A bug in the Windows screensaver, and a workaround

February 25, 2002

Thanks to reports from our users, we have identified a problem in the Windows screen saver version of the SETI@home client which aggravates the connection problems many users are experiencing due to the recent reduction in bandwidth available to our server.

The effect of this problem is that the Windows client does not automatically retry after a failure to connect to the server while in screen saver mode. (It does retry when the user dismisses the screen saver and maximizes the client.)

We are currently testing a new version of the Windows client to fix this problem and hope to release it shortly. In the meantime, we suggest the following workaround for our Windows users:

Set the SETI@home client preferences to "Data analysis always runs" and "Connect automatically."
In Windows' Screen Saver properties, select [none] for the screen saver; use the Energy saving features to put your monitor on low-power standby (or to turn it off) after a period of time.
Minimize the SETI@home window; SETI@home runs much more slowly when displaying the graphics.

Some users may find that "Data analysis always runs" takes too much processor time away from your other applications. If this is the case, you may want to set this option only when your computer will be otherwise idle for an extended period.

Note that this problem affects only the Windows clients when the SETI@home screen saver is running. Automatic connection retries do work correctly for the Macintosh SETI@home screen savers and for all command-line (non-GUI) clients.