Issue 20 - Q&A

If you have Ubuntu-related questions, email them to: questions@fullcirclemagazine.org, and Tommy will answer them in a future issue. Please include as much information as you can about your

Q: I have GRUB installed on my first hard drive to boot into a LINUX splash screen with a list of what the system thought were bootable systems. How do I get into this part of the boot process to change a broken link to one that works? I have an entry that brings me to WIN XP boot list and can get to working XP system on third hard drive.

A: First you should try the tutorial here to get back into ubuntu:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=224351

Then you need to edit your menu.lst, you can do this using the following command:

gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

Scroll down to the bottom and (carefully) delete any broken entries or entries that you no longer want.

Q: From time to time since switching from Hardy to Intrepid, I've noticed the process gvfsd-http using a lot of memory, more than Firefox at times. What exactly is it? And can I safely kill it? I haven't noticed any bad results from doing so before.

A: gvfs stands for Gnome Virtual File System, which controls file operations. So it is probably better not to kill it unless you absolutely have to. It seems that downloads get temporarily stored in memory, so that is probably the problem.

I've noticed the process gvfsd-http using a lot of memory...

Q: I have heard that it is not necessary to zero the hard drive first and I've also heard that it is better to do that. I`ve read that if i do:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=1024

it will wipe my whole hard drive. Will it still be usable after I do this? I will be able to add partitions and reinstall the OS correct?

A: It shouldn't destroy your hard drive, and should have no ill effects. However, it is useless if all you are doing is reinstalling Ubuntu, since most of what is on the h