diff --git a/checkin_notes b/checkin_notes
index 6819daa280..20f90e89c9 100755
--- a/checkin_notes
+++ b/checkin_notes
@@ -2847,3 +2847,12 @@ Rom    27 Mar 2007
         boinc_dll_2003.vcproj
         boincmgr_curl.vcproj
         boincmgr_curl_2003.vcproj
+
+David  27 Mar 2007
+    - client: on startup, show how much RAM and disk are usable
+        (taking prefs into account)
+
+    client/
+        cs_prefs.C
+    lib/
+        str_util.h
diff --git a/client/client_state.h b/client/client_state.h
index 18f160c608..d20cb0e1be 100644
--- a/client/client_state.h
+++ b/client/client_state.h
@@ -356,7 +356,7 @@ public:
     int project_disk_usage(PROJECT*, double&);
     int total_disk_usage(double&);
         // returns the total disk usage of BOINC on this host
-    int allowed_disk_usage(double&);
+    double allowed_disk_usage();
     int allowed_project_disk_usage(double&);
     int suspend_tasks(int reason);
     int resume_tasks(int reason=0);
diff --git a/client/cs_prefs.C b/client/cs_prefs.C
index ac00dd7472..0743a30843 100644
--- a/client/cs_prefs.C
+++ b/client/cs_prefs.C
@@ -49,23 +49,21 @@ using std::string;
 #define MAX_PROJ_PREFS_LEN  65536
     // max length of project-specific prefs
 
-#if 0
 // Return the maximum allowed disk usage as determined by user preferences.
 // There are three different settings in the prefs;
 // return the least of the three.
 //
-int CLIENT_STATE::allowed_disk_usage(double& size) {
+double CLIENT_STATE::allowed_disk_usage() {
     double percent_space, min_val;
 
     percent_space = host_info.d_total*global_prefs.disk_max_used_pct/100.0;
 
     min_val = host_info.d_free - global_prefs.disk_min_free_gb*1e9;
 
-    size = min(min(global_prefs.disk_max_used_gb*(1e9), percent_space), min_val);
+    double size = min(min(global_prefs.disk_max_used_gb*(1e9), percent_space), min_val);
     if (size < 0) size = 0;
-    return 0;
+    return size;
 }
-#endif
 
 int CLIENT_STATE::project_disk_usage(PROJECT* p, double& size) {
     char buf[256];
@@ -400,6 +398,10 @@ void CLIENT_STATE::read_global_prefs() {
         fclose(f);
     }
 
+    msg_printf(NULL, MSG_INFO,
+        "Preferences limit memory usage to %.2fMB, disk usage to %.2fGB",
+        max_available_ram()/MEGA, allowed_disk_usage()/GIGA
+    );
     // max_cpus, bandwidth limits may have changed
     //
     set_ncpus();
diff --git a/lib/str_util.h b/lib/str_util.h
index d839278c57..f528954839 100755
--- a/lib/str_util.h
+++ b/lib/str_util.h
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include <vector>
 
 #define MEGA (1048576.0)
+#define GIGA (1024.*1048576.0)
 
 #if !defined(HAVE_STRLCPY)
 extern size_t strlcpy(char*, const char*, size_t);