Why is Ubuntu faster with Live USB?

[azitizz]

Hi there, Ive noticed that Ubuntu works cosiderably faster when I was experimenting on my Live USB of the desktop 64bit 13.04. Ive installed it now and its what Ive been using Ubuntu for years now and i think with age, my computer has become slower, but now its considerably slower with a fresh install of 13.04.

But before installing when I tried it on th USB it was speedy and great. below are the specs for my machine, I would like to upgrade hardware if its going to make a difference. I have plenty of RAM, but perhaps the harddrive? what do others think, what could be the reason a USB is faster than the computer.

Toshiba Satellite L350D
AMD X2 Dual core QL-65 2.10GHz
3 GB Ram (2.75 usable under windows)

Hard-drive: Hitachi 250 GB,Internal,5400 RPM,2.5"

I wondered if a better harddrive may improve things, or if its simply the processor...

Any pointers or opinions are welcome
Michael

[ahallubuntu]

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[azitizz]

Thanks, Thanks a neat little tool. Never know about it.

I attached a screenshot of what the "attributes" tab shows. Theres three highlighted pink areas. But under the general test it said it "passed" the smart test and there were no errors logged. But perhaps it can be a generalization?

any thoughts?

Thanks
Michael

[ahallubuntu]

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[azitizz]

I think Im more inclined to get another hard drive. I cant even seem to get 13.04 working properly. Perhaps a new harddrive will help. I still dont understand completely what performance is due to the hard-drive and which is due to perhaps RAM or Processor. For instance, sluggish opening of application like google chrome, or opening of the software centre especially (very slow). it works but it is slower than what I would expect for a computer of only 4 years old. But i do see hard drives have gone a long way with price and performance over 4 years.

Any suggestions to speed, type or brands that work better than others with Ubuntu?

Thanks for the help.
Michael

[sudodus]

Maybe more advanced graphic options are selected in the installed setup compared to the live setup. If you are using Unity, this maybe makes the difference. You can check it and maybe disable some 'desktop effects', or simply change to a desktop environment with a lighter foot-print, XFCE or LXDE.

This is what is used in the Ubuntu flavours Xubuntu and Lubuntu, and they are good choices for middle-aged or old hardware. 'Only four years old' is middle-age in the computer world. Some people would even say 'old hardware'. I think it is good to keep aging computers alive, and there are several methods to get good performance.

If tweaking the desktop effects make no big difference, I suggest that you either install a lighter desktop environment into your present installed Ubuntu system (and select it at the log in screen) or start from the iso files of Xubuntu and Lubuntu and install from there, if you like one of those flavours.