Ubuntu How Do I: A Linux Q&A

Q: Get system info such as processor speed etc

A: Goto "Ubuntu Software Center" and install: hardinfo (System Profiler and Benchmark)

  "System Monitor" on some systems has a tab that says "System" before the Processes, Resources, and File 
  System tab.  On my system there was no System tab so I had to install hardinfo.

Q: How to check for bad sectors on system from GUI

A: Goto "Disks" which is the program name you type into the Ubuntu search. Just type "disks."

  Once the Disks utility opens you should select your hard drive from the left pane.  In the upper right
  corner of the interface is a gear icon that says "More actions" click that and choose 
  SMART Data & Self-Tests (a feature available for any modern S.M.A.R.T. enabled IDE/SATA drive).  This 
  works with a drive having that technology and Ubuntu having it enabled.  The "Overall Assessment will
  denote the number of bad sectors. Click "Start Self-test" to refresh.  An Extended test may take about
  10 minutes for a drive around 80-120gb. 

  To more thoroughly check for bad sectors and even mark them as bad you can drop to console.  You can
  perfrom a read-only test while the fs is mounted. 

  $ sudo badblocks -v /dev/sda1 

  To mark the bad blocks so that Ubuntu doesnt use them...

  write the location of the bad sectors into a file.

  $ sudo badblocks /dev/sda > /home/user/badblocks

  Feed the file into the FSCK command to mark these bad sectors as "unusable" sectors.

  $ sudo fsck -l badblocks /dev/sda

Q: How to easily mount windows network shares on demand

A: An easy way to to go to Muon (add software) and install Smb4K. It is a versatile network discovery utility.

Related

• Kubuntu and Ubuntu Linux Distribution Reference
• Determining Your Linux Version
• Ubuntu Installation from a Flash Drive

External Resources

• Ubuntu is a linux distribution Official Site