Does Antivirus on/off make a big difference?

What about networking, misc. resources etc. that take up valuable processor cycles? I wonder how I could make WinXP leaner to give every spare processor cycle to Boinc.

Also, does it matter when you close the program? I don't want to lose any progress (or not too much)

Matthew

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<img src=\"http://boinc.mundayweb.com/one/stats.php?userID=2118&prj=4\">

umm well if you dont mind the adverse side affects with doing this you could disable your internet and then enter taskmanager and start shutting down processes. the ones that you need are
boinc (this is the boinc cc)
boincmgr (this is the screen you see if your on the 4.5x, .6x, or .2x series.)
the apps for the wus. (these are easy the project names will be in them)
system
winlogon (you need this to be logged on)
explorer (i guess that you could shut this off but if you do your desktop and all your windows dissapear and you have to do a hard reset)
csrss
lsass
smss
svchost (there are a bunch of these. shut anyone of them down and the machine crashes)
most things will stay in the running processes from the start of your machine to the shut down of it but wont take any cpu cycles. even when they do its arelitivly small percent (1% to 10%). My most cpu intensive thing is my apache server and that only runs at 34% of my cpus maximum capacity, and thats only when i have my xbox network going.

and if you mean the window to boinc its fine. actually it gets rid of the 1% that the window uses. the project is running as long as the boinc emblum is in the taskbar where your clock and other processes are.

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boinc beta, predictor alpha/beta, lhc alpha/beta, cpdn alpha/beta

&gt; Does Antivirus on/off make a big difference?
&gt;
It shouldn't. Maybe if you have it set to scan <b>all</b> files it could eat up some CPU cycles. Having scheduled scans has been known to occasionally cause problems with BOINC/CPDN, maybe when they are both trying to access the same file. I turn scheduled scans off and only scan once a week when I've suspended BOINC. Make sure your system is spyware free of course.

&gt; What about networking, misc. resources etc. that take up valuable processor
&gt; cycles? I wonder how I could make WinXP leaner to give every spare processor
&gt; cycle to Boinc.
&gt;
Some USB devices, notably modems or lan cards tend to sap performance on some chipsets. If you have integrated video, getting a cheap video card would help out. It frees up more memory and improves memory performance since the video isn't using system memory. Don't use graphics intensive screensavers. I have mine set to blank. Also, don't run the CPDN graphics too often, it can be a real CPU hog, depending on what video card you have and what parameters you look at. When looking at CPDN graphics, don't spend too much time looking at the clouds. On virtually all video cards, it serious taxes the system. In general, temperature, precip, or pressure is not as hard on CPU usage.

&gt; Also, does it matter when you close the program? I don't want to lose any
&gt; progress (or not too much)
&gt;
To minimize the chance to lose a work unit, always suspend, wait a few seconds, then exit BOINC. To lose as few timesteps as possible when exiting BOINC, view the graphic and it will tell you when it does a "checkpoint", at least the latest client (hadsm 4.10) does. Also, when viewing the graphic, toggling on the 8 key will give you how many timesteps to a checkpoint. At the checkpoint it will write to disk and you will see the hard drive light flash brighter for longer than the normal brief flash that occurs frequently during the model run. These checkpoints are every 3 model days, or every 144 timesteps. Since there are 360 model days per model year, and 30 days per month, it's pretty easy to see when a checkpoint is coming up. The occur at 0030 on the 1st, 4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, etc. of each model month. I usually wait until about 0300 before I suspend and exit, just to be safe.

UK_Nick had a real nice writeup of how to optimize your system in the phpBB forum, but that is still inaccessible.

&gt; Matthew
&gt;
&gt;

&gt; Does Antivirus on/off make a big difference?
&gt;
&gt; What about networking, misc. resources etc. that take up valuable processor
&gt; cycles? I wonder how I could make WinXP leaner to give every spare processor
&gt; cycle to Boinc.
&gt;
&gt; Also, does it matter when you close the program? I don't want to lose any
&gt; progress (or not too much)
&gt;
&gt; Matthew
&gt;
&gt;

An excellent guide to tweeking XP is below - but SERIOUS health warning, some of this is hairy stuff, make sure you have a full system backup, and DONT attempt those bits you are unsure of - otherwise its a good guide and worth delving into. If nothing else, it will keep you entertained for hours :) The link will download a .pdf file, takes 2/3 mins depending on your link etc.

http://techrepublic.com.com/5139-6240-5573510.html

You also might want to check out www.techrepublic.com - its an excellent resource, a huge information download Section, and well worth bookmarking/return visits. A well known and respected Site.

Regards
David

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