My instinct is that it\'s the network rather than memory in this case, because the focus of the problems on the PC seems to be in that area (thrashing would be leading to complaints of slow task switching and so forth instead).

I was thinking more in terms of the TCP/IP configuration being shafted, since localhost traffic should never leave the box. If the localhost traffic is going to and from the router, it\'s probably swamping that, hence bad internet access.

If the PCs TCP/IP config is screwed up that badly it\'s unlikely we can help really, since it\'s a very complex area. The best person to talk to would be the ISP\'s helpdesk. Before talking to them, Ronnie will need to establish what the localhost traffic is doing:

From a dos box, type \'tracert 127.0.0.1\', and make a note of the output. It should be a single line like this:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

E:\\Documents and Settings\\Mike>tracert 127.0.0.1

Tracing route to localhost [127.0.0.1]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms localhost [127.0.0.1]

Trace complete.

E:\\Documents and Settings\\Mike>

If it\'s got more than that then it\'s not surprising he\'s running into problems.

Re Suspending:
There are 3, in different places, each giving a different level of control.
1) In the menu; This suspends BOINC.
2) In the Projects tab; This suspends whichever project\'s name is highlighted.
3) In the work tab; This suspends whichever model is highlighted.

If you want to Suspend before Exiting, the one to use is 1).

If you use 3), BOINC soon thinks \"The science app isn\'t doing anything; It must have run out of work, so I\'ll get some more\". And you end up with 2 models.
So to use this one it is necessary to add an extra step first: In the projects tab, highlight the project whose model is going to be Suspended, and then click \"No new work\".

Re: 100% and Ready to report.
Usually means that the model has crashed. BOINC will pass this info to the server the next time it makes contact. To force this to happen now, go to the Projects tab, click on the project name to select it, and then click Update.

Also, you now have \'three\' computers in your account. If you go into your account, click on \'View computers\', and then click on one of them, at the bottom of the page you\'ll have an option to merge them back into one.

As for \'hogging the system\', could you tell us a bit more?
BOINC is intended to use unused cpu cycles at a very low priority, and to release resources when need by the much higher priority normal work. And it does this very well.