Ubuntu 10.04 running slow

[techforay]

I downloaded 10.04 and installed it on an old laptop. I works blazing fast. I also installed it on a desktop that has more memory and a faster processor. (AMD 64 3200) and it runs very slow. I click on the dropdown menus and they are very slow to respond. I try to move an open window and it is very slow. I am very new to Linux but passionate about learning more about it. I have search through forums to try and help me solve this problem but have not been able to do so. I have disabled ipv6 which I heard could cause a problem. It did not help. The processor dose not seams to be the problem. Even during poor performance the processor is registering low usage. My mainboard is a MSI K8MM3V -H. Can someone walk me through some steps to identify the problem? I would sure appreciate it.

[ptkobe]

You may check memory usage with
$ free
or $ watch free

Check processes running with
$ top

Check drives speed with
$ sudo hdparm -t /dev/sda1

See what services run at startup with
$ ls /etc/rc2.d/S*

Watch your logs
$ tail -500 /var/log/messages |less
(and others alike)
or
$ dmesg |less

$ lspci
to check the pci hardware you are using, namely your graphics card (where its very possible the problem reside)

$ cat /etc/fstab
and
$ cat /etc/mtab
or
$ mount
to see your filesystem tree and partitions

Also, I had a problem with an AMD processor because I installed powernowd but cpufreq was then already installed by default.

Nothing else I can remember right now.

Regards
Luis

[rokytnji]

Sounds like maybe slow Desktop is video related. Have you done a

lspci | grep VGA

yet. You may need a restricted driver for your video card.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedDrivers