How do you update the client? (Windows)

[imperi]

Hi,

I'm pretty new to all this. Say I want to update to a newer version of the Bitcoin client. How do I do this safely? Will it overwrite my wallet?

Thanks.

[bittrader]

There's no auto-update feature built-it, so when you see the announcement of a new version, just go to bitcoin.org and download+install it. It will not overwrite your previous wallet.dat file.

[mewantsbitcoins]

But just in case you should ALWAYS backup wallet.dat before attempting software alteration

[imperi]

Great, thanks. So I am assuming wallet.dat is compatible across different versions. A related question: can I transfer my wallet.dat file to my Linux machine and have it work there, if I wanted to?

[mewantsbitcoins]

Yes it is, although it may change in the future if there's a major change like for example addition of encryption which is planned for version 0.4. Keep an eye on the development.

Yes, wallet.dat can be used on OS X, Linux and Windows

[cypherdoc]

Yes it is, although it may change in the future if there's a major change like for example addition of encryption which is planned for version 0.4. Keep an eye on the development.

Yes, wallet.dat can be used on OS X, Linux and Windows

mewants,  if u were just starting mining, would u use Linuxcoin?

[mewantsbitcoins]

Yes it is, although it may change in the future if there's a major change like for example addition of encryption which is planned for version 0.4. Keep an eye on the development.

Yes, wallet.dat can be used on OS X, Linux and Windows

mewants,  if u were just starting mining, would u use Linuxcoin?

Yes, it's great distro. Unfortunately, administering remotely proved to be somewhat difficult on the v0.2, so I went with windblows