Is GIMPS program portable?

2005-04-08, 10:14

Can I install the prime95 program onto a USB flash drive, and take it with me
to run on any of the computers that I use, or does it have to be installed and
run on a specific computer? What problems might I encounter trying to run
the program from a USB drive on any of the different computers that I use?

Peter Nelson · 2005-04-08, 11:22

It is very possible to have your client software and data on a usb drive which you can take between machines. Lots of people do this.

With a bit more effort (and a bios capable to boot from usb) you can put linux on the flash drive too to boot up and do your prime testing.

The only downside I can see is that if one of your machines is unstable or has errors it would be difficult to tell which one had produced the error if you carried out the work on several of them. Errors are fairly rare, but it might be worth manually forcing some torture testing on each machine you intend to hop between.

All the best with your testing.

2005-04-08, 14:23

Thank you for your answer Peter. I don't actually run GIMPS yet, I run
Seti@home but that project is soon coming to an end, and I am looking for a
new project to replace it. I can run Seti from a floppy disk, easily on any
computer I wish. and although prime95 is too large to fit on a floppy, I
would like to run it from a USB flash drive, running it on several different
machines, like I do Seti at the moment. If I am able to do this with no
problems then GIMPS might be the project that I choose when Seti ends.

Jwb52z · 2005-04-08, 14:56

SETI@Home is not ending. SETI@Home CLASSIC is what is ending. SETI@Home on the BOINC client is NOT ending.

2005-04-09, 09:18

You are right, it is Classic that is ending fairly soon, but I have observed
many problems and bugs with BOINC and I might not change over to it.
I might run GIMPS instead, if the program is simple and trouble-free to run.

Danath · 2005-04-17, 18:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris

and although prime95 is too large to fit on a floppy,

Prime95.exe can be compressed with an exe-packer (like UPX, for example), so that its size would become less than 300 Kb, and it would still work without any problems or additional manipulations.

2005-04-08, 10:14	#1
Chris 2³×503 Posts	Is GIMPS program portable? Can I install the prime95 program onto a USB flash drive, and take it with me to run on any of the computers that I use, or does it have to be installed and run on a specific computer? What problems might I encounter trying to run the program from a USB drive on any of the different computers that I use?

2005-04-08, 11:22	#2
Peter Nelson Oct 2004 23² Posts	USB Portability of prime95 or mprime client It is very possible to have your client software and data on a usb drive which you can take between machines. Lots of people do this. With a bit more effort (and a bios capable to boot from usb) you can put linux on the flash drive too to boot up and do your prime testing. The only downside I can see is that if one of your machines is unstable or has errors it would be difficult to tell which one had produced the error if you carried out the work on several of them. Errors are fairly rare, but it might be worth manually forcing some torture testing on each machine you intend to hop between. All the best with your testing.

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2005-04-08, 14:23	#3
Chris 2⁴·23² Posts	Thank you for your answer Peter. I don't actually run GIMPS yet, I run Seti@home but that project is soon coming to an end, and I am looking for a new project to replace it. I can run Seti from a floppy disk, easily on any computer I wish. and although prime95 is too large to fit on a floppy, I would like to run it from a USB flash drive, running it on several different machines, like I do Seti at the moment. If I am able to do this with no problems then GIMPS might be the project that I choose when Seti ends.

2005-04-08, 14:56	#4
Jwb52z Sep 2002 2²×197 Posts	SETI@Home is not ending. SETI@Home CLASSIC is what is ending. SETI@Home on the BOINC client is NOT ending.

2005-04-09, 09:18	#5
Chris 3³×13 Posts	You are right, it is Classic that is ending fairly soon, but I have observed many problems and bugs with BOINC and I might not change over to it. I might run GIMPS instead, if the program is simple and trouble-free to run.