, WD, or Hitachi drive I looked up. Perhaps you could clue me in if I'm missing something?
    • djchester, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1yes the reply button on the correct comment.
  • s32843, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1xubuntu is better than ubuntu. lite, clean, efficient. My old P3 machine now is an excellent server. You can always install any applications you want later. My personal experience: dump XP, forget Vista, pack some Windows only software in vmware, try wine or virtualbox only if you have plenty of time.
  • djchester, on 06/13/2008, -0/+1atop was new to me. So dugg for learning something new.
  •  

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