Bitcoin Wallet Windows Installation Guide
Head over to
http://bitcoin.org/ for the download
How to Bitcoin Installation Guide<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/-L1Ix45AQho" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/-L1Ix45AQho</a>]]> ______________________________________________________________________________
Step by Step Text guide to getting started
Click save file
Open the downloaded Bitcoin installer
Click next to begin installation of Bitcoin
Change the installation path to C:\Bitcoin this will make things easier later on
Click install
Click next
Click finish and the application will launch.
Click allow Access
The long string of numbers and letters is your bit coin address, circled at the bottom is the current number of blocks you should see this number rising as your computer is downloading all the completed Bitcoin blocks
You don't need to be online to receive BTC.
You can create as many new addresses as you like. Using a different address each time helps keep you anonymous.
You can be anonymous with adequate precautions.
You cannot send BTC to an invalid address. Typos are not a worry as the payment will refuse to send.
The wallet file holds the keys that allow spending and thus the computer should be protected from the risk of loss and theft.
Leaving Bitcoin open improves connectivity for the network and ensures that you don't fall behind on the block chain.
Block chainThe block chain is a neverending story of every transaction throughout the network from day 1 (genesis). The first time you run Bitcoin, it is downloaded and verified on your computer. Every new transaction is added to the end of this chain and verified by the network to be valid.
AddressesWhenever you send a coin, you are actually sending a cryptographically signed message, associating your coin with the recipient's address. This effectively transfers ownership to to the recipient. Once they own the coin, they are free to transfer it to another person.
A wallet is a collection of addresses. You can create as many new addresses as you wish; having more addresses makes you more anonymous, because then people cannot see how much BTC you received. Your wallet contains the secret keys used for spending that money, and must be backed-up regularly. If you lose the wallet then you no longer possess the money.
GeneratingNew coins are mined through generating hashes. These generators are rewarded with a small fee for the computationally intensive task of incorporating your transactions into the block-chain. This fee halves each time 210000 blocks are added to the block chain, or approximately every 4 years. The fee will keep halving until it effectively reaches zero, at which point 21 million coins will be in circulation.
FOR MAC USERS PLEASE SEE
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