Warlock of Eire wrote:

Hello I am new to S.E.T.I. I have downloaded the screensaver.
I have been scanning/decoding signals for 36mins.My source is Arecibo Radio
Observatory. I have read information on the website 
The information says that i should only let the program run for 5 mins
although so far i have let it run over 35mins.
Please can someone answer my frustrated questions:
How long does it take to finish?

	One Work Unit can take a few hours or a few days to process, depending on
whether you have a fast computer, or a more difficult WU.  The software is
designed to run in the background, and you probably won't see any changes
in your computer's operation.  Games and other intense users of CPU time
might be affected a bit.

Can I pause the program?

	You can stop it anytime, but there is no Pause.  In Windows, if you
"minimize" the program to the bottom of the screen, it is still running. 
Right-click the icon there to pull up the menu, and select Exit.  The
program will shut down immediately, with no harm done.  Restart the program
at any time in the normal way, and it just continues the processing, from
where it left off at shut-down.

Will this consumme all of my computers hard drive space?

	No.  A 350K file is slowly being reduced to a small file, and only that
small file will be sent to S@h.  All the activity that you see is CPU and
video displays; very little goes onto the hard drive itself.  Even with a
few "auxiliary" programs like SETIspy (an ongoing WU status report for
you), my SETI@home installation occupies less than 5Meg on the hard drive.

Thanks in advance.

	When the S@h icon blinks red, the WU is completed.  Connect to the
Internet, get the S@h screen up, and allow the program to transmit the
results to S@h.  A new WU will then be downloaded, and processing starts
again.  Do not be concerned about incomplete WUs, as they will get
re-processed by others, if necessary.  You will get full credit if a WU
ends too soon.

Cheers,
Red
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