How to see progress in solo mining?

[BitIsMyName]

hi, I just started trying out mining!
I want to try solo mining for few days before I decide if I go for a pool or not. But the problem is that I don't know how I can see the progress I'm making. The bitcoin client just says "Generating". I downloaded the GUIMiner and there I see speed and something called "Accepted" but when I restart the computer it starts counting again.

Does anyone know how I can see the progress I'm making?

thanks!

[1715286181]

1715286181

[1715286181]

1715286181

[kidage]

You don't.

[XIU]

It's like asking for your progress in winning the lotto

[BitIsMyName]

hmm...  so having only around 20 Mhash/s on my computer I may have to wait for up to few years before I know if this is even working ? 
So going for a pool is probably best?

[strictlyfocused]

hmm...  so having only around 20 Mhash/s on my computer I may have to wait for up to few years before I know if this is even working ? 
So going for a pool is probably best?

A 50 GHash/s pool recently took 14 days to find ONE block. You are in for a long haul without a pool

[nmat]

hmm...  so having only around 20 Mhash/s on my computer I may have to wait for up to few years before I know if this is even working ? 
So going for a pool is probably best?

Yes, that's exactly it. But even with a pool don't expect to earn much at that rate... You can use the available calculators to forecast the number of coins you will get.

[Rob P.]

Run your setup against the Bitcoin Testnet (https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Testnet).  That way you can see what it's supposed to look like.  Then when you're comfortable it's all working, run against the production blockchain.

This will also be good, because the difficulty on Testnet is so much lower, your hashing rate will actually make a difference.

[BitIsMyName]

Thanks for very quick replies!

I have decided to go with a pool... at least while I try this out.