I just upgraded to the latest version and I noticed that it automatically starts when I boot my Vista X64 system, and then the Boinc icon end up in the system tray.

I don't remember the previous version doing this as I always started it by clicking on the icon on my desktop, just at the point that I no longer needed the system for a few hours. Unfortunately, this new behavior is causing a gigantic problem for me of near disaster proportions, and I despartly need to stop it from doing this automatic start as quickly as I can. It is interfereing directly with my video drivers, my raid system mgr, and my VoIP system that all need to run to completion on system startup. If these apps can't complete my system is unstable and unuseable. This new "feature" is causeing me to lose hours of productive time each day, since I upgraded. OUCH!

I have quickly looked thru the Boinc program screens, hoping to find some sort of enable/disable checkbox but apparently there isn't any. I am really suprised at this. In my opinion that is a major design flaw as apparently there is no particular reason why it has to start at boot up time. I have killed it with task manager and restarted it by clicking on the desktop icon, and it works just fine this way, just as it did with the old version.

I sure would like to read an explanation as to why it has to start at system bootup time. And why is there no disable?

But most importantly, would someone PLEASE tell me how I can stop it from starting. I would really appreciate some quick feedback on this problem.

Thanks in advance.

n2n

Explanation in the FAQ page, linked from the BOINC Download page. It explains the difference in how graphics work in V6 compared to V5.
It also expains about the default option being a Protected instal, equivalent to the old "System" instal.

Then there's this page, which contains images of the Protected mode (Service) instal option.
To get the equivalent of the old "Single user" instal, which is probably what you're used to, you need to go into Advanced, on the first screen.

I sure would like to read an explanation as to why it has to start at system bootup time. And why is there no disable?

But most importantly, would someone PLEASE tell me how I can stop it from starting. I would really appreciate some quick feedback on this problem.

People who run BOINC generally want BOINC to operate as much as possible and without a lot of user-intervention (i.e. starting / stopping BOINC, etc.) This is accomplished by installing BOINC as a service, as Les explained above.

In your case, if starting BOINC when the computer starts is a problem, another option is to change the service from "Automatic" to "Manual". This is done in the Services control applet, which you get to through: Start > Run > services.msc (or other methods). Look for the BOINC service, and change it from "Automatic" to "Manual". Also, remove "BOINC Manager" from your "Startup" folder. Now, it will not start at computer boot-up, and can be started easily by launching the BOINC Manager. It will continue to run (based on your preferences) until you shut down the computer. If you need to stop it at any time, you can use the methods explained in the FAQ.

A few additional thoughts:

1) I'm not sure why BOINC running at startup might get in the way of video, RAID, etc., but I guess it must be to do with high CPU usage. BOINC itself doesn't use much CPU - it's the science applications that it launches that do that. So to get control of the system (just as a temporary work-round, while you sort out a long-term solution), you could try suspending all projects before shutting down/restarting the computer.

2) It does sound as if BOINC is currently installed to run as a service. If you find your way to the Services applet (either by running 'services.msc', as previously suggested, or from 'Administrative Tools' in the Control Panel), there's a new start-up option in Vista: "Automatic (Delayed Start)". That might be a good compromise setting to test.

3) If you have indeed installed BOINC as a service (deliberately or otherwise), you don't need to have the Manager running at all times. But it does sound as if you've got a shortcut link in a 'startup' program group somewhere. I saw this myself on the one and only v6.2.18 upgrade I've done so far (a deliberate service install), but I haven't investigated in detail under what circumstances the startup link is created at installation. Older versions of BOINC had it as an option on the final installer page: I have a suspicion there's a bug in there somewhere.

A few additional thoughts:

4) In version 6 there is a tag for cc_config.xml named <start_delay>, which would probably solve your problem. I couldn't test it, because I still run 5.10.45. For the use of cc_config.xml see here. If you don't have one already, yours should look like

<cc_config>
    <options>
        <start_delay>60</start_delay>
    </options>
</cc_config>

if you want a delay of one minute.

Gruß,
Gundolf

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Computer sind nicht alles im Leben. (Kleiner Scherz)

if you want a delay of one minute.

This will delay the running of the applications, it won't delay the start of BOINC.

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