How to secure a bitcoin wallet?

[illmattic]

Hi,

I'm new to bitcoin and I'm really not that tech savy so I'm unsure how to properly secure my wallet. I have yet to buy any bitcoins and just downloaded my wallet from bitcoin.org and its in the process of downloading the block chain. But before I buy any coins I want to make sure that I can properly secure them. I know there are probably lots of threads already on here about securing wallets but could someone please explain, to someone who isn't technologically savy, the best way to secure your wallet/coins. Also, a question I have is I know the wallet is basically a sequence of numbers and letters which is the address but are the bitcoins themselves also just a sequence of numbers and letters. And this is how they are sent by telling the person the proper order of the numbers and letters?

Matt

[Ciber]

Really? It's stickied in this forum...

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=17240.0

Also, everything on a computer is just a series of letters and numbers.

[illmattic]

I want to make sure I understand completely how this is done and if anyone could be so kind in helping me out I would really appreciate it.

1. I create a cd with the operating system on it.
2. Start the computer with the new operating system and download a bitcoin wallet
3. Then copy the wallet.dat somewhere like another cd.

Some confusion I have is if I want to copy the wallet.dat on a blank cd-r, isn't the operating system cd already in the cd drive. Can I eject the OS cd once its up and running?

Where do I find the wallet.dat?

So is the end product me with a couple of cds that have the wallet.dat on it and a piece of paper where I've written down my addresses.  And if I want to access my wallet do I just download the client again and put in place the wallet.dat? Where exactly does the wallet.dat go?

Is another way to create a secure wallet to just do step one and create a cd with an operating system on it, download the wallet and just keep it there?

[SimonQ]

I'm new to bitcoin and I'm really not that tech savy so I'm unsure how to properly secure my wallet.

Given your level of expertise, you should not be trying to do what you are describing.  I've seen way too many people lose their wallets by missing a step or misunderstanding subtleties (e.g. "change addresses") in trying to pull off their own cold storage and offline backups.  I don't mean this as an insult, but rather for your protection.

If you are truly new and not tech savvy, you are probably better off first leaving your coins on an online wallet, where you can log in with a username+password and have access to them.  Just make sure you choose a trusted site.

You can create a wallet here: https://blockchain.info/wallet/new

For additional security, you can have a physical (digital) key such as a USB YubiKey and add it to your wallet like this: https://blockchain.info/wallet/yubikey

[spoc]

I'm also thinking about amory cold wallet - sounds awsome but i havnt tested it yet,,,