FAQ and Links

Folding@Home Basics

Download the client from here http://folding.stanford.edu/download.html.
Use team # 33
Folding Install Guildes Here


Official [H]ardOCP Distributed Computing Website

http://www.hardfolding.com


Folding@Home Project

folding team number: 33
F@H site: http://folding.stanford.edu
Official F@H support site: http://www.folding-community.org
The folding educational project page for teachers and students. http://folding.stanford.edu/education
Stats can be checked at the stanford site listed above or at www.statsman.info
or at extremeoverclocking stats
folding server status: http://folding.stanford.edu/serverstat.html


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UD Project

www.grid.org
http://forum.ud.com/ubbcgi/Ultimatebb.cgi

The team is [H]ardOCP with the bracket around the "H"
Stats for UD can be checked at the UD website or at the Statsman link above.

Join out Team here

http://www.grid.org/services/teams/team.htm?id=5E07082E-0CDE-4E2C-935D-62062F6552BC

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Presentations about Folding@Home ( show to System Admins to let you b0rg)

Hardfolding power point Presentation

Short-Media Team Video

Folding Frogs Video

Howard Hughs Medical Institute Article

Dr. Pande's Seminar on the F@H Project and Their Findings (60 Mb)

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DC Client Monitors

These proggies help you keep track of your DC boxes:

Electron Microscope...also a good general DC site with links. By our very own LPerry aka TheWeatherman. Top Pick!!




KDFold with support forum here Monitors multiple projects. By CorruptingEnterprise.



added by DR_K13

FahMon is a small windows app. to monitor your clients
.


Linux users

fahstats monitors your clients Via FAHlog




fci is a utility that will monitor your clients over the internet.
Server side is all Linux while client side can be windows or linux.





GKrellFAH is an add on for the popular linux system utility GKrellM.
Gkrellfah2 plugin for GkrellM2




For those of you who run gDesklets. Here is a cool little Widget called Fold-Gauge


karamba theme for folding It only displays well when run in KDE.





fpd Folding Protein Display for Linux.




FoldMonitor/GenomeMonitor This is a Perl/Tk app that shows a bunch of data about the folding process.
Works in Linux and Windows



Mac users


InFold
If you are looking for a Folding@home monitor for your OS X clients, InFold is used for a single client where InFold DP is used for a dual processor setup
.


Mac OS X GUI version




InCrease




InCrease help forum

This question is coming up a lot.

To slow down the client in order to to reduce the number of dialup connections in a day, or for SMP machines it is normal to run multiple instances of the f@h3 client.

To do this successfully you must install each instance in it's own directory and assign each instance a separate "machineid #".

The easiest way to do this is to use notepad (or any other text editor) to edit the client.cfg file for each instance.

you will find the file in each instances install directory.

In the file you will see "machineid=1".
Leave this alone for the first instance.
For the second instance change this to "machineid=2"

valid machineids are 1,2,3 and 4.

Killer[MOB]'s DC dictionary:

"Boxen" means computer(s)
"Farm" is when you have a lot of boxen.
"Garden" is when you have more than a few boxen.
"Headless" is running a boxen without a monitor.
"Bounce" is when you have to reboot your boxen.
"D" is also boxen or to add more boxen.
"FBNF" is a Fly By Night Folder, here today, gone tomorrow.
"Naked" is running a system without a case.
"NSZ" is the No Scroll Zone. You'll know it if you ever get there.
"PPW" is short for Points Per Week.
"PPD" is short for Points Per Day.
"WU" is a work unit. WUs are worth points.
"SWMBO" is She Who Must Be Obeyed.
"Mojo": Alcoholic beverage with magical OC enhancing capability. See Relic for more information.
"PizzaBoxen": Preferred mode of clothing naked boxen utilizing Pizza Boxes in the Relic [H]ousehold. (old method, replaced by PherretBoxen)
"PherretBoxen": Revised Preferred mode of clothing naked boxen utilizing any spare electronic appliance/AVGear ( i.e. VCR) in the Relic [H]ousehold, usually created by the [H]ardBard's Spawn.

Older terms not used much any more:
"Hobbit" is the original term used for a computer put together to run folding from spare parts.
"Gnobbit" is the same as Hobbit, but was for running Genome.

PM me any others and I will add them so we don't clutter up this FAQ thread.

From turmelle, a service installer:

Enhanced Remote Service Installer

Allows a person with administrator privileges to install remotely a service which will allow the Folding@Home console client to run on startup. It also works on your local machine if you have admin privelages.

Enhanced for ease of use.
Simpler command syntax for installing.
Checks for valid machines and privelages.
Built-in support for SMP machines.
Update works for single or dual CPU machines.

WARNING: Don't use wordpad or notepad to edit the client.cfg. Use Textpad from http://www.textpad.com or another editor which doesn't insert carriage returns.

http://home.comcast.net/~bturmelle/admin_service.zip

Arkaine23 from the competition brings you the following:

Brought to you by the sick talent of team 32....

Overclockix is a Linux Live CD based on the distribution Knoppix by Klaus Knopper. It has been extensively modifed in many ways, not the least of which is the addition of a folding@home service, and many useful scripts for the monitoring and managment of said DC project. It also has Prime95 and Seti@home, but those two are not set to run automatically at boot.

A Live CD is just another way of saying it is an instant OS that boots from CD, detects your [H]ardware, and starts running as if you had a fully installed Linux system (though a bit slower). It's full of programs, utilites and features- so many I couldn't possibly list them in less than 2000 words.


The point So what is it good for? Well if your [H]DD or OS breaks, it can substitue temporarily to keep your system folding. It can recover data, and resize or ghost partitions. It can be used to put together minimal-hardware folding boxen. (My best price/Ghz to date is just a tad over $100 for a 2Ghz Duron system (no peripherals, no hdd, no case). Now maybe an LTSP-style moster farm is a better solution in the long run, but a Live CD is much simpler to setup (ie. it takes about one minute to boot it, compared to a few hours of installing and configuring an LTSP server.)


Suffice it to say, here is how you can use it-

download the iso http://overclockix.octeams.com
burn an image of the iso
boot from the CD
click on the monitor w/ clamshell icon
For folding type: cfgfold
For seti:
foldoff
cfgseti (enter user info)
For Prime:
foldoff
primeon

The most common problem is unsupported network cards. I do try to add drivers as soon as people report a problem with one. If this is the case, you'll need to stick in a PCI card and try again or put in a request and wait for an update to the iso.

Overclockix now runs a vncserver automatically, so you can monitor it from another box on your lan. It is also possible to save folding progress and configurations across a reboot in a couple of different ways. It is possible to install to a hard drive and fairly simple to do.

If anyone is interested in remastering the CD to give it a different default folding username and team #, be my guest. Knoppix.net is a great source of info, and overclockix also has its own support forum where you can talk to me if you need help using it.

Rather than spam this sticky with huge [ img] tagged pics, I'll just drop a single link for you.

Pic

More from turmelle:

Diskless Folding Farm Guide v.1.2

I've only received good feedback from this so if you want the cheapest and most efficient farm, go diskless Linux. This Guide shows you exactly how. Scripts included to do practically all of the dirty work. You can be online in as little as 2 hours.

My 16 node 32Ghz farm has been up over 2 months now.

http://home.comcast.net/~bturmelle/diskless.html

Edit: Feel free to yank my Guide and put it on hardfolding.com.
Edit2: Fixed stuff, bumped version number.

We now have a preconfigured LTSP version of Overclockix, to make monster diskless farms easier to setup. Same link as above for Overclockix.

Running the folding client as a linux service:

Thus works onFreeBSD systems. I've testing it on linux using a Mandrake Live CD, but as always YMMV.

Nearly everything described below requires root privileges. All tasks are performed at a command prompt.

The first task is to create a dedicated user account for the folding client. This is a common security practice on unix systems. By running the client a specific user with limited privileges we can reduce the damage done if there is an exploit available for the folding client. We can create this account using the useradd command.

useradd folder

Once created we need to move to the folder account temporarily. By using the su command we can impersonate another account. By using the cd command without any arguments we move to the current user's home directory.

su folder
cd

You can use pwd to verify your present working directory, which should be /home/folder.

Now we need to retrieve the linux folding client. The url may change in the future, but as of this writing it works.

the url might change www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/release/FAH502-Linux.exe
Use chmod to make the client executable.

chmod 0700 FAH502-Linux.exe

Run the client and complete the initial setup dialog.

./FAH502-Linux.exe or /FAH502-Linux.exe

Use top to verify that the folding client is running under the permissions of the user folder.

Now we are done impersonating the folder user. We need to return to the root shell and configure the system to start and stop the client automatically at at system boot and shutdown.

exit

Copy the following script and save it as:
/etc/rc.d/init.d/fah.sh (Mandrake/Redhat)
or
/etc/init.d/fah.sh (Debian/Suse)


#!/bin/sh

# fah.sh system startup and shutdown script for the folding at home client

PATH=/bin:/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/home/folder
cd /home/folder
echo -n "F@H Client: "

case "$1" in
start)
echo "start"
# run the client as the user 'folder' and redirect all output to the file fah.log
su -m folder -c "./FAH502-Linux.exe >> /home/folder/fah.log 2>&1 &"
;;
stop)
echo "stop"
# kill every process owned by the 'folder' user, including the folding client
echo kill -TERM -1 | su -m folder
;;
esac
exit 0


Make the script executable:

chmod 0700 /etc/rc.d/init.d/fah.sh (Mandrake/Redhat)
or
chmod 0700 /etc/init.d/fah.sh (Debian/Suse)

Now create soft links from the fah.sh script to the appropriate startup and shutdown directories:

(Mandrake/RedHat)
ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/fah.sh /etc/rc.d/rc3.d/S98Folder
ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/fah.sh /etc/rc.d/rc3.d/K98Folder
ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/fah.sh /etc/rc.d/rc5.d/S98Folder
ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/fah.sh /etc/rc.d/rc5.d/K98Folder

(Debian/Suse)
ln -s /etc/init.d/fah.sh /etc/init.d/rc3.d/S98Folder
ln -s /etc/init.d/fah.sh /etc/init.d/rc3.d/K98Folder
ln -s /etc/init.d/fah.sh /etc/init.d/rc5.d/S98Folder
ln -s /etc/init.d/fah.sh /etc/init.d/rc5.d/K98Folder

Now we need to test that our script and soft links work. Stop the folding process:

/etc/rc.d/rc3.d/K98Folder stop (Mandrake/Redhat)
or
/etc/init.d/rc3.d/K98Folder stop (Debian/Suse)

Use top to verify that the folding client is no longer running.

Now restart the client:
/etc/rc.d/rc3.d/S98Folder start (Mandrake/Redhat)
or
/etc/init.d/rc3.d/S98Folder (Debian/Suse)

Again use top to make sure it is running.

At this point the only thing left to do is to reboot the system and verify that the client terminates cleanly, and restarts automatically when the system comes back up.

edit: suse and slackware update
In SuSE:
The curl command and resulting setup program work just the same.
There is no /etc/rc.d directory (well, there is, but it's a link that points to /etc/init.d), so change
Copy the following script and save it as /etc/rc.d/init.d/fah.sh
to
Copy the following script and save it as /etc/init.d/fah.sh
and change
ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/fah.sh /etc/rc.d/rc3.d/S98Folder
ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/fah.sh /etc/rc.d/rc3.d/K98Folder
to
ln -s /etc/init.d/fah.sh /etc/init.d/rc3.d/S98Folder
ln -s /etc/init.d/fah.sh /etc/init.d/rc3.d/K98Folder
and
ln -s /etc/init.d/fah.sh /etc/init.d/rc5.d/S98Folder
ln -s /etc/init.d/fah.sh /etc/init.d/rc5.d/K98Folder
rc3.d is used when you boot to text mode, and rc5.d is used when you boot into graphical mode (davar, you may want to make this particular note apply to the other instructions as well). Your default runlevel can be changed by editing /etc/inittab. That file also describes the various runlevels (and what *not* to use -- 0 or 6 will make your system unusable).

In Slackware:
Well, Slackware is just completely different.
I haven't tried the installation yet, but the startup/shutdown procedures change thusly:
There is an /etc/rc.d directory, but there is no init.d subdirectory in it. Instead, there are a bunch of files.
rc.M is used to initialize the system when booting, whether into runlevel 3 or 5. rc.M executes rc.local, so you should put the "start" section of the fah.sh script into the rc.local file.
rc.6 is used to shut down the system, whether into runlevel 0 (halt) or 6 (reboot). (Now you know why neither of those should be set up as your default runlevel. The "stop" section of the fah.sh script should be put into the rc.6 file.

another version for slack ( may or maynot install cleaner )

You could setup slackware a little more cleanly than you have suggested by:

# rc.local snippet
if [ -f /etc/rc.d/fah.sh ] ;then /etc/rc.d/fah.sh start ;fi

# rc.6 snippet
if [ -f /etc/rc.d/fah.sh ] ;then /etc/rc.d/fah.sh stop ;fi

and if the su command is issued should look like this

su folder -c "./FAH502-Linux.exe >> /home/folder/fah.log 2>&1 &"

and

echo kill -TERM -1 | su folder

here are some guides I found all over the net, PM me if you have links to others so we can keep the FAQ section clean.

http://project-bounce.sourceforge.net/
http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/articles/howto/FAH_Diskless_Farm_2.html
http://www.talix.com/Folding/Folding_Farm.html
http://www.dnaresearch.com.au/gahnix.shtml
http://www.ltsp.org/contrib/MDK90-LTSP.html
http://overclockix.octeams.com/How_to_setup_a_Folding_Farm.htm
Fold Server!!! From our own unhappy_mage !
http://fold-server.sourceforge.net/

http://jmol.sourceforge.net/fah/

What is it ? It's a page where you can select a fah project, display a molecule from this project and then play with it : zooming, rotating, changing display options ...

How does it work ? It uses Jmol applet. Jmol is a Java molecular viewer for 3D chemical structures. The current stable version is 10.00, the next version will be able to read and display the current.xyz files found in the work folder of fah.

EM3 will be run on a computer running Windows, which will collect information from Linux systems running the Folding client.

The first thing you need to do, assuming you have Samba correctly installed, is to locate your smb.conf file. This is located( most of the time) in /etc/samba/. If you can't find it there, this is how you can find it-

as root, run:

slocate -u

this will build the files on your system, and will take a Bit. After it is done, run:

slocate smb.conf

and it will tell you where to find it.


Defore we start configuring Samba, we must do some preparation for the system. First, let's create a user that Samba can run under. First, make the user with the useradd command, like so: (as root )

/usr/sbin/useradd -m username

The m argument tells the system to build a home directory for our new user, at /home/username. This is generally a good idea, but it is up to you.

We will set a Samba password for our new user, but that requires the samba server to be running, so we'll wait on that for a bit. Note, that this is different from a regular user password.


The user name should be the same as the user name of the Windows computer with which you want to share. It is a good idea to make sure you know the user name and password of the Windows system that will be accessing the Folding boxen. This information will be required several times throughout the setup.


Next , it's a good idea to change your hostname from something other than the default, 'localhost', before we go any further. Localhost refers to the loopback interface. This is how a computer talks to itself. Therefore, if a computer tries to connect to another machine named localhost, the request will be sent to itself, and not to the intended destination. There are several ways to change your hostname, I will cover the way thats most likely to work. Please consult your distros documentation for more information. If your on a Local Area Network(LAN), which most Folding setups are, you can use any name you want. However, it is a good idea not to have any two computers with the same hostname. *( errors on start up are no good)


Next we will edit three files, /etc/sysconfig/network, /etc/hostname, and /etc/hosts. This must be done as root. We will use pico as the text editor, you should have it on your distro. Type: pico /etc/sysconfig/network and change the HOSTNAME= line to reflect your new hostname. For example, if you wanted your machine to be 'foldingbox,' you would do this:


HOSTNAME=foldingbox.localdomain


When you are done, hit ctrl x, y and enter a few times to confirm and save the file. Now we will edit /etc/hostname:


pico /etc/hostname


Sometimes this file does not exist, if so you probably don't need it, but it can't hurt to have it. Replace (or add if the file is new) the hostname in the following format:


foldingbox.localdomain


Save and exit. Some distributions use /etc/HOSTNAME instead (Linux filenames are case sensitive, so this does matter). Just follow the same steps and create(or alter) /etc/HOSTNAME just as you did /etc/hostname. Now, for the final file, /etc/hosts:

pico /etc/hosts

ADD a line to the file, below any other entries:

127.0.0.1 foldingbox.localdomain


Then reboot the machine, and check that your hostname is what you selected. You should be able to see it after your user name at the bash prompt. If there is any doubt, run 'hostname' and it should return your hostname, as you just set it.


By far, the easiest way to deal with host names is to set them correctly during installation, although there is no need to reinstall just to change your hostname.


Now we're ready to jump into smb.conf. The basic format of smb.conf consisted of keys, organized under groups. It looks like this:


[group]

key = value


Pretty straightforward. A very basic smb.conf looks like this:


[global]

workgroup = yourworkgroup

[homes]

guest ok = no

read only = no


This brings up something very important: workgroup. If your workgroup is not exactly the same for all computers you want to have access to, your Samba servers will not show up in a Windows computer's 'Network Neighborhood,' and you will have to search for them.


Change into your Samba directory (cd /etc/samba or whatever your directory is) and use pico to create that smb.conf file for now (pico smb.conf). If you have a sample smb.conf file, rename it so you can use it later (do it like so: mv smb.conf smb.sample.conf). Now, lets test our Samba configuration.


Let's test our smb.conf syntax first. Type testparm and look at what it returns. If there are any errors it will tell you, and you must fix them before continuing.


Second, start the two Samba daemons (programs that run in the background waiting for connections). As root, run:

/usr/sbin/nmbd

/usr/sbin/smbd

It is possible your daemons are somewhere else, if so, just do a slocate on nmbd and smbd and you'll find them. Make sure that the two processes are running by typing the following:

ps ax | more

Press enter to scroll down the list and look for nmbd and smbd. If they are there, you're on track.


This is a good time to set up your user's Samba password. This is done with the smbpasswd command, as root. The basic syntax is:

smbpasswd -a username password

If you want a blank password, use the n (as in null) argument like this:

smbpasswd -an username

Note that if you use null passwords, your smb.conf should have the following under the [global] section:

null passwords = yes


Many people have blank Windows passwords, so they don't have to type them when they log on. This tends to cause trouble with Samba, as a Windows 'blank' password is NOT equal to a Samba null password. If you must use a blank password, set the Samba password like this:


smbpasswd -a username


Samba will ask you for the password twice, just press enter each time.


Now, let's make sure that your NetBIOS name is working correctly. Type the following command:

nmblookup HOSTNAME

of course, replace HOSTNAME with your hostname (should be in caps though). You should see something like this:

querying HOSTNAME on 192.168.123.266

192.168.123.176 HOSTNAME<00>

The IPs are for my network, yours may differ. As long as there aren't any errors, let's continue.


To confirm that you can log in, use the following command:

smbclient \\\\HOSTNAME\\username

Samba should ask you for your password and 'log you in' to your home directory. Note that if you are using null passwords and get an error when you try to log in, it's because you forgot the line: 'null passwords = yes' in the [global] section of your smb.conf.


Now that we have the basics down, use the sample smb.conf file and read the comments in it; there is a lot of information in there. Try editing the file yourself and experiment with the various features. If you put a # in front of a line, Samba ignores it. After making your changes, save the file and run testparm. If it checks out, you can force the Samba daemons to re-read the config file like this:

killall -HUP smbd

killall -HUP nmbd


To add a custom share, you must declare it:


[sharename]

path = path/to/share


Technically, this is all you need to create a share, but it may be more functional if you set some more options, such as:


public = yes



writable = yes




Here is a smb.conf that should be sufficient to share the working directory of a Linux F@H setup:

[global]

workgroup = YOUR_WORKGROUP_HERE

server string = FAH Server

security = user

encrypt passwords = yes

log file = /var/log/samba.%m

max log size = 50


[homes]

guest ok = yes

read only = no


[folding]

path = /home/folding

public = yes

writable = yes


If you use this file, be sure to change the workgroup to reflect your network. Also, alter the share definitions to the directories you want to share. Note that this configuration is not terribly secure, as anyone on the network has full access to the shares.

At this point, if you smb.conf is set properly, you should be able to see your Linux server on the Windows machine.


I recommend creating a user solely for Folding (this can also be your samba user). Run the following command to do so:


/usr/sbin/useradd -m folding


Now, you have a new user name 'folding' and a home directory for that user, located at /home/folding. We can use this directory as the F@H working directory. In order to 'become' this user without setting a password and logging in, you can log in as root and run:


su folding


And you will become the folding user.


Before we can begin monitoring the Folding client with EM3, we have to change file permissions. EM3 needs write access to set up the first time, but afterward read-only access only is necessary, provided you don't want to change settings remotely. First, download the Linux F@H client to your folding directory. The permissions need to be changed so that the system knows it is a program that can executed. So, as root , run:


chmod +x /home/folding/FAHxxx.exe


Depending on which client you have and where your working directory is, you will have to alter that command. Now, run the folding client (as your folding user)


./FAHxxx.exe


Once you answer the questions and it begins running, it will create several files in its working directory, and we must change permissions on all these files. This is done with the following command, as root:


chmod 777 -R /home/folding/*

Now you should be able to monitor the F@H client from EM3. It might complain that the directory does not appear to be a F@H directory, but that's OK, it will still work.


You may want Samba to start automatically on boot. In that case, you should add the following to a rc file, which you can find in /etc/rc.d/ (I tend to use rc.local).

/usr/sbin/nmbd

/usr/sbin/smbd


If you want to start from a command promt, use the same commands above, except append a -D to the end of each. The -D option tells the server to run as a daemon, so it won't die if the session is closed. Samba must be started as root.




Finally, when troubleshooting problems, the most important thing to check is your physical network. Make sure the machines can ping each other, etc. Only then look at software issues, which tend to be a pain in the ass.

DO NOT USE THIS FOR BORGING COMPUTERS THAT YOU DONT HAVE PERMISSION TO INSTALL IT ON, ITS AGAINST THE LAW


Step 1- Open the registry by typing "regedit" in "Run". This will open the registry window.

Step 2- Click on the "+" next to the "HKEY_CURRENT_USER" directory

Step 3- Then click "software", then "Microsoft", then "Windows", then "Current Version" and then finally "run"

Setp 4- Click on "Edit" in the tool bar and then "New" and select "String Value". This places a new string in the Run key (the windows on the right).

Step 5- Right click on "new value#1" and rename it to "Folding@Home4"

Step 6- now right click the "Folding@Home" string and select "Modify" and type in the full path to the Folding@Home console (ie Crogram files\Folding@home\FAH4console.exe)

---Step 7 is OPTIONAL-- it is only needed if the console is not hidden on startup.---

Step 7- At this point you should use hideit X to automatically hide the client. You can find it here http://home.comcast.net/~wxdude1/emsite/hideitx.html This can be done by placing "hideItx.exe" in the same directory that FAH is installed to. Next, make a short cut to "Hideitx" and place it in the start up folder. Right click on the shortcut and click "properties". Look at the target box and put after " C:\Progeam Files\HideItX.exe" ( ir whatever the path is , dont change it) make a space then put in " -starthide " then a space then put in the path to the folding exe. , it should look like " " -starthide C:\Program Files\Folding@home\FAH4-Console.exe"
Now go back to the registry and add another string ( like you did before) and name it "hideitX". Right click on the string and then click modify and put in the target you just edited.

All this should end up with you automatically starting folding and hiding it completely. NOTE: you may have to start the client with the -service( Run in service mode) for this to work. This method has worked for me on some computers, while on others it simply refused to work.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


If the above method does not work for you, then try this:

NOTE: These instructions were written using the Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP Graphical client.

This is because Windows will shut the GUI client down when you turn off the computer. It will cause a warning when you shut down the comp if you use the Text Only version.

These instructions are for installing the 4.x Folding@Home client as a hidden service for Windows 9x/ME. They involve making changes to the Windows registry. If you are uncomfortable doing this or you have no idea what regedit is then you may wish to reconsider. You should also make a backup of the registry before continuing.

Step 1- Install the client as you normally would, then run it and input your user information.

Once your username and team name have been entered and the client downloads a user ID the close the client.

Step 2- Check your startup folder for a shortcut to the client. If one exists then delete it.

Step 3- Now that the folding client has been installed and configured you can begin to make the necessary changes to the registry so that it starts automatically when Windows boots.

Open Regedit and go to the following key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices

Step 4- You will need to create a new string here. The string can be called whatever you wish to call it, but I recommend "FAH4" so that it can be easily identified.

If you let the installer install the client in its default location then the value for the string would be as follows:
C:\Program Files\Folding@Home\winFAH4-Console.exe -service

Step 5- Once this string has been entered you can close regedit and restart your computer. Once it restarts you should not see the Folding@Home tray icon in the system tray. If it is there then you need to go back to the startup folder and delete the winFAH shortcut and restart.

Finally- If there is no icon then you should check to make sure the client is running. If you have any programs that will monitor your currently running applications then you should check there, or use the CTRL-Alt-Delete command to bring up a list of all currently running apps. If you see winFAH and core_65 in that list then congratulations. You are done

if you need more instuctions for HIDE IT X this is from the weathermans website

good guide, got it off another forum/

WINDOWS 98/ME GUIDE:

Step 1- Goto Control Panel> Internet Options> Connections

Step 2- Click "Always Connect"

Step 3- Highlight default connection then click "setting"

Step 4- Click last (right most) tab

Step 5- set Retry to 10 and Interval to 60 seconds

Step 6- set disconnect to 3 minutes or whatever works for you

Step 7- Check the box "Do not ask to disconnect".

WINDOWS 2000 GUIDE

Look in the Win2k help files in the index and look up dialup connections and under it there is an entry for automating.

Click on it and in the right hand pane is a link to autodial, click on it. It then shows a couple of links to configure autodial and to start the remote access auto connection manager.

You will have to go into both of them and follow the steps, which are fairly easy. While you are in the RAACM, configure it to start the service automatically as it set set on manual by default. After you've done this it will be configured and close out the help files.

The first time that it goes to connect after starting the remote access auto connection manager and enabling auto dialup, it will ask if you want to connect. Then, it will ask you which connection to use, even if you only have 1 dialup account on the computer. Then it will ask if you want to be asked all this again before dialing the next time.

Be sure to tell it not to ask again or the next time it finishes a WU, it will come up with this same dialogue again. Also, be sure to set the dialup to automatically disconnect after 5-10 minutes instead of relying on your ISP to knock you off for inactivity.

WINDOWS XP GUIDE

Step 1- Go to Control Panel - Internet Properties. In the Connections tab, select "Dial whenever a network connection is not present". This will allow Windows to dial your ISP whenever a program of any description requests internet access.

Step 2- Select your default dialup, right click, choose Properties - Find Target.

Step 3- Right click on your connection and choose "Set as default connection" (if not already your default connection". Then right click and choose properties. Under the Options tab, set Idle Time to Hanging up to 5 minutes.

Step 4- To see if it works or not disconnect and launch your browser and see if your computer tries to autodial. Hopefully your computer will, then disconnect after 5 minute of inactivity.

F@H Client Do's and Don'ts
The console is not an installer, but the actual Folding@Home client executable. In general, just download it, run it, and don't worry about it. However, if you like to be "hands on" with F@H, please keep in mind:

Each different running copy of F@H has to have its own Machine ID number. If you download each copy of F@H from the web site and configure fresh, there will be no problems.
Please don't manually retry to send WUs soon after a netsend failure. The netsend failure means that the server was probably overloaded and retrying will just make things worse.
Do not run multiple copies of FAH from the same directory
We have seen some issues with running the Windows console client with the service option and the Windows GUI version simultaneously. While we debug this, we recommend not combining these two options simultaneously.


Console Client Configuration Options

-config
Allows users to change their configuration information. This includes user & team names (reflected in the stats), whether or not to ask before a network connection is made to fetch/send work, set up proxy servers, preferred work unit type (Folding/Genome), process priority, CPU usage requested (5-100%), whether or not to use assembly loops, whether or not to use deadline information, and Machine ID changes.

-configonly
Same as above, but quit following configuration instead of beginning work.

-delete x
Delete item #x from work queue. This option should only be used if there is a serious error with the current unit that the client does not automatically recover from (e.g. crash-inducing). This should not normally happen, and if it does, we would be grateful if you could send us the FAHlog.txt file from the unit that causes the error.

-license
Displays the end-user license agreement

-queueinfo
Get information on queued work units. Includes for each unit the status (READY/FINISHED/EMPTY), unit type (Folding/Genome), originating server, and date when the unit was received (local time in GMT), as well as deadline if the server sent that information.

-send x
Send result #x back to server. Exits after trying to send unit (successfully or unsuccessfully). Use "-send all" to send all results outstanding. If unit x is not a completed work unit then the client exits without doing anything.

-verbosity x
Sets the output level, from 1 to 9 (max). The default is 3. This option should be used if the user wishes to see more detailed client output, particularly useful if there is a problem which needs to be reported to the F@H client development team.

-oneunit
Instruct the client to quit following the completion of one work unit.

-forceasm
Instruct the core to use SSE/3DNow assembly instructions if possible, even if it has previously made the determination that the machine may not be handling this well.

-advmethods
Request to be assigned work units from new projects, before they are broadly released to the rest of Folding@home. As among the first to try out new advanced simulations, you may wish to post any observations (positive or negative), questions, or issues at the user Forum.

-local
Use configuration files from local directory. This option has no meaning on Linux, but is vital on Windows and Macintosh for running multiple clients on a machine. It instructs the client to read its config information from the client.cfg file in the current directory rather than, on Windows, from the installation directory specified in the registry, or, on Macintosh, the Library/Folding@home directory. Information such as the user name, team name, proxy information, machine ID are maintained in the client.cfg file. The flag ensures that work does not conflict. Use "-local" only if you are planning on running more than one instance of Folding@Home on the same machine (this is only useful if you are running on a multi-processor machine). Create as many directories as there are processors on the machine, copy the exe files and client.cfg file into each of these directories, run "FAH3Console -local -config" on each and specify unique machine IDs for each directory (under the Advanced Settings option). From then onwards you may run each copy by switching to its directory and running with the -local flag.

-help
Print out the command line flags available and then exit.


Linux Specific


-freeBSD
For use by those wishing to use the Linux client on a machine running FreeBSD. See our FAQ for details on how to do this, but with this flag, all Cores downloaded will automatically be branded as being a Linux executable.


Windows Specific
The below options are accepted but ignored by the clients for operating systems other than Microsoft Windows.

-pause
Pause after finishing and trying to send current unit. Allows a user to shut down after finishing a unit, by pressing Ctrl-C, without then getting new work to process. This is recommended if you are planning on shutting down your machine for a long time (e.g. for a vacation), or are planning to un/re-install F@H after finishing the currently processing work unit.

-service
Run in service mode (for programs such as firedaemon). This prevents the client from exiting when it detects the current user is logging out. If this option is used when the client is not run as a service then it will run normally, but will not shut down automatically if the user logs out, and a "Wait for program to close." dialog box will be displayed.

DO NOT USE THIS FOR BORGING COMPUTERS THAT YOU DONT HAVE PERMISSION TO INSTALL IT ON, ITS AGAINST THE LAW

Hide your clients!

HideItX from the Weatherman. Top Pick!

Firedaemon

HideIt


Minimize your clients ( great for console versions )

4t Tray Minimizer

Tray It!

Shelltoys