how do i change the location of my disk usage to another drive? do i have to completely uninstall and then reinstall? can i have it use the data that i already have? i have had a few weird things happening including random shutdowns with a kernel power system log, and i had it say samsung magician has stopped or something of the like. im trying to eliminate things it could be.

Which operating system are you using? The reference to 'kernel power' suggests possibly Linux to me, but best to be explicit.

The generic answer is 'shut down BOINC, move the Data directory/folder to your new preferred location, tell BOINC the new location, restart BOINC'.

In Windows, the easiest way is to uninstall BOINC (that removes the programs, but none of your data): move the previous data folder to the new location: and reinstall BOINC, using the 'Advanced' button on the options screen to point BOINC to the new data location.

I'm running Linux Mint 17 (Ubuntu 14.04 LTS based) and I'm trying to figure out how to change the data directory since I won't wreck my SSD to contribute.

I couldn't find a HOWTO or a forum post where it was explained. Could anyone please help me?

Also, why isn't there an option in the BOINC to change it without any hassle? It is not a particularly challenging programming exercise to implement such a feature...