Is it advisable to download wallet in external hard drive?

[Siopao]

If you're concerned about security you can use hardware wallet, there are this that comes in usb stick. If you are planning to keep your bitcoin for like a year or two and not planning to move fund from there then it is advisable.  Hardware wallet would work for people who wants to invest coz its not so convenient for you to get funds from it. It's also secure, don't forget to have a backup though.

[spiker777]

I would instead recommend purchasing a hardware wallet, than using an external hard drive to store your wallet files.

There are two main ones available, the trezor: https://trezor.io/

Or the Ledger (preferably Nano S): https://www.ledgerwallet.com/products/ledger-nano-s

Currently the Nano S is sold out, but you can still purchase them from overpriced resellers. Using a hardware wallet is much safer, due to the encryption and password protection they offer, hence are not as easily compromised as an external HDD. Plus, they support multiple coins, unifying your assets into one easy to access place.

[icol333]

I think it's a good choice for a mobile person who do travels a lot, but never store all of your coins in one place as it have a higher risk to get stolen, hacked, etc.

[just_Alice]

Hardware wallet would probably work but there are better ways to keep offline wallets as well. Such as a paper wallet. you can generate and print one from http://bitaddress.org/ for example. If you insist on electronic storage, I'd recommend a usb-stick over a hard drive. Also, don't use the bitcoin.org software for that wallet, it's a pain in the ass to use that way. Multibit, for example, would work better.

But aren't paper wallets vulnerable to malware? Especially the unencrypted ones? Unless maybe you have a special multi-key paper wallet, but for that you would have to find a reliable and qualitative generator of mnemonic code. Quite apart from the fact that the printer can be unsecure and have an internal storage, which might be hacked.

[ranochigo]

But aren't paper wallets vulnerable to malware?

Not if you generate and spend them securely.

Especially the unencrypted ones?

They are more vulnerable to physical theft. Else, their risk from malware is the same, unencrypted or not.

Unless maybe you have a special multi-key paper wallet, but for that you would have to find a reliable and qualitative generator of mnemonic code. Quite apart from the fact that the printer can be unsecure and have an internal storage, which might be hacked.

It's not hard to create a multisig with paper wallets. Spending them will be a hassle however.

Generally, its quite hard for printers to be hacked if they aren't connected to the internet. If you're scared of side channel attacks (pretty infeasible), then cover it with a tinfoil and do it in an isolated room.

[SGMPhil]

One more consideration in using hard drives for storing coins is that hard drives fail. They have motors, bearings, and such and are prone to physical damage if dropped or banged around. A solid state drive may be a better option - there are even some out there that have built-in encryption so they can't be accessed without keying in a password on the built-in  keypad. That is what I use.

[mharz]

No wrong with that, but make sure that you can secured your wallet, other than that you need to always keep your external because there's a lot of Intruders in the whole world so there's a possibility to hacked it. Moreover it depends to you if how can you handle or protect your external, maybe you can encrypt to assure that your wallet is secured.

[bakerlisa510]

Yeah, you can do that but remember if you forget the disk somewhere or lose it then all your BTC is gone...

Or you can do this thing create a symlinks folder on Windows to move:

Step 1. Delete or move "bitcoin" folder in "C:\Users\%user_name%\AppData\Roaming".

Step 2. Open cmd and enter this command: MkLink /J "C:\Users\%user_name%\AppData\Roaming\bitcoin" "NEW_LOCATION_PATH"

Example, I want to move to (F: or G: whatever your external drive name is)F:\bitcoin. My command is MkLink /J "C:\Users\%user_name%\AppData\Roaming\bitcoin" "F:\bitcoin".

Step 3. Check in "C:\Users\%user_name%\AppData\Roaming\bitcoin\". If you see "bitcoin" folder, it means that you create successfully when you open this folder, it will open folder in "NEW_LOCATION_PATH" (If not successful try it 2-3 times)

Step 4. cut and paste all data from the old folder to new folder.

Step 5. and after that start the Bitcoin wallet application from whichever portable device you like.

[armandoz]

yes it is tand that is safe and back up but make sure that you can handle properly and keepsafe and secure and put every detail of your account. but if your attitude is absent minded don't do it just steak what you have now. rather than someone will take your account.

[cipher-x_09]

As long as the external as encrypted with a strong password inputted and security program installed to prevent any viruses or hackers affecting all the programs in your external hard drive. And also, if you dont use your hard drive in public places to prevent too much exposure which can endanger your hard drive into a greater risk. So as much as possible this is really not that advisable.

[SamsungBitcoin]

As long as the external as encrypted with a strong password inputted and security program installed to prevent any viruses or hackers affecting all the programs in your external hard drive. And also, if you dont use your hard drive in public places to prevent too much exposure which can endanger your hard drive into a greater risk.

Agree with you mate, you need to installed program for antivirus to avoid corrupted files and make your external run smoothly.

So as much as possible this is really not that advisable.

I think it is ok to put your offline wallet in your external as your backup, what ever happens in your computer you can recover it using your external hard drive also you can used that anywhere else just only do regular backup in that wallet.