Electrum Not Connecting to Any Server

[hosseinimr93]

-  I'm using the same seed that I used for the installer version.  How does the portable program recognize the same seed?  Is it reaching out to the Electrum server to verify, or what?

The seed you enter doesn't need to be verified by a server or any other third party. You can generate same addresses even if your computer is offline.
All your keys (private keys, public keys and addresses) are generated using your seed phrase through some one-sided mathematical calculations without any need to a third party.

- Are there any security compromises in using the portable version vs. installed version?

Yes, Visit the link below and read the topic made by ThomasV.
Warning about portable versions

[pooya87]

-  I'm using the same seed that I used for the installer version.  How does the portable program recognize the same seed?  Is it reaching out to the Electrum server to verify, or what?
- Are there any security compromises in using the portable version vs. installed version?
- Does the fact that the portable version works right out of the box narrow the scope of what's going on with my Win10 setup?  Cause there was one other program that I  had to abandon because my PC had issues with reaching out to its server for program updates.

If seed phrases were sent to servers then Electrum would have been considered an insecure wallet software and nobody would have ever recommended it. As @hosseinimr93 said the seed generation, validation and key derivation all happen on client side (on your computer) and the only thing you send to Electrum nodes is your address which is "public" to get your transaction history.
The point of using portable versions is to have a software that is ready to run without needing any dependencies. This way you won't need to download any packages or worry about missing components needing to be downloaded. Other than that the software is the same and security of it depends on the system you are using it on.

[HCP]

The portable version is slightly different in that it doesn't store the application/wallet data in the "%AppData%/Electrum" location... instead, it will create a folder called "electrum_data" in the same location as the portable.exe and store all the application and wallet data there.

This allows you to use/run Electrum on say a USB thumb drive without leaving any trace on the main system drive etc. (Nothing listed in Add/Remove programs, no entries in start menu etc).

[nc50lc]

-snip-

Or try ( like me) to use the portable (instead of Windows installer) version of Electrum placed into   one of WIN 10 folder (preferably on partition different from that one that holds OS). It carries all dependences and is less affective  to WIN 10 whims. Recommendation to add the access to  relevant folder via "Controlled folder access"  holds on.

Thanks for everyone's help, esp. NC50lc.  I downloaded the portable version, and everything works great right out of the box.  A couple of questions:
-snip-

Based from your reply, it's xenon131's post that solved the issue.

Anyhow, now it looks like the issue is more of antivirus blocking the installed/stand-alone Electrum's connection and not the Portable Electrum.
If you want clarity and possible fix to the normal versions, follow ranochigo's post about activating the "logs": /index.php?topic=5344767.msg57291656
Do not forget to turn that off after.

[Pmalek]

Cause there was one other program that I  had to abandon because my PC had issues with reaching out to its server for program updates.

Since it's not the first time your system blocks internet access to a program, you could check your Kaspersky protection history and quarantine folder and see if there are any Electrum files there. I don't use Kaspersky, so I don't know the exact steps how to do it there. For Windows Defender you will have to search for 'Virus & threat protection' and then click on 'Protection history'. Take a look at what is in there and restore any Electrum files that you might find. It can't be much different for Kaspersky, they probably just use different terms.

[HCP]

I'm wondering if this is at all related to issues from several years ago where some Electrum servers were linked to IPs/domains that had been blocked for "malware mining" etc?

Additionally, I know that Windows Defender complains a lot about Electrum. I am always getting "Windows has blocked this file"-type errors when trying to download/install Electrum.

I click "keep", "report as safe" etc... and every new version, the same thing seems to happen I know it's due to PyInstaller being marked "bad" and not limited to just Electrum, but honestly, the heuristics are just stupid

[ranochigo]

I'm wondering if this is at all related to issues from several years ago where some Electrum servers were linked to IPs/domains that had been blocked for "malware mining" etc?

Additionally, I know that Windows Defender complains a lot about Electrum. I am always getting "Windows has blocked this file"-type errors when trying to download/install Electrum.

I click "keep", "report as safe" etc... and every new version, the same thing seems to happen I know it's due to PyInstaller being marked "bad" and not limited to just Electrum, but honestly, the heuristics are just stupid

Sounds like a blanket ban as opposed to selective restrictions on the server. The update check communicates with electrum.org/version and if OP was able to access electrum.org in the first place, then the restriction is only specific to the Electrum instance and not on the IPs/domains.

[HCP]

As far as I'm aware, Electrum.org was never an issue. It was certain domains/IPs that were hosting Electrum servers. They had been blacklisted by a couple of the more "helpful" Antivirus applications that try to prevent connections to domains/IPs known for distributing malware, being botnet controllers, being malware cryptominer controllers etc.

In any case, given that the portable worked, and the installed .exe didn't... Either the portable was connecting to different servers or it was some weird Windows firewall thing blocking the connections then. Then isn't really anything different between the installed/portable versions from a networking perspective... and Windows can be a bit problematic like that sometimes. Especially, if you click the wrong button when it first prompts to allow/block connections for the .exe on public/private networks etc.

[Pmalek]

Additionally, I know that Windows Defender complains a lot about Electrum. I am always getting "Windows has blocked this file"-type errors when trying to download/install Electrum.

Honestly, I have never seen it or experienced my computers blocking Electrum. The machine I am on right now uses a genuine Windows 10 operating system and Windows Defender + firewall. I have a 4.0.9 version of Electrum installed on it and it has always worked without any hassle. I don't have any money on it, but I keep it installed just in case.

Windows Defender keeps blocking an office loader (crack) for MS Word every now and then, but never Electrum.

[HCP]

Huh... I wonder why my system keeps complaining about Electrum? It is basically the same... genuine Windows 10 with Windows Defender etc... Although, now that I think about it, I haven't downloaded Electrum in a while (missed a couple of versions), so maybe the Windows system is working now. Who knows? maybe all the "report safe" things I clicked actually worked!

It's also possible that it was the browser (Edge) being stupid? But I'm almost certain it was Windows system dialogs that were popping up saying that it had been blocked.