diff --git a/html/ops/show_log.php b/html/ops/show_log.php
index 7e097fba1b..55ac761863 100644
--- a/html/ops/show_log.php
+++ b/html/ops/show_log.php
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
     $f = $_GET["f"];
     $s = $_GET["s"];
+    $l = (int)$_GET["l"];
 
     if (!$f || !preg_match("/^ *([a-z_*]+[.](log|out) *)+$/", $f)) {
         $f = '*.log';
@@ -27,11 +28,12 @@
     echo "<form action=show_log.php>";
     echo " Regexp: <input name=s value='$s'>";
     echo " Files: <input name=f value='$f'>";
+    echo " Lines: <input name=l value='$l'> (positive for head, negative for tail)";
     echo " <input type=submit value=Grep></form>";
 
     echo 'Hint: Example greps: "RESULT#106876", "26fe99aa_25636_00119.wu_1", "WU#8152", "too many errors", "2003-07-17", "CRITICAL" <br>';
 
-    passthru("cd $log_dir && ../bin/grep_logs -html '$s' $f 2>&1");
+    passthru("cd $log_dir && ../bin/grep_logs -html -l $l '$s' $f 2>&1 $lines");
 
     page_tail();
 } ?>
diff --git a/sched/grep_logs b/sched/grep_logs
index e3c86b78c8..b3d88eeeae 100755
--- a/sched/grep_logs
+++ b/sched/grep_logs
@@ -7,11 +7,16 @@ use strict;
 use warnings;
 
 my $html = 0;
+my $lines = 0;
 die unless @ARGV;
 if ($ARGV[0] eq '-html') {
     shift;
     $html = 1;
 }
+if ($ARGV[0] eq '-l') {
+    shift;
+    $lines = shift;
+}
 
 my $s = shift; die unless defined $s;
 
@@ -24,27 +29,57 @@ if ($s =~ /\d$/) {
 
 my $prev_file = '';
 
+my $nlines = 0;
+my @slines = ();
+
+sub printline($)
+{
+  ++$nlines;
+  if ($lines < 0) {
+     # tail - need to store all lines first
+     push(@slines, $_[0]);
+  } else {
+     return     if ($lines > 0 && $nlines > $lines) ;
+     print $_[0];
+  }
+};
+sub finish_printlines()
+{
+  if ($lines < 0) {
+       if (scalar(@slines) > -$lines) {
+          @slines = @slines[$#slines+$lines+1..$#slines]; 
+       }
+       print @slines;
+  }
+  $nlines = 0;
+  @slines = ();
+}
+
 if ($html) { print "<pre>"; }
 while (<ARGV>) {
     chomp;
     if (/$s/) {
         if ($ARGV ne $prev_file) {
+            finish_printlines();
             $prev_file = $ARGV;
             if ($html) {
                 print "</pre><h2>$ARGV</h2><pre>";
             } else {
                 print "\n\n$ARGV:\n";
             }
+            $nlines = 0;
         }
         my $n = sprintf("%05d", $.);
+                
         if ($html) {
             s%.*debug.*%<font color=grey>$&</font>%i;
             s%.*(critical|error).*%<font color=red>$&</font>%i;
             s%$s%<b>$&</b>%g if $s;
-            print "<font size=-1><a name=$. href=show_log.php?f=$ARGV#$.>$n</a></font>  $_\n";
+            printline "<font size=-1><a name=$. href=show_log.php?f=$ARGV#$.>$n</a></font>  $_\n";
         } else {
-            print "  $n: $_\n";
+            printline "  $n: $_\n";
         }
     }
 }
+finish_printlines();
 if ($html) { print "</pre>"; }
diff --git a/sched/main.C b/sched/main.C
index ede37d9302..c93eedf360 100644
--- a/sched/main.C
+++ b/sched/main.C
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ static const char* STDERR_FILENAME = "../log/cgi.log";
 
 #define REQ_FILE_PREFIX "boinc_req_"
 #define REPLY_FILE_PREFIX "boinc_reply_"
-bool use_files = true;     // use disk files for req/reply msgs (for debugging)
+bool use_files = false;     // use disk files for req/reply msgs (for debugging)
 
 DB_PROJECT gproject;
 CONFIG config;