Just like its commercial big brother, Windows, Ubuntu sometimes manages to miss deleting certain keys or associated data when you uninstall programs or packages. Needless to say, this affects your GConf Database which could in turn become unstable and might even go so far as causing some problems further down the line.

So how to remedy this and perhaps improve performance all in one go?

Well GConf Cleaner is a handy little tool that scans your GConf Database and removes keys not associated with any schema. First off, you will need to install GConf Cleaner via the Ubuntu Software Center. Once installed, you’ll locate the launcher icon under the System Tools menu option on the system menu bar.

From there, follow the on-screen instructions, make a back up of the registry when prompted and watch GConf Cleaner work its magic.

Nifty.