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Guide to Install Windows(zip) Wallet & How to Verify Checksum

moli

Well-known member
This is an addition to buster's wonderful guide to Windows Installer version. There's not a built-in checksum/hash utility for Windows; however, there's a file named FCIV that can compute and verify MD5 or SHA-1 cryptographic hash values. This is a guide to verify and install Windows Dash wallet (the zip version).

1. Download and install File Checksum Integrity Verifier (FCIV).

FCIV is available from Microsoft website: https://support.microsoft.com/kb/841290.

Follow the instruction to extract the file and you get an executable file named "fciv.exe", Move this file to directory C:\Windows\System32 so you can execute the command from any location on your computer, making it easier to create checksums for any other files in any directory.

(FCIV is a legacy file that can only compute MD5 or SHA-1 cryptographic hash values. There's a FsFCIV version that can compute multiple hash values including SHA-256, but the file size is bigger.)

upload_2015-2-22_16-12-29.png


2. Download the wallet.

Go to DASH official website, https://www.dashpay.io/downloads/, under "Windows, download the zip file.

On dashpay.io, click on "Hash" next to (Windows) "Download zip" to get the MD5 and SHA-256 hash values of this download. At this writing the current DASH version is v.0.11.2.16.

upload_2015-3-30_19-10-54.png


3. Verify checksum.

Open your Command Prompt, navigate to the directory where you store your DASH download. In this case, the current file is "dash-0.11.1.26-win.zip".

I put my file in directory C:\Downloads. This is where I'm going to verify checksum with the command "fciv dash-0.11.1.26-win.zip -md5" (without the quotes).

Here's the command-line screen that shows the result:

upload_2015-3-30_19-12-8.png



Compare the result with dashpay.io website, you can see they match:
# MD5 hash
b8e5e40b86a19784f31abdee94b2fd8b dash-0.11.2.16-win.zip

If they do not match, do not install the file because your downloaded file is probably corrupted.
(The hash value is different for each version, this is just a guide. The next version will not have the same MD5 value.)

4. Unzip the wallet.

You can use Winzip or 7-Zip to unzip your file:

upload_2015-3-30_19-32-24.png


Now you need to decide which version you would like to install according to your computer system. The 32-bit version can be installed on either 32- or 64-bit system.

5. Bootstrap option and Dash default directory.

You have an option to download the bootstrap file if you would like the wallet to sync faster. Here's the link to get the bootstrap (make sure you get the file for Mainnet): https://github.com/UdjinM6/darkcoin-bootstrap

Unzip this file and you have "bootstrap.dat".

In windows the default directory for Dash data folder with the wallet.dat is "C:\Users\UsersName\AppData\Roaming".
Go to this directory, create an empty folder, name it "Dash" (without the quotes " ").
Put "bootstrap.dat" in this folder before you run the wallet.
After the wallet has synced, the file will become "bootstrap.dat.old" which can be deleted.

6. Run the wallet.

If you choose the 32-bit version, click on "32". It opens the next windows with a list of files.
Click on "dash-0.11.2-win32-setup.exe", a setup wizard window will open to guide you through the setup.

upload_2015-3-30_19-38-42.png


By default it will set up for you under the "Program Files" folder, or you can install in another directory of your choice.

upload_2015-3-30_19-43-53.png


Go to this directory and you'll see the content.

upload_2015-3-30_19-48-32.png


Right click on dash-qt.exe and choose "Create Shortcut". Put this shortcut on your desktop.

upload_2015-3-29_0-59-48.png


Click on that shortcut to run your wallet.

upload_2015-3-30_19-56-36.png



After the wallet has synced, close and restart the wallet to make sure it's ok.
Go to Settings, click on "Encrypt Wallet..." and put in a passphrase that only you know, write down your password and keep it in a safe place.
Close and restart your wallet, then try to open your wallet with the passphrase to make sure it works.
Do this before you put your coins in the wallet.

Also, note that if your computer is compromised, even the most complicated passphrase might not be able to save your coins.
So make sure your whole windows system is free from viruses...

7. Receiving and Sending addresses location.

To receive and send your coins, click on "File", a drop down menu will open to give you option where to find the receiving and sending addresses.

upload_2015-3-30_20-10-21.png


I hope this guide is helpful. If you have any question, please feel free to post it here.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This is an addition to buster's wonderful guide to Windows Installer version. I've found a file that can verify checksum (md5) for Windows, and normally I use the zip version, so I thought someone might like to know this. Here are the steps:

1. Download and install File Checksum Integrity Verifier (FCIV) from Microsoft website:

https://support.microsoft.com/kb/841290.

Follow the instruction to extract the file and you get an executable file named "fciv.exe", Move this file to directory C:\Windows\System32 so you can execute the command from any location on your computer, making it easier to create checksums for any other files on any directory.

View attachment 1044

2. Go to https://www.darkcoin.io/downloads/ and download Windows(zip) wallet:

(Make sure you download DRK wallets from this site.) Save your file in any directory you like. I'm going to save my file in C:\Downloads.

Right-click on Window(zip) checksum button ✔# and it takes you to the next windows, showing the md5 and sha256 hashes:

View attachment 1045

3. Verify checksum:

Open your Command Prompt, navigate to the directory where you store your Darkcoin download. In this case, the current file is "darkcoin-0.11.1.25-win.zip".

I put my file in directory C:\Downloads. This is where I'm going to verify checksum with the command: "fciv darkcoin-0.11.1.25-win.zip -md5" (without the quote. "
Here's the command-line screen that shows the result:

View attachment 1046

Compare the result with darkcoin.io website, you can see they match:
4ed682461196bdecefdb6adc81901d89 darkcoin-0.11.1.25-win.zip.

If they do not match, do not install the file because your downloaded file is probably corrupted.

(FCIV is a legacy file that can only compute MD5 or SHA-1 cryptographic hash values. There's a FsFCIV version that can compute multiple hash values including SHA-256, but the file size is bigger.)

4. Unzip the wallet:

Using Winzip, I extracted the file to the same directory as you can see from the command-line screen above. Following the directory by clicking on "darkcoin-0.11.1.25-win" takes you to this window:

View attachment 1047

Now you need to decide which version you would like to install according to your computer system. The 32-bit version can be installed in either 32- or 64-bit system.

5. Bootstrap option and Darkcoin default directory:

You have an option to download the bootstrap file if you would like the wallet to sync faster. Here's the link to get the bootstrap: (make sure you get the file for Mainnet)
https://github.com/UdjinM6/darkcoin-bootstrap
Unzip this file and you have "bootstrap.dat".

In windows the default directory for Darkcoin data folder with the wallet.dat is C:\Users\UsersName\AppData\Roaming. Go to this directory, create and empty folder, name it "Darkcoin" (without the quote " ".) Put bootstrap.dat in this folder before you run the wallet. After the wallet has synced, the file will become "bootstrap.dat.old" which can be deleted.

6. Run the wallet:

I'm choosing the 32-bit version by clicking on "32". It opens the next windows with a list of files.
If I choose "darkcoin-0.11.1-win32-setup.exe" it will do a setup for me:

View attachment 1049

This setup will install my wallet client in directory C:\Program Files\Darkcoin and has about 40 MB in size. Because Darkcoin is still in development and we've changed wallets quite often, I prefer to just run the dark-qt.exe file without installing the package.

My personal way to run my wallet: Right-click on darkcoin-qt.exe and choose "Create Shortcut", then drag the shortcut to your desktop.

Here's the shortcut that I just created for this wallet and next to a few other shortcuts for my other DRK wallets:

View attachment 1050

Click on that shortcut to run the wallet.

View attachment 1051

After the wallet has synced, close and restart the wallet to make sure it's ok.
Go to Settings, click on "Encrypt Wallet..." and put in a passphrase that only you know and do not forget it.
Close and restart your wallet, then try to open your wallet with the passphrase to make sure it works. Do this before you put your Darkcoins into the wallet.

Also, note that if your computer is compromised, even the most complicated passphrase might not be able to save your coins. So make sure your whole windows system is free from viruses .

7. Receiving and Sending addresses location:

Click on File and you will see where to find the receiving and sending addresses:

View attachment 1052

There are more things about the Darkcoin wallet that needs to be mentioned but I think this post is enough for now.

Can you please start working on "rebranding" the guide ?!
that would be great and super appreciated
Tx
 
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