Easy Linux Tips Project

12/7/21, 12:53 PM Easy Linux Tips Project: Speed Up your Mint!
Easy Linux Tips Project
Easy tips for Linux Mint and Ubuntu, both for beginners and for advanced users.
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Speeding up your Linux Mint is fun! That way, you'll get more performance out of your
Search This Website
computer for free.
Note: are you using Ubuntu? There's a separate page for speed tips for Ubuntu.
There are several tweaks to make Linux Mint 20.x run faster. Some are quite safe, some
are risky. Here you'll find only safe ones.
Stop Data
Breaches Open
Soteri
I don't like risky tweaks, because I think that stability and reliability are much more
important than a (often minor) performance boost. That's why I've collected a couple of
speed tips, that you can apply safely and that'll probably make your Mint run considerably
faster. Without diminishing the stability and reliability of your system.
Note (1): Even though in general you can apply those tips safely, nothing in life is really for
free.... You always pay some "price". You disable a particular system service, a couple of
nice visual effects or some feature.
Each tweak therefore has its own "price tag". So you should consider before you apply a
How to use these tips in Ubun
tip, whether you're willing to pay the "price" for it. 20.04.x
Note (2): These tips are useful for all editions of Linux Mint: Cinnamon, MATE and The tips and how-to's on this
website are primarily written f
Xfce. But they're especially effective in combination with the Xfce edition, because that
Linux Mint 20.2. But you can
particular lightweight edition is recommended for slow older computers that are in dire need
also use them in Ubuntu 20.04
of a speed boost.
provided that you do this first
(*click*).
OK, now that that's out of the way, let's get started:
Most popular pages
Contents of this page:
1. Improve usage of the system memory (RAM)
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/p/speed-mint.html#ID1 1/16
1.1. The absolute number one: decrease swap use 10 Things to Do First in Linux
Mint 20.2 Uma
1.2. At least 6 GB memory (RAM): tame the inode cache
SSD: how to optimize your So
1.3. Only 4 GB RAM or less: increase zswap State Drive for Linux Mint and
Ubuntu
2. Make your Solid State Drive (SSD) run faster
Speed Up your Mint!
3. Disable Java in Libre Office
How to Clean Linux Mint Safe
4. Turn off some startup applications
Avoid 10 Fatal Mistakes in Lin
5. Cinnamon, MATE and Xfce: turn off all visual effects and/or compositing Mint and Ubuntu
5.1. Cinnamon: take some load off your graphics card Security in Linux Mint and
Ubuntu: an Explanation and
5.2. MATE: take some load off your graphics card Some Tips
Wireless security: four popula
5.3. Xfce: take some load off your graphics card
myths and 12 tips
6. Add-ons and extensions: don't turn your web browser into a Christmas tree How to solve internet
7. Make Firefox write less to the hard disk connection problems
Donate and get two free
7.1. Putting the Firefox network cache into the RAM goodies!
7.2. Disabling sessionstore
8. Firefox: optimize the Places database from time to time
9. Lots of RAM (at least 8 GB): put /tmp on tmpfs
9.1. Changing the default maximum size of tmpfs
9.2. How to undo tmpfs
10. Speed up your wireless internet (some WiFi chipsets)
10.1. The easiest way: speeding up your WiFi by executing a single
Gazduire
command
10.2. The harder way: speeding up your WiFi by editing a file
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manually RO gratuit
11. Speed up your Intel wireless chipset
5 GB SSD, Trafic
11.1. Problems? Then undo it like this
Necontorizat,
12. Remove the search database Domeniu .RO
12.1. Problems? Then undo it like this Gratuit, Suport
13. Turn off the firewall log
Non-Stop
13.1. Regrets? Then turn firewall logging on again like this datahost.ro
14. Tame the thumbnail feature
15. Increase battery life by disabling the Bluetooth driver
15.1. How to undo (re-enabling Bluetooth support) Rezervați acum
16. Temporary relief: force Firefox to minimize its memory usage
17. Clean up your Mint
Windows 7 is dangerous!
18. Want more tips?
Windows 7 gets no security
updates anymore.
Improve usage of the system memory (RAM) On January 14, 2020 Microsoft h
1. You can improve the usage of the system memory with the following tweaks: ended its support for Windows 7
entirely. Which makes Windows
The absolute number one: decrease swap use far too insecure for internet use.
1.1. This is especially noticeable on computers with relatively low RAM memory: they tend So don't wait and switch to a
secure, easy and free (no cost)
to be far too slow in Mint, and Mint accesses the hard disk too much. Luckily, this can be
Linux!
helped.
Note: does your computer have 8 GB RAM or more? Then you can skip this item, because
with so much RAM you probably won't notice any benefits from applying it.
On the hard disk there's a separate file or partition for virtual memory, called the swap.
When Mint uses the swap too much, the computer slows down a lot.
Mint's inclination to use the swap, is determined by a value called swappiness. The lower
the value, the longer it takes before Mint starts using the swap.
On a scale of 0-100, the default value is 60. Which is much too high for normal desktop
use; the optimal compromise is probably 20. Decreasing this default value somewhat on a
desktop computer, has no negative side effects whatsoever.
A detailed explanation can be found here (link dead? Then download this pdf file with the
same content).
Now the how-to for setting the swappiness to a more reasonable level, namely 20:
a. First check your current swappiness value. Type in the terminal (use copy/paste):
cat /proc/sys/vm/swappiness
Press Enter.
The result will probably be 60.
b. To change the swappiness into a more sensible setting, type in the terminal (use
copy/paste to avoid typo's):
xed admin:///etc/sysctl.conf
Press Enter. Note that you'll be asked twice for your password.
Now a text file opens. Scroll to the bottom of that text file and add your swappiness
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parameter to override the default. For that, copy/paste the following two blue lines into the
text file: Support this website by making
donation and get free goodies!
# Decrease swap usage to a more reasonable level
vm.swappiness=20
c. Save and close the text file. Then reboot your computer.
d. After the reboot, check the new swappiness setting:
- Launch a terminal window.

(You can launch a terminal window like this: *Click*)
- Type (use copy/paste):
cat /proc/sys/vm/swappiness
Press Enter.
Now it should be 20.
Note: if your hard disk is an SSD, there's an extra reason to decrease swappiness. That's
because too many write actions, like frequent swapping, reduce the lifespan of an SSD.
Also check these tips for optimizing an SSD for your Linux.
At least 6 GB memory (RAM): tame the inode cache

1.2. Computers with at least 6 GB of memory (RAM), will probably benefit by shrinking the
inode cache less aggressively.
The price that you pay for this, is that certain system items will remain longer in the RAM Tips, tweaks and FAQ
memory, which decreases the amount of available RAM for general tasks. That's why this
tweak is only useful for computers with at least 6 GB of memory (RAM). Home
40 Tips and Tweaks for Linux
This is how you do it: Mint - PART ONE
40 Tips and Tweaks for Linux
Mint - PART TWO
a. Type in the terminal (use copy/paste):
System hacks for advanced
Linux Mint users
xed admin:///etc/sysctl.conf 45 Frequently Asked Questio
about Linux Mint: PART 1
Press Enter. Now a text file opens. 45 Frequently Asked Questio
about Linux Mint: PART 2
b. Scroll to the bottom of that text file and add your cache parameter to override the default,
so copy/paste the following two blue lines into that text file:
# Improve cache management

vm.vfs_cache_pressure=50
Save and close the text file.
c. Reboot your computer.
Only 4 GB RAM or less: increase zswap

1.3. When your computer doesn't have much RAM (4 GB or less), then of course your best
choice for speed is a lightweight member of the Mint family, like Mint Xfce. But even then
the "lack" of memory will remain a problem, which will cause your system to slow down
from time to time. Even when the swappiness has been decreased to 20.
In that case, you'll often achieve better results by increasing the maximum for zswap. By
default, zswap uses up to 20 percent of the RAM memory. It's a kernel feature that
provides a compressed RAM cache for swap pages.
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Pages which would otherwise be swapped out to disk are instead compressed and stored
into a memory pool in RAM. Once the pool is full or the RAM is exhausted, the least
recently used page is decompressed and written to disk, as if it had not been intercepted.
After the page has been decompressed into the swap cache, the compressed version in
the pool will be freed.
With "only" 4 GB RAM or less, I recommend to double the maximum for zswap to 40
percent (not more!).
The price you pay for this, is twofold:
- Your processor (CPU) is being taxed more heavily, because it'll have to compress and
decompress more;
- When the system has filled the RAM swap, it'll start swapping on the hard drive as well.
With a heavy burden on the available RAM: the chunk of memory that has been sacrificed
for the RAM swap.
That's why I advise to increase zswap only for computers with not so much RAM, and even
then only in combination with a swappiness that has been set to 20.
You can increase zswap as follows:
a. Launch a terminal window.

b. Copy/paste the following command line into the terminal:

xed admin:///etc/default/grub
Press Enter.
(the three consecutive slashes are intended and no typo!)
c. Find the following line:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""
Add zswap.max_pool_percent=40 between the quotation marks, or simply replace the

entire line by the following line (use copy/paste):
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="zswap.max_pool_percent=40"
Save the modified file and close it.
d. Copy/paste the following command line into the terminal, in order to execute the
modification:
sudo update-grub
Press Enter. Type your password when prompted. In Ubuntu this remains entirely invisible,
not even dots will show when you type it, that's normal. In Mint this has changed: you'll see
asterisks when you type. Press Enter again.
(if you type the command: note the dash between update and grub)
e. Reboot your computer.
You can check whether the change has been implemented with this command:
cat /sys/module/zswap/parameters/max_pool_percent
It should report 40 now.
Warning: there's also RAM swap feature called zRam. Don't install that, because it's
counterproductive in combination with zswap!
Make your Solid State Drive (SSD) run faster

2. Do you have an SSD for hard drive? Then optimize it to make it faster.
Disable Java in Libre Office

3. The performance of Libre Office might be enhanced greatly, when you disable Java in it.
This will disable a few features, but usually you won't even miss those.
Toolbar Libre Office Writer - Tools - Options...
LibreOffice - Advanced - Java Options:

remove the tick for: Use a Java runtime environment
Turn off some startup applications

4. You can speed up Mint somewhat, by disabling a couple of system services that may be
superfluous for you. These are called startup applications, because they're being launched
at startup. This tweak can be compared to tweaking msconfig in Windows. Proceed with
care!
Cinnamon and MATE: Menu button - Preferences - Startup Applications
Xfce: type session in the search box of the menu and select:
Session and Startup
Disable a few services that you're absolutely sure you don't need and reboot your
computer (or log out and then log in again).
Warning: when in the slightest doubt about a particular application: don't do

anything, just leave it the way it is!
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Note: only disable them, do not remove the application from the list! Keep the tweak easily
reversible (you never know). I repeat: when in any doubt about a particular application:
don't do anything, just leave it enabled.
I advise to disable these two services in any case:

- System Reports (it taxes the system heavily from time to time, and it's normally not very
useful after the first system check after installation)
- mintwelcome (if needed, you can always launch it from the menu)
Two system services that many people don't need:

- Support for NVIDIA Prime (if you don't have an NVIDIA video card)
- Warpinator (if you have no local network)
Note: disabling startup applications is a user preference, so repeat this in each user
account.
Cinnamon, MATE and Xfce: turn off all visual effects and/or
compositing
5. Visual effects are nice, but they can slow down your system and even cause stability
problems. That's why Cinnamon, MATE and Xfce have only a few visual effects enabled by
default.
You can gain some speed and stability when you turn off all of them. Even more speed
gain can be achieved by selecting a lighter compositor or by disabling compositing entirely.
Proceed as follows:
Cinnamon: take some load off your graphics card

5.1. Disabling the "heavy" visual effects and/or compositing in Cinnamon, consists out of
four steps:
a. First of all, do this:

Menu button - Preferences - Effects
Turn off everything there.
b. Then make sure this setting is disabled (it's disabled by default, but you may have
enabled it yourself sometime):
Menu button - Preferences - System Settings - Applets: scroll to "Show desktop" and click
on its gears button - disable Peek at the desktop on hover.
c. Now this:
Menu button - Preferences - Window Tiling
Enable Window Tiling and Snapping: switch it off.
d. Finally, you might disable compositing. Disabling compositing often causes screen
tearing when scrolling through a web page or when watching videos. So there's a pretty
stiff price attached to this.... Therefore I don't generally recommend to disable compositing.
But if you want to disable compositing anyway, this is how to do it:

Menu button - Preferences - System Settings
Section Preferences: General
Disable compositing for full-screen windows: switch it on.
Technical sidenote for advanced users: whereas MATE and Xfce offer the option to
switch the window manager, Cinnamon doesn't: it's tied to its default window manager
Muffin.
MATE: take some load off your graphics card

5.2. Disabling the "heavy" visual effects and/or compositing in MATE is easy:
a. Menu button - Preferences - Desktop Settings

Click Windows - section Window Manager: change Marco + Compositing into one of the
following two options:
- Marco + Compton (recommended). This will cause some speed gain because of the
simpler and more lightweight compositor Compton.
- Marco (discouraged). This causes maximal speed gain by disabling all compositing, but
it also often causes screen tearing when scrolling through a web page or when watching
videos. So there's a pretty stiff price attached to disabling compositing.... Therefore I don't
generally recommend that.
Note: Marco + Compton provides the most simple and therefore lightweight compositor;
window manager Metacity and its variations are just a low-performance stopgap for
maximum hardware compatibility.
b. Menu button - Preferences - Windows
In that tool, do the following two things:
I. Tab Placement: deselect: Enable window tiling
II. Only if you've changed your window manager into plain Marco without any compositor
(which I discourage!), do this as well:
Tab General: deselect: Enable software compositing window manager
c. Remove the unstable and unreliable Compiz, that you never need in any case:

- Type (use copy/paste to prevent errors):
sudo apt-get remove compiz-core
Xfce: take some load off your graphics card

5.3. Even lightweight champion Xfce has relatively "heavy" compositing by default. Reduce
its weight like this:
a. Menu button - Settings - Desktop Settings

Window Manager: change Xfwm4 + Compositing into one of the following two options:
- Xfwm4 + Compton (recommended). This will cause some speed gain because of the
simpler and more lightweight compositor Compton.
- Xfwm4 (discouraged). This causes maximal speed gain by disabling all compositing, but
it also often causes screen tearing, when scrolling through a web page or when watching
videos. So there's a pretty stiff price attached to disabling compositing.... Therefore I don't
generally recommend it.
Note: Marco + Compton provides the most simple and therefore lightweight compositor;
window manager Metacity and its variations are just a low-performance stopgap for
maximum hardware compatibility.
b. Remove the unstable and unreliable Compiz, that you never need in any case:

- Type (use copy/paste to prevent errors):
sudo apt-get remove compiz-core
Add-ons and extensions: don't turn your web browser into a

Christmas tree
6. You can install a lot of add-ons (extensions) in the web browsers Firefox and Google
Chrome. Those add-ons can be very useful, but they have a couple of important
disadvantages, because they are "applications within an application":
- they slow your browser down, especially if there are a lot of them;
- they can cause malfunctions, both in each other and in the browser itself;
- it has occurred: add-ons with malicious content. Don't trust them blindly.
So don't turn your browser into a Christmas tree: don't adorn it with lots of add-ons. Limit
yourself to only a few add-ons, that are really important for you.
Note: watch out for add-ons that claim that they make your browser faster! Often they do
more harm than good. Do not install them: even if one or two of them can really make your
browser run noticeably faster, they may damage the stability of your browser.
Limiting the disk write actions of Firefox

7. By default, Firefox writes a lot to the hard disk. This reduces its speed. You can limit the
disk write actions of Firefox, by putting the Firefox network cache into the RAM and by
disabling sessionstore. Like this:
Putting the Firefox network cache into the RAM

7.1. By moving the Firefox network cache from your hard disk to the RAM, you diminish the
amount of disk writes. This'll probably make your Firefox noticeably faster. The price you
pay is small: it'll only "cost" you 512 MB of your RAM.
Note: don't do this when your computer has only 2 GB of RAM or less! Because with very
little RAM, even 512 MB can't be missed.
Proceed like this:
a. Type in the URL bar of Firefox:

about:config
Press Enter.
b. Now you're being presented with a warning. Ignore it and click on the button "I accept
the risk!".
c. Copy/paste the following into the filter bar (search bar):

browser.cache.disk.enable
Toggle its value to false by double-clicking it: this will disable "cache to disk" entirely.
d. Now you're going to make sure that "cache to RAM" is enabled. Copy/paste the
following into the filter bar (search bar):
browser.cache.memory.enable
That existing entry should already be set to true; if not, toggle it to true by double-clicking
it.
e. Then you're going to determine how much memory can be used as RAM cache.
Copy/paste this into the filter bar (search bar):
browser.cache.memory.capacity
That entry should exist already (if not, create it now).
The current integer value will probably be -1, which automates the maximum size of the
RAM cache dependent on the available amount of RAM. So far so good, but this
automation usually creates a cache that's far too small....
So set it to 524288 (KB, which equals a maximum of 512 MB). That's usually enough for all
amounts of RAM. But if you have RAM to spare, I recommend 1048576, which equals a
maximum of 1 GB.
f. Close Firefox and launch it again. You're done! Check it like this:
Type in the URL bar:

about:cache
Press Enter.
By the way: you'll then also see a mention of an "appcache" which might still be present on
the disk, but there's no need to move that (much less frequently used) cache to the RAM
as well.
Note: This is a user preference. Repeat this hack in each user account.
Disabling sessionstore
7.2. Firefox has a session restore feature, which remembers what pages were opened if
Firefox experiences an unexpected shutdown (read: crashes). This feature is neat, but
causes many disk writes. Disable it like this:
a. Type in the URL bar of Firefox:
about:config
Press Enter.
b. Now you're being presented with a warning. Ignore it and click on the button "I accept
the risk!".
c. Type in the filter bar: sessionstore
c. Double-click on the item called browser.sessionstore.interval. The default interval is

15000, which means 15 seconds. Add three zeros to the existing value, so that it becomes:
15000000 and click the OK button.
d. Close Firefox and launch it again. Now you've practically disabled the session restore
feature.
Note (1): Leave the other cache and sessionstore settings as they are: usually, the less
invasive a hack is, the better. Because this reduces the risk of unexpected unwanted side
effects.
Note (2): This is a user preference. Repeat this hack in each user account.
Firefox: optimize the Places database from time to time

8. In your Firefox profile there's an sqlite database called Places, which after a while starts
resembling a swollen Swiss cheese with holes. That might slow your Firefox down.
You can speed your Firefox up a bit, by optimizing (vacuuming) that database: you can
namely deflate that swollen Swiss cheese into a compact smaller cheese. As follows:
Type the following in the URL bar of Firefox:
about:support
Press Enter.
Almost at the bottom of the page you get to see then, there's a header called Places
Database. Click there on the button called Verify Integrity.
You're done! Repeat this on a monthly basis, so that your Firefox won't lose speed again
because of a swollen database.
Lots of RAM (at least 8 GB): put /tmp on tmpfs

9. Does your system have lots of RAM memory? If it has at least 8 GB, then you can
probably speed up your system a bit by placing /tmp on a tmpfs partition. Which means,
translated into ordinary language: you bring about that temporary files will not be placed on
the hard disk anymore, but on a virtual RAM disk instead.
In certain cases this will not only increase overall performance, but also reduce boot time.
This is how you do it:

b. Copy/paste this blue line into the terminal (it's one line!):
sudo cp -v /usr/share/systemd/tmp.mount /etc/systemd/system/
c. Then copy/paste this command into the terminal:
sudo systemctl enable tmp.mount
Press Enter.
d. Reboot your computer.
e. After the reboot: check whether it works, with this terminal command:
systemctl status tmp.mount
By default, a tmpfs partition has its maximum size set to half your total RAM. The actual
memory consumption depends on how much you fill it up, as a tmpfs partition doesn't
consume any memory until it is actually needed.
Note: in general, do not apply this on systems with less RAM than 8 GB! Because then this
tweak might not make them faster, but (much) slower.
Changing the default maximum size of tmpfs

9.1. As said: by default, a tmpfs partition has its maximum size set to half your total RAM.
The actual memory consumption depends on how much you fill it up, as a tmpfs partition
doesn't consume any memory until it is actually needed.
If you wish to set another maximum size for tmpfs than the default, you can do that by
adding a size option to /etc/systemd/system/tmp.mount. For example, if you wish to set
the maximum size to 2 Gigabyte, copy/paste this line into the terminal:
sudo sed -i 's/,nodev/,nodev,size=2G/' /etc/systemd/system/tmp.mount
Afterwards, reboot your computer.
After the reboot you can check whether the modification has succeeded, by executing this
command:
df -h /tmp
How to undo tmpfs

9.2. Do you wish to undo tmpfs? Then copy/paste this line into the terminal:
sudo rm -v /etc/systemd/system/tmp.mount
Afterwards, reboot your computer.
Speed up your wireless internet (some WiFi chipsets)

10. For some wireless chipsets, a simple tweak is sufficient for increasing the speed and
the connection quality of your wireless internet. Namely disabling the power management
for the wireless chipset.
The price you pay is obviously an increase in power consumption, although this increase
isn't big.
There are two ways to do it: an easy way and a harder way. Below I describe both
methods.
The easiest way: speeding up your WiFi by executing a single command

10.1. The easiest way to speed up your wireless internet connection by disabling power
management for the WiFi chipset, goes like this:
a. First you need to find out whether Mint applies power management to your WiFi chipset.
For this, launch a terminal window.
b. Type in the terminal:
iwconfig
Press Enter.
You can then not only see the name for your wireless chipset (for example: wlp2s0), but
also whether Power Management is on for it. When it's off, or when no mention is made of
Power Management at all, you don't need to do anything.
When Power Management is on, proceed as follows:
c. Use copy/paste for transferring the following line into the terminal (don't try to type it!):
sudo sed -i 's/3/2/' /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/default-wifi-powersave-on.conf
d. Reboot your computer.
e. Then check in the terminal, by the command iwconfig, whether Power Management for
the wireless chipset is off now.
If so, you're done!
The harder way: speeding up your WiFi by editing a file manually

10.2. You can also edit a configuration file by hand, in order to disable power management
for the Wifi chipset. It's a bit more difficult than the method described in item 10.1, but it you
can do that as follows:
a. First you need to find out whether Mint applies power management to your wireless
chipset. For this, launch a terminal window.
b. Type in the terminal:
iwconfig
Press Enter.
You can then not only see the name for your wireless chipset (for example: wlp2s0), but
also whether Power Management is on for it. When it's off, or when no mention is made of
Power Management at all, you don't need to do anything.
c. When Power Management is on, proceed as follows.
In order to prevent typo's, copy/paste this line into the terminal (it's one line!):
xed admin:///etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/default-wifi-powersave-on.conf
Press Enter.
d. Now a text file opens. In that text file, you see the following content:
[connection]
wifi.powersave = 3
Change 3 into 2.
Save the modified file and close it.
e. Reboot your computer.
f. Then check in the terminal, by the command iwconfig, whether Power Management for
the wireless chipset is off now.
If so, you're done!
Speed up your Intel wireless chipset

11. If you have a (reasonably) modern wireless chipset from Intel, it'll run on the iwlwifi
driver. If so, you might be able to increase its speed noticeably, by turning on Tx AMPDU
for it.
The purpose of AMPDU is to improve data transmission by aggregating or grouping

together several sets of data. Thus it sharply reduces the amount of transmission
overhead.
It used to be "on" by default in the iwlwifi driver. But several years ago, it was turned off
because of stability issues on a few wifi chipsets. This problem affects, however, only a
minority of chipsets...
For turning it on, proceed like this:
a. First check whether your chipset runs on the iwlwifi driver:
Launch a terminal window.

Use copy/paste to transfer this line into the terminal:
lsmod | grep iwlwifi
Press Enter.
Does the terminal output contain the word iwlwifi (in red letters)? If so, proceed with the
next step.
b. Use copy/paste to transfer the following blue line (it's one line!) to the terminal. Don't
type it; it's too easy to make typing errors:
echo "options iwlwifi 11n_disable=8" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi-speed.conf
Don't be confused by the name of the option: when it's set to 8, you don't actually disable
anything but you enable something.
d. Finally, check your new wireless speed, for example on speedtest.net.
Has your wifi become unstable? Then undo the iwlwifi hack as described below.
Problems? Then undo it like this

11.1. Does the iwlwifi hack create stability issues for your wifi? Then undo it with the
following terminal command:
sudo rm -v /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi-speed.conf
Then reboot. All should be then, as it was before.
Remove the search database

12. Especially on low-powered machines, mlocate (which periodically creates a system-
wide file search database) can tax the system resources too heavily. That file search
database isn't very useful anyway, so you might benefit from removing mlocate (or locate,
if that's installed instead of mlocate).
For that, proceed as follows:
b. Copy/paste this blue line into the terminal:
sudo apt-get purge mlocate locate
Problems? Then undo it like this

12.1. Does removing mlocate cause any problems for you? Then re-install it with the
following terminal command:
sudo apt-get install mlocate
All should be then, as it was before.
Turn off the firewall log

13. Have you enabled the firewall ufw (which is recommended)? Then you'll probably never
look at its logs, so it won't hurt to turn off all logging by the firewall. Especially because it
can be rather spammy sometimes. Turning off its log can save some system resources and
disk space, and can be done like this:

b. Copy/paste this blue line into the terminal:
sudo ufw logging off
Regrets? Then turn firewall logging on again like this

13.1. Do you want to enable logging by the firewall again? Then use the following terminal
command to turn firewall logging on again with the default amount of activity (low):
sudo ufw logging low
All should be then, as it was before.
Tame the thumbnail feature

14. For each displayed local picture, Mint automatically creates a thumbnail, for easy
browsing in the file manager. This might impact performance, when you're dealing with a
lot of pictures.... Furthermore, it's a usual suspect for memory leaks. This is how to tame
this feature a bit:
a. In Mint Cinnamon's file manager, Nemo, you can reduce the activity of the thumbnailer
service as follows:
Launch your file manager (Nemo) - panel: Edit - Preferences

Tab Preview - section Previewable files - Only for files smaller than: change that to 5 MB.
Note: On very old and slow machines it's better to disable thumbnailing entirely in that
dialog window, by setting Show thumbnails: to No (instead of the default setting, which is
Local Files Only)
Close Nemo.
b. You can also install a small stand-alone file manager called SpaceFM, which behaves
itself a bit better with thumbnails than Cinnamon's Nemo or MATE's Caja. For that, proceed
like this:
First install the GTK3 edition of SpaceFM (not the default GTK2 edition). In the terminal:
sudo apt-get install spacefm-gtk3
Launch SpaceFM, open a folder with images in it, and then in its panel: View - Preferences
- tab General: select Show Thumbnails
Increase battery life by disabling the Bluetooth driver

15. If you rarely use Bluetooth, you can probably increase the battery life of your laptop a
lot by disabling the Bluetooth driver (instead of simply disabling the Bluetooth feature).
Like this:

b. Copy/paste this blue line into the terminal (it's one line!):
echo "blacklist btusb" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-bluetooth.conf
How to undo (re-enabling Bluetooth support)

15.1. Do you want to enable Bluetooth again? Then proceed as follows:
a. Temporary re-enabling Bluetooth can be done with this terminal command:
sudo modprobe -v btusb
This will instantly re-enable Bluetooth, but it won't survive a reboot.
b. Permanent re-enabling of Bluetooth can be achieved by the following terminal

command which removes the Bluetooth module from the blacklist:
sudo rm -v /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-bluetooth.conf
Then reboot your computer. Bluetooth should be available again permanently.
Temporary relief: force Firefox to minimize its memory usage

16. Firefox bogging down your system? Then you can provide temporary relief by forcing
Firefox to minimize its memory usage, like this:
Type in the URL bar of Firefox:

about:memory
Press Enter. Tab Free memory: click the button called Minimize memory usage
This offers only temporary relief; for a structural solution you'll need to investigate a bit
more. Start with the usual suspects: the add-ons and extensions that you've weighed your
Firefox down with.
Clean up your Mint
17. A clean Mint will perform better than a Mint that has become polluted too much by file
debris and disordered settings (although pollution is much less of a problem than in
Windows). This is how to clean Linux Mint.
Want more tips?

18. Do you want more tips and tweaks? There's a lot more of them on this website!
For example:
Avoid 10 fatal mistakes
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The result will probably be 60.

d. After the reboot, check the new swappiness setting:

- Launch a terminal window.

- Type (use copy/paste):

Now it should be 20.

At least 6 GB memory (RAM): tame the inode cache

# Improve cache management

Save and close the text file.

c. Reboot your computer.

Only 4 GB RAM or less: increase zswap

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The price you pay for this, is twofold:

You can increase zswap as follows:

a. Launch a terminal window.

b. Copy/paste the following command line into the terminal:

(the three consecutive slashes are intended and no typo!)

c. Find the following line:

Add zswap.max_pool_percent=40 between the quotation marks, or simply replace the

Save the modified file and close it.

e. Reboot your computer.

It should report 40 now.

Make your Solid State Drive (SSD) run faster

Disable Java in Libre Office

Toolbar Libre Office Writer - Tools - Options...

LibreOffice - Advanced - Java Options:

Turn off some startup applications

Cinnamon and MATE: Menu button - Preferences - Startup Applications

Warning: when in the slightest doubt about a particular application: don't do

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I advise to disable these two services in any case:

Two system services that many people don't need:

Cinnamon: take some load off your graphics card

a. First of all, do this:

But if you want to disable compositing anyway, this is how to do it:

MATE: take some load off your graphics card

a. Menu button - Preferences - Desktop Settings

b. Menu button - Preferences - Windows

In that tool, do the following two things:

I. Tab Placement: deselect: Enable window tiling

- Launch a terminal window.

- Type (use copy/paste to prevent errors):

sudo apt-get remove compiz-core

Xfce: take some load off your graphics card

a. Menu button - Settings - Desktop Settings

- Launch a terminal window.

- Type (use copy/paste to prevent errors):

sudo apt-get remove compiz-core

Add-ons and extensions: don't turn your web browser into a

Limiting the disk write actions of Firefox

Putting the Firefox network cache into the RAM

Proceed like this:

a. Type in the URL bar of Firefox: