I am assuming that you are using Ubuntu 8.04 as you don't say which version. You
can improve boot speed in any number of ways. To get rid of the graphical screen
with the orange bar you will have to edit the file /boot/grub/menu.lst using the
command sudo gedit in a terminal. You will want to edit out the word 'quiet' in
the boot line. Save.This is an explanation of what to do:ubuntumagnet.com/.../verbose-startup-and-shutdown-screens-ubuntuUse gedit instead of nano as it is a graphical text editor.

Now when you re-boot you will see text instead of the graphical boot screen
which seems to freeze, but actually doesn't, it just moves slowly. Some people
find that the verbose (text) mode speeds things up. To change it back if it does
not help just do the same, but put the word quiet back.

Warning: Be careful and read all before commencing farther.

Another thing to do is to turn off servers/ daemons and services that load on
start up. If you aren't using them don't start them up in the first place. For
example, if you don't have bluetooth, turn it off. Here is a thread that
includes a list of services and what they do. It is somewhat dated, but
descriptive:http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=89491I would not use the methods here, only use the descriptions of services. Instead
go to the Administration area and uncheck boxes in Services. Don't be too
ruthless. Just uncheck obvious ones. You can really mess up your system be doing
manual editing as in the thread, unless you are adventurous and don't mind the
risk.

Another method involves targeting one slow loading module DHCP networking and
making it concurrent, thus stopping a bottleneck:blog.dotkam.com/.../speed-up-ubuntu-boot-time-by-starting-networki\
ng-on-the-background/It is also mentioned here in the third step:....softpedia.com/.../...04-for-Speed-86405.shtmlA tool that you can use is Ubuntu Tweak which is available in the repositories
and is not installed by default. It allows you to change settings and possibly
squeeze some extra performance.

I would start slowly and gain some knowledge before doing anything risky. Don't
expect big gains until you are willing to make some hard decisions about things
that you can do vs. things that you feel comfortable doing.