diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 6640a6ca..c512c26f 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+  - removed unused functionality to load a subset of lines from a file (messju)
   - fix is_secure() should only check if a file is_readable, not if
     the directory where it is in is readable (sagi, messju)
   - fix problem displaying debug console when $default_resource_type
diff --git a/libs/Config_File.class.php b/libs/Config_File.class.php
index 8e0e9efd..2a6c9604 100644
--- a/libs/Config_File.class.php
+++ b/libs/Config_File.class.php
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ class Config_File {
             return false;
         }
 
-        $contents = fread($fp, filesize($config_file));
+        $contents = ($size = filesize($config_file)) ? fread($fp, $size) : '';
         fclose($fp);
 
         $this->_config_data[$config_file] = $this->parse_contents($contents);
diff --git a/libs/Smarty.class.php b/libs/Smarty.class.php
index a9a049ca..37203326 100644
--- a/libs/Smarty.class.php
+++ b/libs/Smarty.class.php
@@ -1702,39 +1702,15 @@ class Smarty
      * @param integer $lines
      * @return string
      */
-    function _read_file($filename, $start=null, $lines=null)
+    function _read_file($filename)
     {
-        if (!($fd = @fopen($filename, 'r'))) {
+        if ($fd = @fopen($filename, 'rb')) {
+            $contents = ($size = filesize($filename)) ? fread($fd, $size) : '';
+            fclose($fd);        
+            return $contents;
+        } else {
             return false;
         }
-        flock($fd, LOCK_SH);
-        if ($start == null && $lines == null) {
-            // read the entire file
-            $contents = fread($fd, filesize($filename));
-        } else {
-            if ( $start > 1 ) {
-                // skip the first lines before $start
-                for ($loop=1; $loop < $start; $loop++) {
-                    fgets($fd, 65536);
-                }
-            }
-            if ( $lines == null ) {
-                // read the rest of the file
-                while (!feof($fd)) {
-                    $contents .= fgets($fd, 65536);
-                }
-            } else {
-                // read up to $lines lines
-                for ($loop=0; $loop < $lines; $loop++) {
-                    $contents .= fgets($fd, 65536);
-                    if (feof($fd)) {
-                        break;
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-        }
-        fclose($fd);
-        return $contents;
     }
 
     /**