[[File:RAM Adjusted Desktop Starter created by adrelanos.png|400px|thumb|RAM Adjusted Desktop Starter will not start the desktop environment. The terminal-based {{project_name_gateway_long}} can be used instead.]]
When booting up, a prompt will appear offering to prevent Xfce from starting. Users can also manually press <code>Ctrl + C</code> for the same effect.

By default, {{project_name_gateway_short}} VMs are configured with 1280 MB virtual RAM. This can be reduced on systems with low available resources.

* If total RAM is more than 512 MB, the default desktop environment (Xfce) is started.
* If total RAM is less than 512 MB (for example, the minimum 256 MB RAM requirement), Xfce is not started.

Users with low RAM resources should find this convenient because {{project_name_gateway_short}} RAM can be reduced to 256 MB and still function.

Further, if something needs configuring or checking, 512 MB RAM can be assigned to automatically boot into the graphical Xfce desktop. Additional settings are available in folder <code>/etc/rads.d</code> to configure this feature: additional RAM can be added (but still not choosing to boot into a desktop environment), different display managers can be used and so on. See file <code>/etc/rads.d/30_default.conf</code> for configuration examples.