Have you been wondering, How to Mine Litecoins on Windows?
Intro
Lately, I’ve been trying to earn some money by mining the Bitcoin alternatives, Litecoin. After creating a Guide on How to Start Mining Quarkcoins I made this Guide for How to Mine Litecoins on Windows.
If you have spare AMD Radeon graphics cards lying around, and energy rates that aren’t stratospheric, mining a peer-to-peer digital currency known as Litecoin(think of it as silver to Bitcoin’s gold) is within your grasp. Earlier this week I published a hardware guide as a reference for miners new to the scene, but the following guide should get Windows users up to speed regardless of dedication level or investment level.
What is Litecoin?
Litecoin is a peer-to-peer Internet currency that enables instant payments to anyone in the world. It is based on the Bitcoin protocol but differs from Bitcoin in that it can be efficiently mined with consumer-grade hardware. Litecoin provides faster transaction confirmations (2.5 minutes on average) and uses a memory-hard, scrypt-based mining proof-of-work algorithm to target the regular computers and GPUs most people already have. The Litecoin network is scheduled to produce 84 million currency units.
One of the aims of Litecoin was to provide a mining algorithm that could run at the same time, on the same hardware used to mine bitcoins. With the rise of specialized ASICs for Bitcoin, Litecoin continues to satisfy these goals. It is unlikely for ASIC mining to be developed for Litecoin until the currency is widely used.
What is Mining?
For those of you not familiar with the mining process, here’s a simple explanation of how it works: All cryptographic coin networks structure themselves around blocks, which contain hashes. A hash is an encrypted chunk of information that, when successfully solved, or decrypted, awards the cracker a number of coins – the exact amount varies by the type of cryptocurrency. The network registers coin ownership through the Blockchain, which records all transactions on the network . You can then trade these coins for other currencies or goods. On the downside, Bitcoin alternatives are not universally accepted at all exchanges, so mining an unpopular currency may simply waste your time and money. Check out Cryptsy exchange, if you want to get in to Alt-coin Trading.
For those of you willing to take a risk, continue reading, at the end if you just want to start Earning $$ or Litecoins Follow these Steps
What Hardware do I need to Mine Litecoin?
You will need a ATI / AMD Video Card Generally you will want to spend $100 or more on it within the last 2 years, the Higher end Card you have the faster you will Mine Litecoins on Windows. If you know what video card you have you can see what sort of K/Hs per second you will get at the mining hardware wiki. Then you can figure out how much $$ you will earn at the Coinwarz Litecoin Calculator.
Litecoin
More Info –Tech Specs , Current Ranking
Exchanges – ( Bter my Personal Favorite)
Main Pool: http://q30.qhor.net:9327
Backup Pool: http://p2pool.org:9327
Just tell me How to Mine Litecoins on Windows Already!
1.)Download Litecoin wallet.
Direct Link for: Windows
2.)Install Litecoin Wallet
Then Click – Receive. Then Copy Address.
3.)Disable your Antivirus.
If you have Antivirus it will be pickup and auto removed before you can click on it to open, all Bitcoin Miner Software is Picked up as Virus. The Reason being is they are used by Botnet’s a lot to get Coins from Zombie Computers. Since you are bitcoin Mining you will need , Disable your Antivirus for like 15 minutes and add c:\Litecoin to your Exclude from Scan’s. If you want to Verify it’s not a virus download the Zip Version of Simple Litecoin GUI Miner or look at the Code, it was Built with AutoIT. I also recommend SandBoxie if you are trying out software and are unsure if it’s save or not.
How to Exclude a Folder Depending on your Antivirus Software. ( Exclude Folder c:\Litecoin)
If you have another AV, just search google “exclude a file or a folder from scan (name of Antivirus)”
4.)Download Litecoin GUI Miner
Litecoin GUI Miner – 64bit & 32bit– Version 1.0 – Windows XP/Vista/7/8 /Server Edition all versions
Mega Download -> GPU Miner -> Simple GPU Miner.msi
5.)Install & Open Litecoin GUI Miner
It will Install to Folder c:\Litecoin if you change it make sure your change the Settings Tab to point to Minerd in the new folder.
6.)Test Litecoin Miner
Right Click, Paste Replace the current Address with your address you Copied in Step 2.
Save and Start Process, and DOS Screen will popup saying CGminer
Soon after CGminer.exe starts (1-5 min) it should show you a screen like this Verify it is Showing you a GPU and look at the Kh/s the Higher the more coins you will earn. Also verify it shows accepted if it does not show this they you will need to uninstall your reinstall you Video card Software with the ATI Drivers Below in order for this software to work.
7.)Set to run when system is IDLE
Right Click, Paste Replace the current Address with your address you Copied in Step 2.
Save and Start Process, and Exit, it will run Process in background.
8.) Get Paid!
Within 4-8 Hour you should start getting Litecoins, you can monitor Payout status here.
If you want to Stop the Process or Program.
Go to c:\Litecoin\setupC.exe and click End Process. Or open Task Manager Ctrl+Shift+Esc and close cgminer.exe and ProcesC.exe
More Computers more Litecoins!
You can do this same thing on as many computers as you want the more computers you install it on the more Litecoins you will get.
If you enjoyed my Guide send me a Litecoin or two, Now you know How to Start Mining Litecoins!
Address: QZke1auVFux3jc4gt8Kg3TafsvvseSs1GY
How Reinstalling ATI Drivers to use Litecoin Miner.
Sort of a Pain but worth it to get your system Mining Litecoins!
If you have any programs during Step 6.) testing the Litecoin Miner for some reason the software has issues with Some ATI Drivers to Fix follow the steps below.
1.) Uninstall ALL ATI Software, go to add/remove programs, Click Change the AMD Catalyst, Express Uninstall ALL AMD Software, after finished, Restart Computer
2.)Right click this link to ATIRemoval.Bat, Then Save As ATI.Removal.bat
3.) Then Right click on downloaded Location and Run as Administrator, type Y and Enter to anything that pop’s up.
4.) Download ATI 13.1 64Bit Works for Vista/7/or/8 for and ATI 13.1 32bit XP/Vista/7/8
5.) Installed restart computer.
6.)Download AMD SDK 2.9 and install then restart computer.
7.) Go back to Step 6, Open c:\Litecoin\SetupC.exe
If it still does not work your Video Card might not be supported I would go to Newegg.com and upgrade check out mining hardware wiki for which cards are good or try getting your feet wet by mining Quarkcoins.
Please As any Questions I will be more than happy to try to answer them!
First 50 People, to Post a Picture of there Mined Litecoins with this Software.
I will send you some more Litecoins as a Job Well done!
Make sure to post where you want me to send Coins.
Other Great Sites to Checkout
http://litecoinexchangerate.org/ – What is my Litecoin Worth Right Now in USD?
http://coinmarketcap.com/ – Market Cap on Alt-coins, Which Alt-Currency is winning.
http://litecoin.myvnc.com:9327/static/ – See Status of the Litecoins you are mining.
Cryptsy exchange – if you want to get in to Alt-coin Trading.
Coin Mill Converter – Convert Quark to USD – If you want to see what your Quarks are Worth in Dollars!
If you want to Tip or Donation:
All Tips & Donation goes towards improving the software!
1.) Copy Donate Address:
2. Send Coins:
Spread the word please give me a Like, Google +, Tweet or just leave a comment!
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