CHAPTER 31 OPTIMIZING YOUR SYSTEM Figure 31-1.
CHAPTER 31 OPTIMIZING YOUR SYSTEM Figure 31-1. The scripts for each run level are contained in the /etc/rcX.d directories, where X is the run-level number. Once all that has finished, you can use the computer! Because so much must take place for your system to come to life, booting Ubuntu can take some time. On my test system, it averaged between one and two minutes. Certainly, you can shave some time from this. Reducing the Boot Menu Delay Getting rid of the GRUB boot menu delay can save some waiting around in the early stages of the boot process. The delay can be reduced to a second, or even eradicated completely. Of course, in such a case, you won t be able to choose which operating system you want to load if you re dual-booting with Windows. Even if Ubuntu is the only operating system on your computer, without the boot delay, you won t have the chance to boot into recovery mode, as offered on the GRUB menu. So you need to consider whether this is a worthwhile time-saving measure. The boot menu delay is stated in the /boot/grub/menu.lst file. You can load this into the Gedit text editor by typing the following: sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst Look for the line that begins with timeout, as shown in Figure 31-2, and change the value to whatever you wish. The units are counted in seconds, so a value of 3equates to three seconds. A value of zero (0) will mean the boot menu won t appear at all. Generally speaking, a delay of a second (1) gives you just enough time to hit a key at the appropriate time, and this will then cancel the countdown, meaning the boot menu will stay on your screen until you select an option. When you ve finished, save the file and quit Gedit.