New LMH needs advice.

[M0CZY]

I was intrigued by 'Lone Mersenne Hunters', so I chose the range 41000000
to 41100000 and created a list of primes to factor. I believe that the
nofactor list indicates that the numbers in my chosen range have already
been factored up to 2^60, so I have started factoring them up to 2^62,
which on my slow machine takes about 2 hours per number.
How can I find out if I am doing worthwhile work, or whether I am simply
duplicating work that is being done by somebody else?
Would it be better for me to join the official GIMPS project rather than
continue doing work that is random, and uncoordinated?

[Oerwin]

Take a look at the sticky-thread "All available ranges". There you see which range ist available and how far they are factored.

Additionally start a thread with title like "41.0 - 41.1 to 62 bits", so everyone knows you are working at that range. The moderators of this section will add this information to the "All available ranges" and "List of ranges currently out"-thread.

[hbock]

Originally Posted by M0CZY

I was intrigued by 'Lone Mersenne Hunters', so I chose the range 41000000
to 41100000 and created a list of primes to factor. I believe that the
nofactor list indicates that the numbers in my chosen range have already
been factored up to 2^60, so I have started factoring them up to 2^62,
which on my slow machine takes about 2 hours per number.

6-7 month (running 24/7) is a very long time for that small range. Please think about a reduction to 2^61, it's about 3 times faster (more factors per time) and so you can extend the range, if you like. BTW, one of the next goals is to eliminate the 60 bits exponents (see this thread ), for that purpose 61 bits is enough - and next year is maybe more computer power available.
Anyway, please open a separate thread for the range you've chosen.