Shut down - Before rebooting or shutting down your computer, you need to exit BOINC first. Just exit using the BOINC icon in the system tray and then wait a few seconds. I'm told Vista users need to wait longer. A sudden shutdown can result in work units with computational errors.

Service install - Right now, you are given three options when installing BOINC - the single-user, the shared and the service installations. I would recommend the service installation for a couple of reasons. First, the BOINC screensaver does not work in this mode. My feeling is that the screensaver just consumes cycles that can be put to better use. Second, I have found the service install to be a little more stable. Your experience may be different. Eventually, BOINC will move exclusively to the service installation. The one thing to remember about the service install is that you need an administrative password. If you don't have one, you can create a password by going to the Control Panel and then User Accounts.

Profiles - WCG allows you to create up to four profiles - default, home, work and school. Let's suppose you want one cruncher to run one project and a second cruncher run another. By creating a second profile, you can do that. One cruncher could be assigned to Default, while the other could be Home. You can customize the settings for each profile in the Device Profiles section of your My Grid page.