To those with many computers: if you value your time, you must think about how you deploy the client. There are loads of ways you can do it. Here are three suggestions:

If you use Active Directory, then the best solution is a Group Policy install with MSI. TheLazySlug can hook you up with a transform that will adjust all the setup settings to suit your particular needs. This is the easiest solution to manage and maintain, but you need a proper Windows Domain heirarchy.

Scripting. BOINC is fairly easy to install, and whether you use Linux or Windows, you can roll it out just by copying some files. There is no complicated dll registration or anything, just copy the folder. Minor drawback: it is hard to do a Windows service installation this way, and difficult to configure the screensaver. It's the perfect solution for Linux, of course - there should be existing scripts you can adapt.

Ghosting. In a corporate or academic environment, often there will be some kind of automated ghosting/deployment solution based on a standard platform build. If you have a setup like this, consult your documentation or ask for further advice.

As a quick glance at the stats should show you, the VAST majority of WCG's power comes from individuals, often unaffiliated with any team. Second come the corporate or academic contributions - networks of hundreds or thousands of computers, with cycles going spare. These are computers in schools and offices, in regular use. The supercrunchers with dedicated computer farms and maybe tens or even hundreds of computers solely dedicated to WCG come third, and (even counting all the overclocker/supercruncher team members, whether they have 2 or 20 computers) they only account for a small fraction of WCG's total.

I'm afraid you have (once again) forced me to repeat myself: WCG are grateful no matter how much or little you donate. No contribution, however tiny or mind-bogglingly big, is ignored or unappreciated.

What I'm saying is that WCG's policies, processes, and recruitment campaign is aimed at individuals and corporations, and never, ever does WCG ask anyone to invest in hardware. That is a donation for which WCG is grateful, but if you invest in hardware then it is your decision, and yours alone. You won't get special treatment from WCG because you are turning a hobby into a passion. Well, WCG will spend as much time as they can on your particular needs - supercrunchers bring a lot of other advantages and the very last thing WCG want to do is leave anyone dissatisfied.

Finally, anyone donating hundreds or thousands of computers can get one-on-one help setting up the grid from the WCG staff.

Please remember the core idea of grid computing: to tap an unused, wasted resource. While it is fun to run a server farm (if you have the money) it may not be the best way to contribute to the science. A few times in these forums people have worked out the costs of grid computing, and the bottom line is this: grid computing only in spare cycles, while the computer is on already, costs a negligible amount. You probably lose more money down the back of sofas than you will donating time to WCG. But if you run a dedicated computer 24/7, then the costs add up very, very quickly indeed - and if you add the initial purchase cost, then this turns out to be a very, very expensive hobby. If you only care about points, or about the fun of stressing PCs to their limits, then all well and good. However, if you want to contribute the maximum to the advancement of science, or you want to prevent damage to the environment, then perhaps you should power down your spare computers.

World Community Grid do have an official line on this: they ask only for your unused cycles. Anything above that is gratefully received, but unasked for.

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Just keeping the trolls away Mike