New to Bitcoin, help with wallet program?

[Groovegal]

Hi everyone

I wanted to make a donation to something that only took Bitcoin, so I thought it wouldnt be hard to get set up.  I fear I was being naive.

I downloaded the official wallet, and using the address key ordered my first Bitcoin to make my transaction.

Heres my issue

The wallet seems to be synchronising with the network which wouldnt concern me but it has been doing this since yesterday morning granted I did have my laptop off for a small amount of time.  It says that I am 89.9% done with 21,305 blocks remaining but how long should this take?

Also will be Bitcoin show up when the synch is finished?

Thanks for anyone who advises me on this.  Oh I also checked and the port this program uses seems to be open on my router.  It says that I have 10 active connections to the network.

[DPony13]

The blocks are basically groups of the data of
made transactions through Bitcoin.

These blocks then form a blockchain.

You need to get this for security reasons.

okay so, It usually takes about 20 - 90 blocks per
Minute. I suggest that you choose an alternate
client or wallet like Multibit. It's faster though you
have to pay a fee (Adjustable ## - 0.0001)

Good luck

[DannyHamilton]

. . . I wanted to make a donation to something that only took Bitcoin, so I thought it wouldnt be hard to get set up.  I fear I was being naive.

I downloaded the official wallet, and using the address key ordered my first Bitcoin to make my transaction . . .

For your purposes, the reference client may not have been the best choice.  You may have to wait a few days for the synchronization to complete.  If you choose to switch to some other client, there are ways to import your wallet (for example at blockchain.info/wallet) or export the private keys from your client for import into a more lightweight client (such as Electrum)

[Stephen Gornick]

It says that I am 89.9% done with 21,305 blocks remaining but how long should this take?

This will vary based on your hardware and other factors (e.g., if using an encrypted filesystem).   

If you can't wait for it to sync, you have options.  You can import the private key for the address that the funds were sent to using another type of client or perhaps an EWallet service so that there is no start-up time.

For instance, the Blockchain.info/wallet hybrid E-Wallet has a method to import a private key.    So while your Bitcoin-Qt client is downloading you can go to the debug window and enter the commands to export a private key for the one address.  Then import it into Blockchain.info/wallet.  And you can spend the funds right away.

The next version of the Bitcoin.org client (v0. has been completely redesigned as far as how the data is stored and accessed, and the initial installation and sync can be as quick as an hour or so (with beefy hardware).   For some people, even that is too lengthy so alternate options include using an Simplified Payments Verification (SPV) client (e.g,., MultiBit or Bitcoin Wallet for Android), or a lite client like Electrum or Bitcoin Spinner, hosted (shared) EWallets, or a hybrid E-Wallet like Blockchain.info/wallet:
 - http://Blockchain.info/wallet

But if you can wait, you are already fairly close to where you only need to leave the client run a bit longer so it can finish up syncing.

[Groovegal]

First of all thanks to you all for replying as Im sure newbies do ask you the same questions a lot.  I dont mind waiting as such just might look at temporary option to access my funds to make this payment and then by the next time I should be up running with the official client.

Its been 48 hours now with my computer mostly on for the full time. 

How long do you find generally people wait for the initial synch 3 days? 5?

Thanks again for the advice

[DannyHamilton]

First of all thanks to you all for replying as Im sure newbies do ask you the same questions a lot.  I dont mind waiting as such just might look at temporary option to access my funds to make this payment and then by the next time I should be up running with the official client.

Its been 48 hours now with my computer mostly on for the full time. 

How long do you find generally people wait for the initial synch 3 days? 5?

Thanks again for the advice

It really depends on the specs of the computer you are using.  I've heard people complain that it took them more than 7 days, and I've heard people claim that they were done in less than 2 days.

[Stephen Gornick]

I've heard people complain that it took them more than 7 days,

Heh.  I'm pretty sure that is far, far outside the norm.    Recently on a really, slow old computer (Atom processor if I remember correctly) I hit about 30 hours.

If your operating system bogs down with a screen saver, or stops the hard drive on inactivity, or goes to sleep then any of that will, of course, cause a significant delay in syncing.  Other delays can occur in using older versions (pre-v0.7) of the client.

I've heard people claim that they were done in less than 2 days.

This specific problem reported is probably past benefiting from this, but now the client can take a bootstrap.dat that is downloaded as a torrent.  Simply put that in the bitcoin folder, launch bitcoin and wait.  Other performance tweaks involve using -connect=[a well connected node]   so that the client isn't doing its random peer selection while you are trying to get the blockchain.   SSD hard drives are good as speeding things up too.  Really good.

[John (John K.)]

First of all thanks to you all for replying as Im sure newbies do ask you the same questions a lot.  I dont mind waiting as such just might look at temporary option to access my funds to make this payment and then by the next time I should be up running with the official client.

Its been 48 hours now with my computer mostly on for the full time. 

How long do you find generally people wait for the initial synch 3 days? 5?

Thanks again for the advice

It really depends on the specs of the computer you are using.  I've heard people complain that it took them more than 7 days, and I've heard people claim that they were done in less than 2 days.

And the internet speed/port forwarding options too. 8 connections + slow DSL would take more than 7. I prefer just downloading the older blockchain first and update the rest via Bitcoin-QT. Saves a lot of hassle and time.

[Groovegal]

Lol

I am not fluent in Bitcoin, I have no idea what any of you just said.  I am now at 14508 blocks remaining.

The version is 0.7.1beta
My setup is as follows:

running win 7 home premium
Intel core i3 processor 2.8GHz
4GB Ram

Internet connection I get about 11 meg speed

If I am going to use a temporary fast wallet idea any reccomends that will let me access the Bitcoin already sent to my wallets address? That way I can make my payment and wait this program out

Thanks everyone

[DannyHamilton]

Lol

I am not fluent in Bitcoin, I have no idea what any of you just said.  I am now at 14508 blocks remaining.

The version is 0.7.1beta
My setup is as follows:

running win 7 home premium
Intel core i3 processor 2.8GHz
4GB Ram

Internet connection I get about 11 meg speed

If I am going to use a temporary fast wallet idea any reccomends that will let me access the Bitcoin already sent to my wallets address? That way I can make my payment and wait this program out

Thanks everyone

The fastest and easiest option would probably be blockchain.info.

https://blockchain.info/wallet/import-wallet

[molecular]

while you wait, make a backup of your wallet.dat to some usb stick or floppy disk can't hurt.

[ThomasV]

using an Simplified Payments Verification (SPV) client (e.g,., MultiBit or Bitcoin Wallet for Android), or a lite client like Electrum or Bitcoin Spinner

Not sure if you are aware of it, but Electrum does perform SPV. (since version 1.3)
It downloads all the block headers and it verifies all the transactions sent by the server.

[molecular]

This users experience shows that probably bitcoin.org frontpage should be changed to advise about the existence of other clients and online wallets.

The satoshi client is really not the best way to go for probably >80% of newbies. Try it on a netbook, it's frustrating. I can see us losing a whole bunch of people this way.

The alternatives are abosultely developed far enough to be usable.

I'm sure this has been discussed. Is there a thread about potentially adjusting bitcoin.org accordingly?

EDIT: Groovegal, can I ask: how did you go about getting a client. Did you in fact find bitcoin.org using google and then download the satoshi client from that page?

[DannyHamilton]

using an Simplified Payments Verification (SPV) client (e.g,., MultiBit or Bitcoin Wallet for Android), or a lite client like Electrum or Bitcoin Spinner

Not sure if you are aware of it, but Electrum . . .

Does Electrum provide a "wallet import" function that can read a wallet.dat from Bitcoin-Qt and import the private keys?

If not, this is the one thing that holds me back from recommending Electrum to brand new users who already installed Bitcoin-QT, and already have a transaction pending, but are in the frustrating position of waiting for the blockchain to download.  Talking a new user through dumpprivkey is far more complex than linking to the wallet import page at blockchain.info

[ThomasV]

using an Simplified Payments Verification (SPV) client (e.g,., MultiBit or Bitcoin Wallet for Android), or a lite client like Electrum or Bitcoin Spinner

Not sure if you are aware of it, but Electrum . . .

Does Electrum provide a "wallet import" function that can read a wallet.dat from Bitcoin-Qt and import the private keys?

If not, this is the one thing that holds me back from recommending Electrum to brand new users who already installed Bitcoin-QT, and already have a transaction pending, but are in the frustrating position of waiting for the blockchain to download.  Talking a new user through dumpprivkey is far more complex than linking to the wallet import page at blockchain.info

no, it does not have a "wallet import" function.
it does have an "address import", but it does not work with the "compressed" key format used in the recent versions of bitcoin-qt (introduced in version 0.6). I am working to fix that.

In any case, I would not recomment the import/export of private keys to a new user; the security offered by deterministic wallets is an important feature that they lose if they import keys

[DannyHamilton]

I would not recomment the import/export of private keys to a new user; the security offered by deterministic wallets is an important feature that they lose if they import keys

Understood.  Knowing this, I'll avoid suggesting to new users that they dump their private key and import it into Electrum.

If they don't have any pending transactions to an address in their Bitcoin-QT wallet, then I'll continue to suggest abandoning the client without waiting for the download to complete and switching to something like Electrum.

On the other hand, if they do have a pending transaction to an address in their Bitcoin-QT wallet, and are anxiously waiting for the "synchronization" to complete so they can make a payment, I'll avoid suggesting Electrum and instead advise them that blockchain.info can import the wallet and immediately access the coins they are waiting on.

[MariusTi]

i think bitcoin is the best payment method in the world , without any fees.

[DannyHamilton]

i think bitcoin is the best payment method in the world , with voluntary fees.

FTFY

[molecular]

i think bitcoin is the best payment method in the world , without any fees.

and I think bitcoin is also the best store of wealth, without any fees.

[Groovegal]

Hi all

So heres where I am at 6756 blocks remaining, 96.83% done.  I think that figure is reducing by about 300 blocks an hour so should be at least another day.  However I know its not an exact science so we will see.

I did try to obtain my private key so I could use Blockchain info as reccommended but didnt work.  I just ended up with error messages so abandoned the idea and decided patience was the key here. 

Molecular: How I came to try to use Bitcoin was I had an internet service I wanted to pay for and they took Bitcoin so I thought sounds pretty cool, I will give that a go.  I went to their page and just seen the guide saying I would need a wallet to get started (fine says me) lol. 

I wasnt too sure how to go about buying a Bitcoin looked a bit like a stock exchange page on all the pages I went to so I fell back to what I know EBAY.  The seller has asked me if I have received my 0.01 Bitcoin deposit I had to message back saying "not sure yet still trying to install wallet"

I would say I am someone who would be classed as a casual user but after the effort put in to getting the client maybe I will find out more about Bitcoin and go from there instead of only using it for this transaction.

I have appreciated all the replies, especially with the fact that it all seems very technical to me and above my head.

Thanks folks