Interesting problem...

After installing and Running BOINC, go into My Documents (a local folder)and try to open a Word or Excell file. System will literally sit for 3 to 4 minutes, before the application opens, then another 30 seconds or so till the doc loads. My Documents just hangs with the hourglass showing). If I kill BOINC, sytem responds right away.

BUT, if I launch the app, Word or Excell, and open the doc from within the app, opens immediately.

Does not affect any other flie type, pdf and ppt open right up.

Have replicated this on 2 systems: IBM X40, and T60. Oddly, the problem was at its worst on the T60.

Anyone experienced this too?

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By default the science application under BOINC will take up all left over CPU cycles which otherwise will be used by Windows' Idle program. At the moment another application starts up and is asking for the CPU, Boinc will release those cycles. But not immediately, it can take a little while. Especially when Boinc is writing to disk at that moment.

It highly depends on the speed of the CPU and amount of system RAM how long this can take.

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Dunno, I think it is more than that. The system that it is the worst on is a Dual core 2ghz with a gig of RAM, and my BOINC preferences set so that only one CPU is utilized.

And, I am not AT ALL exaggerating about the time. My friend clocked it with his watch, 3 full minutes. That seems like an awful long time to write to disk.

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I just used windows explorer to find and open a 1762 page book I've been tinkering with. It's an MSWord document. It's on a network drive and took 6 seconds to open.

I'm an Boinc alpha tester and have tried most official and developmental builds, all the while using MS office products. I've never seen what you describe.

tony

[edit]Sata2 drive, AMD64 3700, 1Gig mem

can you describe the problem in more detail?

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Boinc Wiki

Sometimes I hate my Bob Newhart style of humor.

OK, it only happens when I try to open a .doc or an .xls file, from outside the application (My Documents folder). If I am in Word or Excell, and try to open a file, response is instant. NO other file types affected.

If I try to close My Documents, I get a sytem not responding dialog, asking me if I want to end the process.

The three minute load was on a ~25k locally saved file. When I open the Task Manager, BOINC is taking up half the total cycles, and System Idle the other half.

What other info can I get you?

Here is a dump of my Sys Info from PC Doctor:
Lenovo T60 laptop
2006-04-17 14:12:44 EDT
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Operating System*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Name*Microsoft Windows XP Professional
*Service Pack*Service Pack 2
*Build Number*2600
*DirectX Version*9.0c (4.09.00.0904)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*System Information*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Model*LENOVO
*System Serial Number*ThinkPad T60
*Total Number of Logical CPUs*2
*Total Physical Memory*1022.36 MB
*Total Number of Optical Drives*1
*Total Number of Hard Drives*1
*Total Number of Video Cards*1
*System Name*LENOVO-06F996ED

*System Board**Manufacturer*LENOVO
*Product Name*200764U

*BIOS**Vendor*LENOVO
*Release Date*02/28/2006
*Version*79ET56WW (1.02 )
*ROM Size*2048 KB

*Genuine Intel(R) CPU T2500 @ 2.00GHz CPU:0**Specification*Genuine Intel(R) CPU T2500 @ 2.00GHz
*Current Speed(SMBIOS)*2.00 GHz
*L1 Cache*64.00 kB
*L2 Cache*2.00 MB

*Genuine Intel(R) CPU T2500 @ 2.00GHz CPU:1**Specification*Genuine Intel(R) CPU T2500 @ 2.00GHz
*L1 Cache*64.00 kB
*L2 Cache*2.00 MB
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Memory*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*System Memory**Maximum Memory Capacity(Supported)*2048 MB
*Total Physical Memory*1022.36 MB
*Free Physical Memory*526.28 MB
*Total Virtual Memory*2.00 GB
*Free Virtual Memory*1.96 GB
*Page File Space*2.40 GB
*Page File*c:\\pagefile.sys
*Total Number of Memory Chips*1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Directories*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Windows Directory*c:\\windows
*System Directory*c:\\windows\\system32
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Local Disk*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Hard Drive - HTS541010G9SA00**Temperature*33 C
*Driver*c:\\windows\\system32\\drivers\\disk.sys
*Version*5.1.2535.0, 7-1-2001

*IBM_PRELOAD**Drive Letter*C
*Usable Hard Disk Capacity*88.49 GB
*Used Hard Disk Space*13.16 GB
*Unused Hard Disk Space*75.33 GB
*File System*NTFS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*CD-ROM Drive*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*MATSHITA DVD-RAM UJ-842**Model Number*MATSHITADVD-RAM UJ-842
*Serial Number*000164
*Firmware Revision*RB01
*Controller*Master
*Drive Letter*D
*Readable Media*CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+R DL
*Writable Media*CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+R DL
*Write Strategy*TAO, SAO
*Driver*c:\\windows\\system32\\drivers\\cdrom.sys
*Version*5.1.2535.0, 7-1-2001
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Display*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*ThinkPad Display 1400x1050**Mode*1400 x 1050 (16-bit) (60 Hz)
*Signal Type*Digital
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Video Card*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*ATI Mobility Radeon X1400**Manufacturer*ATI Technologies Inc.
*Video Card Chip Type*ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 (0x7145)
*Video Card Memory*512.00 MB
*Video Card BIOS*BK-ATI VER009.012.001.009.018123
*Driver*c:\\windows\\system32\\drivers\\ati2mtag.sys
*Version*8.204.0.0, 12-20-2005
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Modem*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*ThinkPad Modem**Model*ThinkPad Modem
*Driver*c:\\windows\\system32\\drivers\\hsx_cnxt.sys
*Version*7.39.000, 12-8-2005

*Sierra Wireless Modem Device**Model*Sierra Wireless Modem Device
*Driver*c:\\windows\\system32\\drivers\\swmx01.sys
*Version*1.3.9.0, 8-5-2005
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Sound Card*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio**Manufacturer*Analog Devices
*Driver*c:\\windows\\system32\\drivers\\adihdaud.sys
*Version*5.10.1.4270, 11-29-2005
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Network Card*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Intel(R) PRO/1000 PL Network Connection**MAC Address*00:01:6c:eb:c6:a1
*IP Address*0.0.0.0
*Current Speed*0.00 PICOBITSPERSECOND
*Driver*c:\\windows\\system32\\drivers\\e1e5132.sys
*Version*9.2.32.0, 12-5-2005

*Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection**MAC Address*00:13:02:02:ea:61
*IP Address*192.168.0.4
*Gateway IP Address*192.168.0.1
*Current Speed*11.00 Mbps
*Driver*c:\\windows\\system32\\drivers\\w39n51.sys
*Version*10.1.0.11, 11-27-2005

*Sierra Wireless 1xEV-DO Network Adapter**MAC Address*00:a0:d5:ff:ff:85
*IP Address*0.0.0.0
*Current Speed*0.00 PICOBITSPERSECOND
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Keyboard*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard**Manufacturer*(Standard keyboards)
*Driver*c:\\windows\\system32\\drivers\\i8042prt.sys
*Version*5.1.2600.2180, 7-1-2001
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Pointing Device*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*ThinkPad UltraNav Pointing Device**Manufacturer*Lenovo
*Driver Provider*Synaptics
*Driver*c:\\windows\\system32\\drivers\\i8042prt.sys
*Version*7.5.17.18, 9-15-2005
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*USB Controller*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27C8**Manufacturer*Intel
*Driver*c:\\windows\\system32\\drivers\\usbuhci.sys
*Version*7.2.2.1001, 9-2-2005

*Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27C9**Manufacturer*Intel
*Driver*c:\\windows\\system32\\drivers\\usbuhci.sys
*Version*7.2.2.1001, 9-2-2005

*Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27CA**Manufacturer*Intel
*Driver*c:\\windows\\system32\\drivers\\usbuhci.sys
*Version*7.2.2.1001, 9-2-2005

*Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27CB**Manufacturer*Intel
*Driver*c:\\windows\\system32\\drivers\\usbuhci.sys
*Version*7.2.2.1001, 9-2-2005

*Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 27CC**Manufacturer*Intel
*Driver*c:\\windows\\system32\\drivers\\usbehci.sys
*Version*7.2.2.1001, 9-2-2005

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I wasn't saying you were exaggerating, I must say I have seen the same thing happen with older versions of BOINC and on my old CPU/RAM combo. ;-)

It may have to do with what TCP ports MS Office uses to communicate internally. Maybe that they use port 1043 as well. The alpha version Tony and I are using is using a different port. So int that case you only have to wait for the new Boinc version to become public.

On the other hand, I don't know what kind of anti virus package you use, if it actively scans each opening program, if it takes up a lot of CPU for that. I don't know if you checked with Task Manager what is taking up a lot of your CPU(s) (besides the science app), how much RAM is used and what is trying to get out of your way. I can see you're using NTFS which is slower than FAT32 when it is heavily fragmented. Try a defrag with DIRMS and see if that speeds up your system. Disable indexing.

Have you even tried setting up your preferences so only one CPU is used?

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Tried With and without Anit-virus, literally uninstalled it. Did the same with Zone Labs. Drive isn't fragmented.

Also, remember, the problem is when I try to open from outside of the application. I can open megabite files from withing Word almost instantly, but double-clicking on a 20k Word file in My Documents takes 3 minutes.

BUT, if I kill BOINC, it opens instantly. BOINC is definitely the key.

Interestingly, this problem does not occur on my desktop, also an IBM. Only on the two laptops.

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Only on the two laptops.

Checked if they aren't overheating? Since the science app under BOINC will run the CPU at 100%, it'll definitely heat up more than when it will run the Windows idle program, so you need to make sure it's adequately cooled. A big problem with laptops.

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Wouldn't overheating affect all performance, not just one particular thing? Also, system is set up to throttle the CPUs and fans to prevent overheating.

I double click, system sits there. Then I open Word, open the same file from Word, it loads instantly. Meanwhile, My Documents is still hangning there, and 3 minutes later the file loads. Same file, two different routes, two very different results.

No other aspect of system performance is affected. This thing screams, except when I double click on a .doc or .xls file.

PC Doctor gave it a clean bill of health.

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Vincent are you using a standard boinc client? If so, you might try this one out, It's currently the latest developmental release. It seems to run well for everyone (for the most part, small knit picky things excluded), and it uses a different port for comms than older versions. It can't really hurt to try it.

tony

you can always "uninstall" and go back to your present version

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Boinc Wiki

Sometimes I hate my Bob Newhart style of humor.

Thanks Tony, I'll give it a shot.

BTW, it appears that the conflict is between BOINC and explorer.exe. Right clicked on My Computer and tried to explore it, same issue, just sat there. Killed BOINC, opened right up.

So, what I guess is happeneing is when i d-click a Word doc, it calls explorer, and boinc isn't releasing cycles to it.

I'll let you know if the new version cures the problem.

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