********WARNING USE AT YOUR OWN RISK*********
Just a few things you can do to help your boxes run better..
I start here
<a href="http://www.pcpitstop.com/">PCPitstop</a>
and for spyware and the like I use these
<a href="http://www.lavasoft.de/">Adaware</a>
<a href="http://beam.to/spybotsd">Spybot</a>





If you have concerns about the 100% performance of your system's memory, you can download and run memtest86. You may want to run a thorough test over night and check in the morning.
<a href="http://www.memtest86.com/">memtest86</a>


For best performance please update your video drivers from the manufacturers web site.

Video Cards

Nvidia:

<a href="http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_66.93">WinXP/2000</a>


<a href="http://www.nvidia.com/object/win9x_61.76">Win98ME/98</a>



ATI:


<a href="http://mirror.ati.com/support/drivers/winxp/radeonwdm-xp.html?type=xp&amp;prodType=graphic&amp;prod=productsXPdriver&amp;submit.x=15&amp;submit.y=9">WinXP</a>


<a href="http://mirror.ati.com/support/drivers/win2k/radeonwdm-2k.html?type=2k&amp;prodType=graphic&amp;prod=products2kdriver&amp;submit.x=5&amp;submit.y=8">Win2000</a>


<a href="http://mirror.ati.com/support/drivers/winme/radeonwdm-me.html?type=me&amp;prodType=graphic&amp;prod=productsME98driver&amp;submit.x=12&amp;submit.y=10">WinME/98</a>



When you install Windows Service Pack 2, a large number of the chipset specific motherboard drivers are overwritten with Microsoft's own generic (non chipset specific) drivers. you should go to the site for your chipset and reinstall those drivers.
Motherboard Drivers

Nvidia Chipsets



<a href="http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_udp_winxp_5.10">WinXP</a>


<a href="http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_udp_win2k_4.27">Win2000</a>


<a href="http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_udp_win9x_4.27">Win98se</a>



Via Chipsets



<a href="http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=2&amp;Type=1">WinXP</a>


<a href="http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=2&amp;Type=1">Win2000</a>


<a href="http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=2&amp;Type=1">WinMe</a>


<a href="http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=2&amp;Type=1">Win98se</a>



If you have a motherboard with an Intel chipset, and don't know which one, you can go here first and download the chipset identification utility:

<a href="http://support.intel.com/support/chipsets/sb/CS-009245.htm">Intel</a>



Once you have identified it, or if you already know which one is in your computer, you can go here to download the proper INF utility.

<a href="http://support.intel.com/support/chipsets/">Intel</a>

As far as BOINC I upgrade to the newest CC as soon as I hear about it......
Procedure I use is to:
1. Suspend BOINC
2. Exit BOINC
3.Unistall old verison, which leaves all the files in the BOINC folder.
4. Re-install new ver of BOINC.....
5.Start crunching.


Preferences are set to the following:

Do work while computer is running on batteries? (matters only for portable computers) no
Do work while computer is in use? yes
Do work only between the hours of (no restriction)
Leave applications in memory while preempted? (suspended applications will consume swap space if 'yes') yes
Switch between applications every (recommended: 60 minutes) 60 minutes
Confirm before connecting to Internet? (matters only if you use a modem) no
Disconnect when done? (matters only if you use a modem) no
Connect to network about every 1 days
On multiprocessors, use at most 2 processors
Write to disk at most every 1200 seconds
Limits on disk space and memory used by BOINC:
Use no more than 4 GB
Leave at least 0.01 GB
Use no more than 80% of total space
Use no more than 80% of total virtual memory
Limits on network bandwidth used by BOINC:
Maximum download rate: no limit
Maximum upload rate: no limit


*****************************************************

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<a href=\"http://boinc-doc.net/boinc-wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page\">Link to Unofficial Wiki for BOINC, by Paul and Friends</a>