Some Effective Ubuntu Tweaks and Tricks

     Ubuntu is a Linux-based operating system.It Provides Free and Open Source software.Also Using ubuntu extensions we can run external softwares.Lot of versions of ubuntu are available and anyone can download freely.But,most of them doesn't aware the working of ubuntu and their settings.Especially command lines instructions to do some tasks.Here,you can earn some of the best and effective tips and tweaks..

Set Aero Glass Effect

1. Press Alt+F2 to bring up "Run Application" window.
2. Type gconf-editor into the box, click "Run" to bring up Configuration Editor.
3. Browse to apps > gwd, look for "metacity_theme_active_opacity" on the right panel.
4. Change the value in "metacity_theme_active_opacity" from 1 to 0.75 (or smaller such as 0.5 for more transparency).
5. Then go to System > Preferences > CompizConfig Settings Manager
6. Select "Effects" from the left panel.
7. Tick "Blur Windows" and click the "Close" button. (Note: default values in Blur Windows can be applied.)

Note:

   If the aero glass effect doesn't work, check if you have updated your display driver. Go to System > Administration > Additional Drivers, activate the recommended graphics driver and restart the system.

Hide Drive Icons on the Desktop

    Ubuntu adds an icon to the desktop for every removable drive that you attach to your system. The icons can be hidden by these steps:

1. Press Alt+F2 to bring up "Run Application" window.
2. Type gconf-editor into the box, click "Run" to bring up Configuration Editor.
3. Browse to apps > nautilus > desktop.
4. Untick "volumes_visible" and close the window.

The drive icons would then disappear from the desktop. Remember that you can always access the drives from "Places".

Auto Start Up an Application

   In Windows, you can place a program shortcut in a startup folder for running a program automatically when the system starts. In Ubuntu, you can do the same in this way:

1. Go To System > Preferences > Startup Applications
2. Click the "Add" button.
3. Name a program.
4. Click the "Browse" button and navigate to File System > user > bin, where programs are usually installed.
5. Select a program, click the "Open" button followed by the "Add" button.

   The above program will then be listed in additional startup programs. Check if the program runs automatically by logging out and back to the system.

Change Wallpapers Automatically

    Want to change wallpapers automatically within a certain time interval? Try Wally.

1. Go to Applications (or Main Menu) > Ubuntu Software Center, enter wally into the Search box and click "Install". (See below.)
2. Press Alt + F2, enter wally and click the "Run" button.
3. Right-click the Wally icon on the panel, select Settings.
4. Click "Folders" in the left column, then add /usr/share/backgrounds to the Folder box and tick "Include subfolders".
5. Click "Settings" in the left column, then tick "Play automatically on application starts".
6. Set the application to auto start, using this tip Auto Start Up an Application mentioned above(as Wally's option to "Start automatically when system starts" being disabled).

   Your wallpaper on the desktop will automatically change following these basic settings when you log back in the system (or right click the Wally icon on the panel and select "Play").

Note:

   If you like to get the latest version of Wally which has an option to disable splash screen and auto quit, go to developer's site to download. After which, right click the .deb file and select "Open with Ubuntu Software Center" to install, then follow Step 2 above.

How To Terminate Unresponsive Programs

   Xkill is part of the X11 utilities pre-installed in Ubuntu and a tool for terminating misbehaving X clients or unresponsive programs. You can easily add a shortcut key to launch xkill with the steps below.

1. Go to System > Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts.
2. Click the Add button to create a custom shortcut.
3. Enter xkill to both the Name and Command boxes and click the Apply button.
4. Click on Disabled at the xkill row in the Keyboard Shortcuts window (Disabled is then changed to New shortcut...).
5. Press a new key combination, e.g:  Ctrl+Alt+X (New shortcut... is then changed to Ctrl+Alt+X).
6. Click the Close button.

   Xkill is ready for use. Press the above key combination to turn the cursor to an X-sign, move the X-sign and drop it into a program interface to terminate the unresponsive program, or cancel the X-sign with a right-click.

Re-start System without Rebooting

    If you press Ctrl+Alt+Delete, Ubuntu brings you a menu to shut down, restart, or suspend your system. But for some reason you might encounter that the system freezes, the mouse cursor can't move, neither pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete can work.

    Remember that there's a shortcut key Alt+PrintScreen+K that can bring you back to the log-in screen immediately without the need to reboot the system. That's a time saver.

As an alternative, you can also use Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to do the same after you've enabled the shortcut key by the following steps:

1. Go to System > Preferences > Keyboard.
2. Select the “Layouts” tab and click the “Options” button.
3. Select “Key sequence to kill the X server” and enable “Control + Alt + Backspace”.

Create an Advanced File Manager

    In the Ubuntu file system, you can use Nautilus file manager to browse most files but can only write files in your home folder /home/your_name and its sub-folders such as Desktop and Documents. If you have to rename a folder or write files outside of your home folder using the file manager, you won't be able to but you can create an advanced file manager for this purpose.

1. Go to System > Preferences > Main Menu
2. Select "Accessories" in the left panel and click "New Item" in the right panel.
3. Enter a name such as Advanced Nautilus in the "Name" box.
4. Enter gksu nautilus in the "Command" box.
5. Click the "OK" button and then "Close" button.

   Now you can go to Applications (or Main Menu) > Accessories and see that the Advanced Nautilus is ready for use. But be careful since you can use it to delete or change any files on your system.

Disable or Change Login Sound

    Each time when you login to Ubuntu, it plays a login sound. If you don't like to listen to it each time you login, you can easily disable it, or you can even change it to your favorite sound.

To disable the login sound:

1. Go to System > Preferences > Startup Applications.
2. Under the "Startup Programs" tab, untick "GNOME Login Sound"
3. Click Close

To change the login sound, tick the above "GNOME Login Sound" if it's unticked, then follow these steps:

1. Press Alt+F2 to bring up "Run Application" window.
2. Paste gksu nautilus /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo into the box, click "Run" to open Nautilus in the right folder.
3. Rename the original file desktop-login.ogg to another such as desktop-login-original.ogg for backup
4. Copy your sound file in .ogg format to the above folder and name the file as desktop-login.ogg
5. Log out and log back in to listen to the new login sound.

Install Oracle Java Packages

    Ubuntu may use OpenJDK by default, but I note that some web services such as ezyZip.com might need the Oracle Java Runtime Environment (JRE) to be installed in the system for running the services properly. If you would like to get the proprietary Oracle Java packages for your system, you can download and install them with the steps below:

1. Go to Applications (or Main Menu) > Accessories > Terminal.
2. Enter sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java to add the partner repository.
3. Enter sudo apt-get update to update the source list.
4. Enter sudo apt-get install oracle-java7-installer
5. Enter sudo java -version to check the version of the Java used in the system.
6. Enter sudo update-alternatives --config java to choose the default Java for use in the system when necessary.
   

Change Default Boot Options

    After full installation, Ubuntu is set to be the default operating system to boot up if no key is pressed within a few seconds on a multi-boot system. You might want to set your preferred operating system to boot up by default. This can be done easily with StartUp-Manager.

1. Go to Applications (or Main Menu) > Accessories > Terminal.
2. Enter sudo apt-get install startupmanager (OR copy the highlighted code and, in the Terminal, press Ctrl-Shift-V to paste it).
3. Enter password used upon installation of Ubuntu.
4. Go to System > Administration > StartUp-Manager
5. Enter the same password to perform pre-configuration tasks, which include searching boot loaders to operating systems.
6. Select the default operating system from the pull-down menu, click "Close" to perform post-configuration tasks.

    With StartUp-Manager, you can also do others such as manage Usplash themes, adjust boot loader menu resolution or set timeout in seconds. Avoid changing timeout to 0 seconds if you need to select a system to boot up from a multi-boot menu.

Auto Shutdown the System

    A simple command can be entered in the Terminal to schedule a time for the system to shut down.

1. Go to Applications (or Main Menu) > Accessories > Terminal.
2. Enter sudo shutdown -h +m (replace m with the number of minutes, e.g. +60).
3. OR: enter sudo shutdown -h hh:mm (replace hh:mm with the time on the 24hr clock, e.g. 23:15).
4. Enter password and minimize the Terminal window.

   The system will then shut down within the minutes or at the time specified. To cancel
a scheduled time, enter sudo shutdown -c in the Terminal.

 Note:

  Alternatively, you might want to download and install GShutdown, which is a GUI program for scheduling a time to shutdown the system.