Ok. I have no idea what I'm looking for. I see messages in a lot of the upstart log files that look like errors. See below. How am I supposed to know what package this 'bug' belongs to? I'm not a linux systems guy. How would I figure that out? I'd be glad to classify this better if I knew how. All I know is what I said in my first remark about this. I've been using Ubuntu since 5.04 and have never seen duplicate processes get started like this before. They just keep building up until I start to see performance degradation. Then I reboot and all is well until they build up again. Thanks for your help. Here's part of the output of ps fax: 7011 ? Ss 0:00 \_ bash -c dbus-launch /usr/bin/docky >/dev/null - 7012 ? Sl 0:02 \_ mono /usr/lib/docky/Docky.exe 6715 ? S 0:00 su apjjr - -c dbus-launch /usr/bin/docky >/dev/null 7016 ? Ss 0:00 \_ bash -c dbus-launch /usr/bin/docky >/dev/null - 7017 ? Sl 0:02 \_ mono /usr/lib/docky/Docky.exe 6872 ? S 0:00 su apjjr - -c dbus-launch /usr/bin/docky >/dev/null 7019 ? Ss 0:00 \_ bash -c dbus-launch /usr/bin/docky >/dev/null - 7021 ? Sl 0:02 \_ mono /usr/lib/docky/Docky.exe 6910 ? S 0:00 su apjjr - -c dbus-launch /usr/bin/docky >/dev/null 7022 ? Ss 0:00 \_ bash -c dbus-launch /usr/bin/docky >/dev/null - 7026 ? Sl 0:02 \_ mono /usr/lib/docky/Docky.exe I wonder why so many instances of Docky? I'd appreciate any help I can get. If I need to reinstall because somethngs gotten screwed up, I'll do that. Following are the upstart log files I think are indicating some error: cups.log cupsd failed to create /var/run/cups/cups.sock, skipping automatic printer configuration cupsd failed to create /var/run/cups/cups.sock, skipping automatic printer configuration gpu-manager.log /etc/modprobe.d is not a file /etc/modprobe.d is not a file /etc/modprobe.d is not a file /etc/modprobe.d is not a file update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for x86_64-linux-gnu_gfxcore_conf /etc/modprobe.d is not a file /etc/modprobe.d is not a file /etc/modprobe.d is not a file /etc/modprobe.d is not a file update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for x86_64-linux-gnu_gfxcore_conf kmod.log modprobe: FATAL: Module rtc not found. modprobe: FATAL: Module rtc not found. network-manager.log (NetworkManager:861): GLib-WARNING **: GError set over the top of a previous GError or uninitialized memory. This indicates a bug in someone's code. You must ensure an error is NULL before it's set. The overwriting error message was: Key file does not have group 'connectivity' (NetworkManager:879): GLib-WARNING **: GError set over the top of a previous GError or uninitialized memory. This indicates a bug in someone's code. You must ensure an error is NULL before it's set. The overwriting error message was: Key file does not have group 'connectivity' ureadahead.log ureadahead:/var/lib/NetworkManager/dhclient-wlan0.conf: No such file or directory ureadahead:/var/lib/NetworkManager/dhclient-wlan0.conf: No such file or directory ureadahead-other.log ureadahead:/home/apjjr/.cache/upstart/im-config.log: No such file or directory ureadahead:/home/apjjr/.cache/upstart/update-notifier-release.log: No such file or directory ureadahead:/home/apjjr/.cache/upstart/gnome-keyring-ssh.log: No such file or directory ureadahead:/home/apjjr/.cache/upstart/gnome-keyring-gpg.log: No such file or directory ureadahead:/home/apjjr/.cache/upstart/ssh-agent.log: No such file or directory ureadahead:/home/apjjr/.cache/upstart/unity7.log: No such file or directory ureadahead:/home/apjjr/.cache/upstart/indicator-bluetooth.log: No such file or directory ureadahead:/home/apjjr/.cache/upstart/indicator-datetime.log: No such file or directory ureadahead:/home/apjjr/.local/share/gvfs-metadata/home-00b673f2.log: No such file or directory ureadahead:/var/lib/ureadahead/boot.efi.pack: No such file or directory ureadahead:/home/apjjr/.cache/upstart/im-config.log: No such file or directory ureadahead:/home/apjjr/.cache/upstart/update-notifier-release.log: No such file or directory ureadahead:/home/apjjr/.cache/upstart/gnome-keyring-ssh.log: No such file or directory ureadahead:/home/apjjr/.cache/upstart/gnome-keyring-gpg.log: No such file or directory ureadahead:/home/apjjr/.cache/upstart/ssh-agent.log: No such file or directory ureadahead:/home/apjjr/.cache/upstart/unity7.log: No such file or directory ureadahead:/home/apjjr/.cache/upstart/window-stack-bridge.log: No such file or directory ureadahead:/home/apjjr/.cache/upstart/indicator-bluetooth.log: No such file or directory ureadahead:/home/apjjr/.cache/upstart/indicator-datetime.log: No such file or directory ureadahead:/home/apjjr/.local/share/gvfs-metadata/home-00b673f2.log: No such file or directory wait-for-state-plymouth-shutdownlightdm.log stop: Job has already been stopped: lightdm stop: Job has already been stopped: lightdm