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GNOME 2.2 Desktop on Linux System Administration Guide

Improving File Manager Performance

The Nautilus file manager includes some features that you can modify to improve performance.

To Modify Performance Preferences

The file manager includes performance-related preferences. Each performance preference can take one of three values. The values are described in the following table:

Value 

Description 

always

Performs the action for both local files, and files on other file systems. 

local_only

Performs the action for local files only. When you set a performance preference to local_only, the CPU usage is reduced.

never

Never performs the action. When you set a performance preference to never, the CPU usage and the network traffic are reduced. 

The following table describes the performance preferences for the file manager. For the fastest performance, set the value of the preferences to never.

Preference 

Description 

show_icon_text

Specifies when to preview the content of text files in the icon that represents the file. To never preview the content of text files, run the following command:  

# gconftool-2 --type string --set /apps/nautilus/preferences/ show_icon_text never

Alternatively, users can perform the following steps: 

  1. Choose Edit -> Preferences from a file manager window, then choose Preview.

  2. Select an option for the Show text in icons preference.

show_directory_item_counts

Specifies when to show the number of items in folders. To never show the number of items in folders, run the following command: 

# gconftool-2 --type string --set /apps/nautilus/preferences/ show_directory_item_counts never

Alternatively, users can perform the following steps: 

  1. Choose Edit -> Preferences from a file manager window, then choose Preview.

  2. Select an option for the Count number of items preference.

show_image_thumbnails

Specifies when to show thumbnails of image files. To never show thumbnails, run the following command: 

# gconftool-2 --type string --set /apps/nautilus/preferences/ show_image_thumbnails never

Alternatively, users can perform the following steps: 

  1. Choose Edit -> Preferences from a file manager window, then choose Preview.

  2. Select an option for the Show thumbnails preference.

preview_sound

Specifies when to preview the content of sound files. To never preview the content of sound files, run the following command: 

# gconftool-2 --type string --set /apps/nautilus/preferences/preview_sound never

Alternatively, users can perform the following steps: 

  1. Choose Edit -> Preferences from a file manager window, then choose Preview.

  2. Select an option for the Preview sound files preference.

To Turn Off the Side Pane, Toolbar, and Location Bar

The file manager includes preferences that enable you to turn off the side pane and the toolbar. To improve file manager performance, turn off the side pane and the toolbar.

To turn off the side pane, run the following command:

# gconftool-2 --type bool --set /apps/nautilus/preferences/start_with_sidebar false

To turn off the toolbar, run the following command:

# gconftool-2 --type bool --set /apps/nautilus/preferences/start_with_toolbar false

You can also turn off the location bar. Users can use the Ctrl + L keyboard shortcut to display a location bar when required.

To turn off the location bar, run the following command:

# gconftool-2 --type bool --set /apps/nautilus/preferences/start_with_location_bar false

To Turn Off the Desktop

The file manager contains a preference that enables users to use Nautilus to manage the desktop. You can disable the desktop to improve performance. However, if you disable the desktop, you cannot do the following:

To disable the desktop, run the following command:

# gconftool-2 --type bool --set /apps/nautilus/preferences/show_desktop false