UK BOINC Team Forum

If I get a new computer, can I transfer the whole BOINC directory to the new computer, install BOINC and carry on where I left off?

Its easier to just finish whatever work is left on the old computer and start afresh on the new computer

UBT - Halifax--lad wrote:Its easier to just finish whatever work is left on the old computer and start afresh on the new computer

and keep the old one running running Boinc as well

DJH@GB-Ro wrote:If I get a new computer, can I transfer the whole BOINC directory to the new computer, install BOINC and carry on where I left off?

Yes, you can.

DJH@GB-Ro wrote:If I get a new computer, can I transfer the whole BOINC directory to the new computer, install BOINC and carry on where I left off?

If I remember correctly, BOINC knows which computer you are using and I'm not sure if you have a different computer (with different CPU/memory etc), whether the anti-cheating checks the projects do, would have an effect ?

I seem to remember, on the old SETI Classic, that some people were rumoured to cheat by allowing a SETI WU to get to say 90-odd percent "completed" and they then copied the SETI directory to other computers (theirs or their friends) and then allowed the same WU to complete on multiple machines.

This then allowed them to claim multiple "WU completions" and increase their "score" although all they were doing was completing the last 5 minutes of the exact same WU over and over and over again (each time you completed and returned a WU, you got one credit. So, in a day, you could in theory "complete" the same WU 288 times (12 times an hour x 24 hours) and get 288 credits (assuming a 5 minute "run time" to completion)). Given that some SETI WU's took a good few hours to process, this was one way to move up the rankings very quickly.

One of the reasons why the BOINC system was created, was to prevent this happening.

And in theory, this is what you are doing - moving a part completed WU from one PC to another....! (PS Am not calling you a cheat here - just pointing out what happened on SETI Classic!).

Might just be better to set the old PC to "No new work" and let it complete the work it has. You can use the same username and password to set up the new machine on all your projects and then the completed WU credits from this new PC will add to your existing totals.

regards

Tim

Thanks for your advice, all.

I found these two threads:
http://climateapps2.oucs.ox.ac.uk/cpdnb ... hp?id=5149
http://climateapps2.oucs.ox.ac.uk/cpdnb ... hp?id=5162

Which suggests that it is ok. It's only SAP WUs that I'm thinking about due to not being any more left!

And in relation to your comments, Tim, it would be on a different computer, but any results would be different, as in it would just carry on where left off - no duplicate credit claims. So I don't think it would be thought of as cheating.

DJH@GB-Ro wrote:Thanks for your advice, all......
And in relation to your comments, Tim, it would be on a different computer, but any results would be different, as in it would just carry on where left off - no duplicate credit claims. So I don't think it would be thought of as cheating.

Had assumed that the new one would take over from the old  :) .....and the old would be "retired" straight away.

IIRC, in the early day of BOINC, the dev's wanted to stop people moving WUs from one machine to another (in order to prevent the cheating noted). As such, it was mentioned at the time, that each WU would be "assigned" to a specific machine and hence if the work was returned from a diferent machine, it wouldn't be counted.

I was very aware of this, coz at the time it affected me. My business was in an area where there was no ADSL (still isn't !!) ....so the only way to allow my work PCs to upload/download WUs was to physically bring each of the PCs home and then let them connect via my home ADSL connection...! (Using a modem at work was not a viable option - I'd have been online for hours, just downloading some of the new WUs..! ).

So, in the end, I couldn't use my work PC's for BOINC as there wasn't an easy way of getting new WUs into each machine.

Maybe the BOINC "system" is more flexible now, but it wasn't always the case...!

regards

Tim