Is having the whole blockchain better for me?

[Mike Man]

Again, I owe a lot of thanks to all the folks that are giving me great information here. Thanks to everyone :-)

I figure that now I've got a bit of an idea of the basics, I will stick a toe in the water and fool around with some small transactions and storage methods. I still have a hell of a lot to learn, especially about the software involved and pass phrases etc., failsafe tricks for the machines I use (very very important, I reckon), and other stuff.

So, for almost the last 24 hours I have been sitting back downloading the blockchain using Bitcoin Core V12. Set it to start with the machine I'm using for the job, but when I was forced to re-boot I got errors and it wouldn't resume. Falling back to V 11.2 seems to be working so far. Right now it's loading the block index for what I have of the  blockchain so far.

To sum up, my strategy from here is to carefully re-read what everyone has advised (including checking the links to other sources of info), and then buy a small amount of BC, and get it sent to Electrum and practice moving it around a bit until I feel comfortable with what I'm doing. By then, I hope to have the whole blockchain and I should have a much better idea of what I am doing.

Cheers folks,

Mike

[Xester]

Are you a miner or just a regular user. If you are just a regular user having low amounts of bitcoin then there is no need to download the whole blockchain since it will be just a waste of time. But if you are a miner and have a big volume of bitcoin then its wise to download the whole blockchain. But its up to you if you think its much better to run in full node then its your choice.

[Mike Man]

 Well, from what I have read here, having the whole blockchain would seem to be good for the entire Bitcoin system, and I don't think it can do any harm.

 While it is loading (probably quite a few days), I'll play around with all the other bits of the system and try to get the hang of it all. lololol I'm no spring chicken! lololol

[Mike Man]

Are you a miner or just a regular user. If you are just a regular user having low amounts of bitcoin then there is no need to download the whole blockchain since it will be just a waste of time. But if you are a miner and have a big volume of bitcoin then its wise to download the whole blockchain. But its up to you if you think its much better to run in full node then its your choice.

I came upon this;

Myth: There is no incentive to run nodes, the network relies on altruism

It is very much in the individual bitcoin's users rational self interest to run a full node and use it as their wallet.
Trustless

Running a full node as your wallet is the only way to know for sure that none of bitcoin's rules have been broken. Rules like no coins were spent not belonging to the owner, that no coins were spent twice, that no inflation happens outside of the schedule and that all the rules needed to make the system work are followed (e.g. Difficulty.) All other kinds of wallet involve trusting a third party server.
    From https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Clearing_Up_Misconceptions_About_Full_Nodes

Trusting a third party server would seem the biggest concern.  So, I'm going full node.
Thanks for getting me more interested in the difference.

Mike

[Lauren Smith]

 Well, from what I have read here, having the whole blockchain would seem to be good for the entire Bitcoin system, and I don't think it can do any harm.

 While it is loading (probably quite a few days), I'll play around with all the other bits of the system and try to get the hang of it all. lololol I'm no spring chicken! lololol

I think it is a good idea for you to run the full wallet if you have the space then do it. We need people like you to keep things running smoothly. :=) good job !

Dont forget to keep s backup in case your pc crashes and the blockchain becomes corrupt. Then you would have to download ot from scratch and that is no fun.

[Mike Man]

Dont forget to keep s backup in case your pc crashes and the blockchain becomes corrupt. Then you would have to download ot from scratch and that is no fun.

lololol Yeah! I found that out. Was running Bitcoin Core V12 on an XP 3 machine and it crashed and then kept crashing. V11.2 works, but I had to start from scratch again. Even V11.2 isn't well liked by this machine, and it's crashed twice, but it recovers the blockchain data with no trouble and keeps going.
Only 2 years and 46 weeks to go,  lolololol
Heck, I may as well back up what I have already. Thanks for the heads up!

Mike

[ranochigo]

Dont forget to keep s backup in case your pc crashes and the blockchain becomes corrupt. Then you would have to download ot from scratch and that is no fun.

lololol Yeah! I found that out. Was running Bitcoin Core V12 on an XP 3 machine and it crashed and then kept crashing. V11.2 works, but I had to start from scratch again. Even V11.2 isn't well liked by this machine, and it's crashed twice, but it recovers the blockchain data with no trouble and keeps going.
Only 2 years and 46 weeks to go,  lolololol
Heck, I may as well back up what I have already. Thanks for the heads up!

Mike

Bitcoin Core does not support XP anymore. If you continue to use it, you will not be able to upgrade to a newer version and have a better security. Try upgrading to at least Windows 7 and you can use versions newer than 0.11.2.

[Kakmakr]

I have to commend you on your persistence, because a lot of other people would have given up after the first try. Is bandwidth a issue in your country? < Speed & cost > because you will have to factor that into your operating cost to run a full node. Some countries have very expensive bandwidth.

Hope you get it sorted, and welcome to the backbone of our little community. ^smile^ 

[Mike Man]

Is bandwidth a issue in your country? < Speed & cost > because you will have to factor that into your operating cost to run a full node. Some countries have very expensive bandwidth.

Hope you get it sorted, and welcome to the backbone of our little community. ^smile^ 

Not where I am now, or where I expect to be. Unlimited accounts are the way to go - even if one has to do a bit of waiting from time to time, like now! lolololol

Down to 2 years and 32 weeks YAY! lolololol Still, I'm a bit (no pun intended) confused. The early blocks were really fast to get, but they seem to get progressively slower. Am I imagining things?

Mike

[ranochigo]

Down to 2 years and 32 weeks YAY! lolololol Still, I'm a bit (no pun intended) confused. The early blocks were really fast to get, but they seem to get progressively slower. Am I imagining things?

Mike

You're not. The block size now is significantly more filled as compared to the blocks several years ago. Since the client needs to verify each block and transaction, it will take more time, especially if you have a slow computer.

[Mike Man]

Thanks, Ranochigo.

The more recent blocks all seem to be around the same 130,000 size. Guess it just takes more processing 'cos they are more 'filled'.

Mike