<p>Try <a href="https://multibit.org/" rel="nofollow">Multibit</a>. It's a light-weight client.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-04T14:20:35.343Z
Perhaps you could add a little about why a light-weight client is a solution to the problem of the asker.
Murch
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-30T14:46:55.203Z
2014-05-30T14:46:55.203Z
T9b
<p>I would like to start using bitcoin more for day-to-day transactions. However, it takes way too long to keep my wallet up to date to be practical. I am using Bitcoin Armory, though I have had this problem with every bitcoin wallet software I have tried so far.</p>

<p>I don't have a super powerful machine, 64 bit OS, 8 core CPU @ 1.6 GHz each, 6GB RAM, Radeon 6570m GPU, no SSD. My laptop becomes noticeably slower and almost unusable when the bitcoin software is running. Thus I have to turn it off when I need to use my computer. But if I leave it off for 12 hours, it takes on the order of 12 hours to resync.</p>

<p>I feel like I MUST be doing something wrong. Does everyone using bitcoin really have a 24/7 dedicated box (possibly in the cloud) to keep their wallet up to date? This isn't practical for me at all, especially since it takes longer and longer to sync each time as the number of transactions per day increases.</p>

<p>Note: for security reasons I am not willing to use an online service that holds my wallet.</p>

<p>How can I make using bitcoin more practical? I have heard about using clients that don't download / maintain the full blockchain, but doesn't this defeat the purpose of being able to verify the transaction ledger myself?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-27T17:38:25.963Z
This doesn't seem normal.  On my laptop (less powerful than yours, though it does have an SSD) using Bitcoin-QT under Linux, after being off for a day, it takes maybe a minute or two to resync.
Nate Eldredge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-27T17:40:44.410Z
No, it shouldn't be taking that long. What is your Internet up/down speeds?
Tim S.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-27T17:42:37.523Z
@TimS.: If Internet bandwidth was the limiting factor, the OP would have to have speed of roughly 1K/sec.
Nate Eldredge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-27T17:42:47.470Z
https://speakeasy.net/speedtest/ tells me i'm 64 Mbps down 84 Mbps up.
nullUser
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-27T17:45:13.600Z
It's also strange that it makes your machine unusably slow; the wallet will use all CPU while verifying new blocks, but that should only be a couple minutes of CPU time total, and a sane multitasking OS should keep other processes running reasonably.  So I'm inclined to suspect something else is broken with your software or hardware.  Do any other applications seem unusually slow?
Nate Eldredge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-27T17:46:09.640Z
With armory running, my CPU is averaging at 40% constant usage, disk at 20% constant usage and 162kB/s (1.3 Mbps) network usage.
nullUser
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-27T17:48:04.993Z
Without armory running everything is very fast, zero lag on any other programs.
nullUser
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-27T17:49:48.030Z
I've tried uninstalling/reinstalling just in case, but I've had this issue with every client that I've tried to use.
nullUser
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-27T19:34:33.890Z
Very strange.  I can't imagine what would cause that.
Nate Eldredge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-30T14:51:02.680Z
does your wallet client have an option to run with logging output? ... maybe that will give you some clues as to what is wrong.
Willem Hengeveld
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-31T13:38:28.677Z
related: [Are the Thin clients Electrum and Multibit safe and secure?](http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/9647/5406)
Murch
<synchronization>
Wallet takes way too much time to keep up to date?
nullUser
# Wallet takes way too much time to keep up to date?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-05-27)

I would like to start using bitcoin more for day-to-day transactions. However, it takes way too long to keep my wallet up to date to be practical. I am using Bitcoin Armory, though I have had this problem with every bitcoin wallet software I have tried so far.

I don't have a super powerful machine, 64 bit OS, 8 core CPU @ 1.6 GHz each, 6GB RAM, Radeon 6570m GPU, no SSD. My laptop becomes noticeably slower and almost unusable when the bitcoin software is running. Thus I have to turn it off when I need to use my computer. But if I leave it off for 12 hours, it takes on the order of 12 hours to resync.

I feel like I MUST be doing something wrong. Does everyone using bitcoin really have a 24/7 dedicated box (possibly in the cloud) to keep their wallet up to date? This isn't practical for me at all, especially since it takes longer and longer to sync each time as the number of transactions per day increases.

Note: for security reasons I am not willing to use an online service that holds my wallet.

How can I make using bitcoin more practical? I have heard about using clients that don't download / maintain the full blockchain, but doesn't this defeat the purpose of being able to verify the transaction ledger myself?

**Tags:** synchronization

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This doesn't seem normal.  On my laptop (less powerful than yours, though it does have an SSD) using Bitcoin-QT under Linux, after being off for a day, it takes maybe a minute or two to resync.  
> **username_2**: No, it shouldn't be taking that long. What is your Internet up/down speeds?  
> **username_1**: @TimS.: If Internet bandwidth was the limiting factor, the OP would have to have speed of roughly 1K/sec.  
> **username_0**: https://speakeasy.net/speedtest/ tells me i'm 64 Mbps down 84 Mbps up.  
> **username_1**: It's also strange that it makes your machine unusably slow; the wallet will use all CPU while verifying new blocks, but that should only be a couple minutes of CPU time total, and a sane multitasking OS should keep other processes running reasonably.  So I'm inclined to suspect something else is broken with your software or hardware.  Do any other applications seem unusually slow?  
> **username_0**: With armory running, my CPU is averaging at 40% constant usage, disk at 20% constant usage and 162kB/s (1.3 Mbps) network usage.  
> **username_0**: Without armory running everything is very fast, zero lag on any other programs.  
> **username_0**: I've tried uninstalling/reinstalling just in case, but I've had this issue with every client that I've tried to use.  
> **username_1**: Very strange.  I can't imagine what would cause that.  
> **username_3**: does your wallet client have an option to run with logging output? ... maybe that will give you some clues as to what is wrong.  
> **username_4**: related: [Are the Thin clients Electrum and Multibit safe and secure?](http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/9647/5406)  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2014-05-30. Score: 1

Try [Multibit](https://multibit.org/). It's a light-weight client.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Perhaps you could add a little about why a light-weight client is a solution to the problem of the asker.  

---

