Linux Optimization Tips
iDog
Stop unused services
Go over all services, stop those which you don't need at all.
IDE hard disk: enable DMA
Execute following command or put it in /etc/rc.d/rc.local to execute it everytime you start your machine:
/sbin/hdparm -d1 -c3 -m16 /dev/hda
The performance can be measured by executing following command before and after enabling DMA:
hdparm -Tt /dev/hda