Before I re-install ..............

[bolex100]

Dell 1525 laptop 10 days old. I've apparently done something dumb in my quest to get my head around it, because it has slowed to a crawl. 3-4 mins to boot. 15 seconds to open a file window!

So before I give up and start over, one basic clarification. Is my understanding correct on this basic point?
Unlike windows, Ubuntu has no registry and all program data is stored in the program folder. So, installing a program does not affect the speed of the system if its not running.

correct me if I'm wrong.

[Delirium_Trigger]

"Registry" is more a Windows term than anything else.
Ubuntu does have the gconfig-editor however.
So you could say that is the registry.
And it doesn't affect performance at all to the best of my knowledge.

As far as installing a program affecting speed, it all depends on the speed of your hard drive and how full it is.

Hope this helps.

[Titan8990]

Unlike windows, Ubuntu has no registry and all program data is stored in the program folder. So, installing a program does not affect the speed of the system if its not running.

correct me if I'm wrong.

This is somewhat correct. I would not say that adding things to the registry alter the speed of a Windows machine. People that sell registry cleaners just want you to believe as so.

[Delirium_Trigger]

This is somewhat correct. I would not say that adding things to the registry alter the speed of a Windows machine. People that sell registry cleaners just want you to believe as so.

Ah okay, I was sure that the registry being bogged down wouldn't hinder performance.

[anotherdisciple]

How long have you been using Ubuntu? How long has it been slow?
What are the specs of your computer?

[bolex100]

Dell inspiron 2Ghz Celeron. Anyway done deal. Ubuntu is back in. Trying to figure out the webcam now.

[Elfy]

Have a look in your logs - system >admin >system logs - messages and see if you can find anything that fails.

If you can't find anything - you could boot in recovery mode and watch the screen for where the boot slows down or install bootchart and it will produce a chart which shouls show the bottleneck

sudo apt-get install bootchart

The chart will be in /var/log/bootchart

Edit- next time then