So, I'm running a 64 bit version of Windows, and always had issues with the 64 bit version of Boinc (doesn't connect to projects) on this PC.

So I've downloaded the 32 bit version, which works just fine.

But now Boinc is sending me the following message:

Notice from BOINC
Can't detect VirtualBox because this is a 32-bit version of BOINC; to fix, please install a 64-bit version.

Do I need to install virtualbox?
And if I do, will performance suffer from this?

No, you don't need to install VirtualBox.

The only side-effect is that you will not be able to run work from projects that have configured their work to run inside a VB container.

So, I'm running a 64 bit version of Windows, and always had issues with the 64 bit version of Boinc (doesn't connect to projects) on this PC.

So I've downloaded the 32 bit version, which works just fine.

But now Boinc is sending me the following message:

Notice from BOINC
Can't detect VirtualBox because this is a 32-bit version of BOINC; to fix, please install a 64-bit version.

Do I need to install virtualbox?
And if I do, will performance suffer from this?

I have had the same issue running the windows version under WINE - the message that is as BOINC manager crashes as soon as I switch to the advanced view with 64bit BOINC. Message annoying as I wouldn't ever want to run virtual box from inside WINE but would use it natively from Linux.

You have no idea, how many people have written threads about the 64bit version of the client, not connecting.
Most of those threads, end up dead. Meaning, someone gives some advice that helps noting, and I guess the OP just gives up, and installs the 32 bit version instead.
I retried the 64 bit version, followed about a good 20 threads of advice, and still nothing.
The boinc.exe file immediately errors upon 'no cc_config.xml'.
Once created, it runs a bit longer, but also crashes.
Unlike the Linux client, which runs Boinc even without that file.
I've tried the regular 64 bit version, with a 64 bit Virtualbox installation separate, as well as the package (Boinc+Virtualbox) link from the main page.

The 64 bit Boinc is seriously buggy!
One google search can find tens upon tens of threads with people having the same issue, never addressed.

I'm going back to the 32 bit version,
If possible, would like the reminder to be removed, until the 64 bit version actually works on normal hardware.

Pentium N5000, 16GB of RAM, Windows 10 Home (64 bit).

PS: Strangely enough, most people reporting the 64 bit version not to work, have reported Intel hardware of similar specs (celerons, Pentium J, etc....).


I still would want to know if running Boinc in a virtual environment, affects speed?
And is there any speed difference between running Windows VS Linux within the virtualbox?
I presume, running Boinc outside of VM, would offer greatest speed advantage?

Did you find that the 64-bit versions crash in their (somewhat elderly) libeay32.dll file, on those new lower-power processors? This file is a component of the OpenSSL network security framework.

The next version of BOINC will be shipped with a newer version of the library which has been tested (by me, among others) to solve the problem.

Running in a virtual environment does affect speed - not much, but it is measurable.
The impact is greater the more virtual environments one runs.

The reason s fairly simple - you have a very basic operating system below the virtual machine, this uses some resources, mostly to do with keeping the machines from interfering with each other and controlling access to discs, network hardware interfaces etc, then you have the virtual machine(s), each of which has its own protected area of memory, access to the CPU, maybe access to any APU; each machine will get a "slice" of the CPU and memory, access to which is controlled by the basic o/s - the basic o/s has to monitor all these just to make sure the machine is staying within its bounds and not straying into another machine's zone.
Obviously this loss is not much, but given that some types of virtual machine can allow one to super-commit resources (where say, more memory is allocated than the hardware actually has) there can be some significant penalties if all the machines are active at full demand at once.
That said, Virtual Machines can be very useful in certain environments, such as the need to run a 32-bit o/s on 64-bit hardware while running applications that require a full 64-bit environment.
Generally one requires a fairly modern, and/or powerful processor and a decent amount of memory to run a VM, but there are some light weight ones around (sorry, as I don't use them myself I can't give you a guide as to which ones are good/bad/indifferent)
Certainly some projects using BOINC use a Virtual Machine approach as it allows them to distribute the exact environment and operating system that their applications require (LHC comes to mind as one example).

Running in a virtual environment does affect speed - not much, but it is measurable.
The impact is greater the more virtual environments one runs.

The reason s fairly simple - you have a very basic operating system below the virtual machine, this uses some resources, mostly to do with keeping the machines from interfering with each other and controlling access to discs, network hardware interfaces etc, then you have the virtual machine(s), each of which has its own protected area of memory, access to the CPU, maybe access to any APU; each machine will get a "slice" of the CPU and memory, access to which is controlled by the basic o/s - the basic o/s has to monitor all these just to make sure the machine is staying within its bounds and not straying into another machine's zone.
Obviously this loss is not much, but given that some types of virtual machine can allow one to super-commit resources (where say, more memory is allocated than the hardware actually has) there can be some significant penalties if all the machines are active at full demand at once.
That said, Virtual Machines can be very useful in certain environments, such as the need to run a 32-bit o/s on 64-bit hardware while running applications that require a full 64-bit environment.
Generally one requires a fairly modern, and/or powerful processor and a decent amount of memory to run a VM, but there are some light weight ones around (sorry, as I don't use them myself I can't give you a guide as to which ones are good/bad/indifferent)
Certainly some projects using BOINC use a Virtual Machine approach as it allows them to distribute the exact environment and operating system that their applications require (LHC comes to mind as one example).

THe 32 bit client works just fine on a 64 bit OS.
I guess it matters more to run 16 or 8 bit software on 64 bit hardware?