Hi,
The BOINC Software used by the SETI project and the like use similar processes, one of the warnings when you install the software is that it will cause some CPU's to overheat (and possibly fail).
I think you would have to limit the amount of CPU processing available to each thread, say 5%.

>I am designing an app with very little userinterface. The The app will do a lot of work in the background and then the backgroundworker came to mind <s>.
>I will start several backgroundworker threads (each with a different argument) when the app is started and the backgroundworkers will run for the duration that the app is running (until the PC is restarted).
>
>Are there any negative side effects to leaving backgroundworker threads running for such an long time?
>
>Another design thought was to only spawn backgroundworker threads when they are needed and when they are done doing their task have the threads complete in a relatively short period of time.
>
>Any thoughts on this subject are welcome. Please let me know if further information is needed to advice on the situation.
>
>Thanks,
>Einar