I had the same problem but with 2 desktops and only 1.5 Gb of memory each. I dumped the Gnome desktop for Xfce https://wiki.debian.org/Xfce and got instant relief. Not as fancy-shmancy but works fantastic. Takes minutes to install and no brains. [ apt-get install xfce4 ] [ apt-get install xfce4-goodies ] Leaves Gnome installed and you can simply choose Xfce as the Desktop alternative at login. -Mike Brown-