12.10 has been slowing down mysteriously. Normally, in past versions, I can log in, open Firefox, and it will pop up within seconds. 12.10 is like that upon install too, though once I install my old apps, it gets very slow by Ubuntu standards. After login the hard drive will just make noise for a while before the OS will do anything.

Hardware:

enter     description: Desktop Computer
product: XPS 8300 ()
vendor: Dell Inc.
serial: B6G2WR1
width: 64 bits
capabilities: smbios-2.6 dmi-2.6 vsyscall32
configuration: boot=normal chassis=desktop uuid=44454C4C-3600-1047-8032-C2C04F575231
core
   description: Motherboard
   product: 0Y2MRG
   vendor: Dell Inc.
   physical id: 0
   version: A00
   serial: ..CN7360419G04VQ.
   slot: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
 *cpu
      description: CPU
      product: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz
      vendor: Intel Corp.
      physical id: 4
      bus info: cpu@0
      version: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz
      serial: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
      slot: CPU 1
      size: 1600MHz
      capacity: 1600MHz
      width: 64 bits
      clock: 100MHz
      capabilities: x86-64 fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx lahf_lm ida arat epb xsaveopt pln pts dtherm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid cpufreq
      configuration: cores=4 enabledcores=1 threads=2
    *-cache:0
         description: L1 cache
         physical id: 5
         slot: L1-Cache
         size: 256KiB
         capacity: 256KiB
         capabilities: internal write-through unified
    *-cache:1
         description: L2 cache
         physical id: 6
         slot: L2-Cache
         size: 1MiB
         capacity: 1MiB
         capabilities: internal write-through unified
    *-cache:2 DISABLED
         description: L3 cache
         physical id: 7
         slot: L3-Cache
         size: 8MiB
         capacity: 8MiB
         capabilities: internal write-back unified
 *-memory
      description: System Memory
      physical id: 20
      slot: System board or motherboard
      size: 8GiB
    *-bank:0
         description: SODIMM DDR3 Synchronous 1333 MHz (0.8 ns)
         product: NT2GC64B88B0NF-CG
         vendor: Nanya
         physical id: 0
         serial: 7228183
         slot: DIMM3
         size: 2GiB
         width: 64 bits
         clock: 1333MHz (0.8ns)
    *-bank:1
         description: SODIMM DDR3 Synchronous 1333 MHz (0.8 ns)
         product: NT2GC64B88B0NF-CG
         vendor: Nanya
         physical id: 1
         serial: 1E28183
         slot: DIMM1
         size: 2GiB
         width: 64 bits
         clock: 1333MHz (0.8ns)
    *-bank:2
         description: SODIMM DDR3 Synchronous 1333 MHz (0.8 ns)
         product: NT2GC64B88B0NF-CG
         vendor: Nanya
         physical id: 2
         serial: 9E28183
         slot: DIMM4
         size: 2GiB
         width: 64 bits
         clock: 1333MHz (0.8ns)
    *-bank:3
         description: SODIMM DDR3 Synchronous 1333 MHz (0.8 ns)
         product: NT2GC64B88B0NF-CG
         vendor: Nanya
         physical id: 3
         serial: 5527183
         slot: DIMM2
         size: 2GiB
         width: 64 bits
         clock: 1333MHz (0.8ns)
 *-firmware
      description: BIOS
      vendor: Dell Inc.
      physical id: 0
      version: A05
      date: 09/21/2011
      size: 64KiB
      capacity: 4032KiB
      capabilities: mca pci upgrade shadowing escd cdboot bootselect socketedrom edd int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer int10video acpi usb zipboot biosbootspecification
 *-pci
      description: Host bridge
      product: 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller
      vendor: Intel Corporation
      physical id: 100
      bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
      version: 09
      width: 32 bits
      clock: 33MHz
    *-pci:0
         description: PCI bridge
         product: Xeon E3-1200/2nd Generation Core Processor Family PCI Express Root Port
         vendor: Intel Corporation
         physical id: 1
         bus info: pci@0000:00:01.0
         version: 09
         width: 32 bits
         clock: 33MHz
         capabilities: pci pm msi pciexpress normal_decode bus_master cap_list
         configuration: driver=pcieport
         resources: irq:40 ioport:e000(size=4096) memory:fe600000-fe6fffff ioport:d0000000(size=268435456)
       *-display
            description: VGA compatible controller
            product: Juniper [Radeon HD 5700 Series]
            vendor: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI
            physical id: 0
            bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
            version: 00
            width: 64 bits
            clock: 33MHz
            capabilities: pm pciexpress msi vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
            configuration: driver=radeon latency=0
            resources: irq:44 memory:d0000000-dfffffff memory:fe620000-fe63ffff ioport:e000(size=256) memory:fe600000-fe61ffff
       *-multimedia
            description: Audio device
            product: Juniper HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 5700 Series]
            vendor: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI
            physical id: 0.1
            bus info: pci@0000:01:00.1
            version: 00
            width: 64 bits
            clock: 33MHz
            capabilities: pm pciexpress msi bus_master cap_list
            configuration: driver=snd_hda_intel latency=0
            resources: irq:48 memory:fe640000-fe643fff
    *-communication
         description: Communication controller
         product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1
         vendor: Intel Corporation
         physical id: 16
         bus info: pci@0000:00:16.0
         version: 04
         width: 64 bits
         clock: 33MHz
         capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list
         configuration: driver=mei latency=0
         resources: irq:45 memory:fe708000-fe70800f
    *-usb:0
         description: USB controller
         product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2
         vendor: Intel Corporation
         physical id: 1a
         bus info: pci@0000:00:1a.0
         version: 05
         width: 32 bits
         clock: 33MHz
         capabilities: pm debug ehci bus_master cap_list
         configuration: driver=ehci_hcd latency=0
         resources: irq:16 memory:fe707000-fe7073ff
    *-multimedia
         description: Audio device
         product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller
         vendor: Intel Corporation
         physical id: 1b
         bus info: pci@0000:00:1b.0
         version: 05
         width: 64 bits
         clock: 33MHz
         capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
         configuration: driver=snd_hda_intel latency=0
         resources: irq:46 memory:fe700000-fe703fff
    *-pci:1
         description: PCI bridge
         product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1
         vendor: Intel Corporation
         physical id: 1c
         bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.0
         version: b5
         width: 32 bits
         clock: 33MHz
         capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
         configuration: driver=pcieport
         resources: irq:41 memory:fe500000-fe5fffff
       *-network
            description: Network controller
            product: BCM4313 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller
            vendor: Broadcom Corporation
            physical id: 0
            bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
            version: 01
            width: 64 bits
            clock: 33MHz
            capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
            configuration: driver=bcma-pci-bridge latency=0
            resources: irq:16 memory:fe500000-fe503fff
    *-pci:2
         description: PCI bridge
         product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4
         vendor: Intel Corporation
         physical id: 1c.3
         bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.3
         version: b5
         width: 32 bits
         clock: 33MHz
         capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
         configuration: driver=pcieport
         resources: irq:42 memory:fe400000-fe4fffff
       *-network
            description: Ethernet interface
            product: NetLink BCM57788 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe
            vendor: Broadcom Corporation
            physical id: 0
            bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
            logical name: eth0
            version: 01
            serial: 18:03:73:e1:a7:71
            size: 100Mbit/s
            capacity: 1Gbit/s
            width: 64 bits
            clock: 33MHz
            capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
            configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=tg3 driverversion=3.123 duplex=full firmware=sb ip=192.168.1.3 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=MII speed=100Mbit/s
            resources: irq:47 memory:fe400000-fe40ffff
    *-usb:1
         description: USB controller
         product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1
         vendor: Intel Corporation
         physical id: 1d
         bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.0
         version: 05
         width: 32 bits
         clock: 33MHz
         capabilities: pm debug ehci bus_master cap_list
         configuration: driver=ehci_hcd latency=0
         resources: irq:23 memory:fe706000-fe7063ff
    *-isa
         description: ISA bridge
         product: H67 Express Chipset Family LPC Controller
         vendor: Intel Corporation
         physical id: 1f
         bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.0
         version: 05
         width: 32 bits
         clock: 33MHz
         capabilities: isa bus_master cap_list
         configuration: latency=0
    *-storage
         description: SATA controller
         product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SATA AHCI Controller
         vendor: Intel Corporation
         physical id: 1f.2
         bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.2
         version: 05
         width: 32 bits
         clock: 66MHz
         capabilities: storage msi pm ahci_1.0 bus_master cap_list
         configuration: driver=ahci latency=0
         resources: irq:43 ioport:f070(size=8) ioport:f060(size=4) ioport:f050(size=8) ioport:f040(size=4) ioport:f020(size=32) memory:fe705000-fe7057ff
    *-serial UNCLAIMED
         description: SMBus
         product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller
         vendor: Intel Corporation
         physical id: 1f.3
         bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.3
         version: 05
         width: 64 bits
         clock: 33MHz
         configuration: latency=0
         resources: memory:fe704000-fe7040ff ioport:f000(size=32)
 *-scsi:0
      physical id: 1
      logical name: scsi0
      capabilities: emulated
    *-disk
         description: ATA Disk
         product: Hitachi HUA72201
         vendor: Hitachi
         physical id: 0.0.0
         bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
         logical name: /dev/sda
         version: JP4O
         serial: JPW9J0HD21BTZC
         size: 931GiB (1TB)
         capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
         configuration: ansiversion=5 sectorsize=512 signature=000641dc
       *-volume:0
            description: EXT4 volume
            vendor: Linux
            physical id: 1
            bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,1
            logical name: /dev/sda1
            logical name: /
            version: 1.0
            serial: 4e3d91b7-fd38-4f44-a9e9-ba3c39b926ec
            size: 585GiB
            capacity: 585GiB
            capabilities: primary journaled extended_attributes large_files huge_files dir_nlink recover extents ext4 ext2 initialized
            configuration: created=2012-10-21 16:26:50 filesystem=ext4 lastmountpoint=/ modified=2012-10-29 18:12:08 mount.fstype=ext4 mount.options=rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro,data=ordered mounted=2012-10-29 18:12:08 state=mounted
       *-volume:1
            description: Extended partition
            physical id: 2
            bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,2
            logical name: /dev/sda2
            size: 7823MiB
            capacity: 7823MiB
            capabilities: primary extended partitioned partitioned:extended
          *-logicalvolume
               description: Linux swap / Solaris partition
               physical id: 5
               logical name: /dev/sda5
               capacity: 7823MiB
               capabilities: nofs
       *-volume:2
            description: Windows NTFS volume
            physical id: 3
            bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,3
            logical name: /dev/sda3
            version: 3.1
            serial: 84a92aae-347b-7940-a2d1-f4745b885ef2
            size: 337GiB
            capacity: 337GiB
            capabilities: primary bootable ntfs initialized
            configuration: clustersize=4096 created=2012-10-21 18:43:39 filesystem=ntfs modified_by_chkdsk=true mounted_on_nt4=true resize_log_file=true state=dirty upgrade_on_mount=true
 *-scsi:1
      physical id: 2
      logical name: scsi1
      capabilities: emulated
    *-cdrom
         description: DVD-RAM writer
         product: DVDRWBD DH-12E3S
         vendor: PLDS
         physical id: 0.0.0
         bus info: scsi@1:0.0.0
         logical name: /dev/cdrom
         logical name: /dev/cdrw
         logical name: /dev/dvd
         logical name: /dev/dvdrw
         logical name: /dev/sr0
         version: MD11
         capabilities: removable audio cd-r cd-rw dvd dvd-r dvd-ram
         configuration: ansiversion=5 status=nodisc
 *-scsi:2
      physical id: 3
      bus info: usb@2:1.8
      logical name: scsi6
      capabilities: emulated scsi-host
      configuration: driver=usb-storage
    *-disk:0
         description: SCSI Disk
         physical id: 0.0.0
         bus info: scsi@6:0.0.0
         logical name: /dev/sdb
         configuration: sectorsize=512
    *-disk:1
         description: SCSI Disk
         physical id: 0.0.1
         bus info: scsi@6:0.0.1
         logical name: /dev/sdc
         configuration: sectorsize=512
    *-disk:2
         description: SCSI Disk
         physical id: 0.0.2
         bus info: scsi@6:0.0.2
         logical name: /dev/sdd
         configuration: sectorsize=512
    *-disk:3
         description: SCSI Disk
         product: MS/MS-Pro
         vendor: Generic-
         physical id: 0.0.3
         bus info: scsi@6:0.0.3
         logical name: /dev/sde
         version: 1.03
         serial: 3
         capabilities: removable
         configuration: sectorsize=512
       *-medium
            physical id: 0
            logical name: /dev/sde