Bitcoin Forum

I would like to purchase some coins soon and I'm now trying to figure out which wallet to install. I'm running Windows XP with MS Security Essentials and ZoneAlarm.  My requirements for a wallet are

-should be easy to use
-should support strong encryption
-should take less than 10 minutes to set up
- should be open-source, secure and stable (I'm planning to store 100 to 200 btc in it and make daily transactions)

Any advice?

My advice would be to at least consider using a second OS (preferably non-windows) for generating your private keys that is never connected to the internet.

You could then consider dividing your 100/200 btc into 10/20 separate addresses (generated by say "vanitygen") on the non-internet computer and use a USB flash drive (that is brand new) to move private keys to your connected PC as required,

You always have to balance security and convenience. Blockchain.info (http://Blockchain.info) has a good web wallet with quite a few security features and good backup and Electrum is also supposed to be great and has no synch.

I just noticed that you said hundreds of bitcoins  :o My advice is to use some kind of stronger storage for most of those coins and transfer just a small amount to use in a spending wallet. In fiat terms think about it like having a bank or safe and then a carry around wallet with a few dollars for spending.

HOWTO: create a 100% secure wallet  (Read 50718 times)  : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=17240.0 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=17240.0)

You can also try http://multibit.org/index.html for windows and mac users.

And linux :)

+1 here, I prefer MulitBit as well.

He is using Win XP.

Without a doubt I would use the Blockchain online wallet.
Two-factor security and you can create your own AES encrypted backups.

Check into it and the features they offer:

http://blockchain.info/wallet

Yes, its a good wallet but no solution for large funds.

Why not? (provided you keep encrypted backups on other locations)

This is self-explanatory.

Thanks for the feedback.
I was first tempted by the blockchain wallet but the fact that the client code can be so easily and transparently updated by the site operator is a dealbreaker for me. I would feel much safer if I'm in control of whether and when to update my client.

But I haven't made a final choice yet. Still looking at all the options.

Please explain.

Transparency = good

Opacity = bad

I think thats not what he meant.

Best choice for security is offline Armory wallet.  You can sign and send funds from it without ever conecting it to the internet!

For argument's sake, could you please elaborate?

I don't think any windows wallet is secure due to trojans that can keylog. Even if you think you have a secure password, if you have a keylogger it is not secure.My suggestion is to get something like liberte linux on a thumbdrive and keep most of your btc there and keep only a little in your windows bitcoin wallet...kind of like leaving your big money in a safe at home and only a little in your wallet.

cosmicboy

You can get trojans on any OS, not just Windows. It all depends on being able to secure your OS effectively. And I happen to do that for a living.

What is "flatfly"?

Does Bitcoin-qt work on liberte linux?  I don't think it does.

I like electrum.

Running windows will never be properly secure. While it is true that any OS can get a virus or a trojan the reality is the 99.9% of hostile computer infections are on windows machines.

At the very least be sure to encrypt your wallet with a password. Consider a virtual keyboard for entering this password as keylogging in windows is easy.