Bitcoin Forum

Lame question, but since I was not much into Bitcoin for some time, I want to get this right on first attempt.

I have computer with small SSD drive that have 120GB free space. I want to install and download Bitcoin Core. I have no space on drive to store entire blockchain.

1. Should I install Bitcoin Core, set up my preferences, then add prune=550 or some larger number to Bitcoin.conf, then shut down and start again Bitcoin Core?

2. Will the space usage never reach 120GB or more while initial downloading?

3. Any other things I need to know about pruning that I missed?

1. That will work

2. No, it will prune while it goes

3. If you ever need to rescan (importing privkeys etc) you are going to be in a world of pain :P That is to say, you'll need to redownload the entire blockchain again.


Is there a specific reason why you'd rather use Bitcoin Core instead of a lightweight client like Electrum?

You can also keep your blockchain on multiple drives if you use Linux. So if you have another hard drive you can start downloading the blockchain on that hard drive and then change the data directory to the one on SSD and make soft links to the block files on the other drive. (soft links are like shortcuts)
You can make soft links by using a command "ln -s <target> <shortcutfilename>", which will make a file <shortcutfilename> that will point to the <target> when accessed. In this scenario it makes sense for target to be on the regular hard drive while the soft link (shortcut file) to be on the SSD.

Thank You all for the answers, it really confirmed my research. You know, it is always good to have confirmation from somebody who already knows, because often the technical documentation is incorrect and there are lot of myths and misconceptions about technical stuff.

Yes. I always used full node in past when I was deep into Bitcoin related things. I still prefer full node over SPV clients because of anonymity advantages. I want to be in full control over my coins.I use Windows 7. I know I can use NTFS junctions to point to another drive as well as choose different datadir in startup parameters or bitcoin.conf. The problem is that my main computer is now a laptop, not a desktop. Sure, my laptop have small 256GB SSD system drive and 1TB 7200RPM secondary mechanical hard drive, but today I think it is bare minimum for power users like me. For desktop it is possible to throw in just another multi terabyte drive, but for laptop the expansion is somewhat limited.