If somebody want to try to run GPUGRID from Linux on a USB stick:
http://www.gpugrid.net/forum_thread.php?id=2203

Separating your normal computer OS and the OS for crunching is actually a very good idea.

gdf

If somebody want to try to run GPUGRID from Linux on a USB stick:
http://www.gpugrid.net/forum_thread.php?id=2203

Separating your normal computer OS and the OS for crunching is actually a very good idea.

gdf

I couldn't agree more, another option is running BOINC from separate HDisk/partition, keeping it ' away' from AV programs, Back_Ups(!?) and, if necessary, change the (access)rights, concerning BOINC and it's projects.
As I did on my I7-2600+2 ATI5870GPUs.
Only, you're still running the same OS, in this case.

(I'm thinking of trying one of the many *NIX flavors, b.t.w.).
Also dedicate my 3rd host, with a GTX470, to GPUgrid, also cause I find
understanding all kinds of diseases and finding the (root) cause and
a cure, is what this world needs most, a.t.m.!

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Knight Who Says Ni N!

björk: moon

Separating your normal computer OS and the OS for crunching is actually a very good idea.

I have a USB port on my motherboard which has a 32GB thumbnail sized USB flash drive in it with my Debian/KDE stable OS install on it that I sometimes boot to. It's mostly there just as a fully functional backup boot option.

But this seems like it's only use is to repurpose a computer from what it would normally be used for. I'm not sure why this would be a good idea, unless maybe the goal is to use the computer during its downtime to crunch for BOINC instead of being turned off. The drawbacks to this are that the computer can't be used for its primary purpose(s) and crunch for BOINC at the same time, so you have to choose one or the other.

For me this would be a very poor BOINC crunching setup as I wouldn't be able to use my computer, which is now in use 24/7 crunching for BOINC and for everything else that I do on it and use it for simultaneously. If that wasn't an option, then I wouldn't be crunching for BOINC at all.

The other potential drawback I see is that this could be used to nefariously crunch for BOINC on computer systems without their owner's/user's consent. Such as: The last person out of the office hooks one of these up to each of his coworkers' workstations to try and rack up his BOINC score over a long holiday.

That aside, I'm sure this is a legitimate and perfectly fine option for some people, but it would seem unlikely that most people would choose this unless maybe as a way to avoid needing to get a normal HDD or SSD on a dedicated crunching machine.

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My BOINC Cruncher, Minecraft Multiserver, Mobile Device Mainframe, and Home Entertainment System/Workstation: http://www.overclock.net/lists/display/view/id/4678036#

But this seems like it's only use is to repurpose a computer from what it would normally be used for.

I used to run many of my dedicated crunching boxes via Linux on a USB drive. It worked very well until BOINC started using GPUs. Now most of my machines have both AMD & NVidia GPUs and that's not an easy thing to set up in Linux. I would love to run Linux again and also via USB drive if possible. The USB option would be very useful if someone can get it working again.