Month: April 2021

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Basic guide to mining Ethereum’s Ether (ETH) on Windows 10 (Australian edition)

Mining Ethereum’s Ether (ETH) on Windows 7, 8.1 and 10 is super easy.

Just follow the simple steps below.

Step 1 : what  you need to get started mining Ether (ETH)

You’re going to need a basic gaming PC that has a recent nVidia or AMD graphic card.  So if you have a nVidia 1050Ti or better (or AMD equivalent), you’re good to go as crypto mining uses the computing power of your graphics card, not your CPU.

If you have an older card, or no graphics card at all, you’re going to have a bad time.

So, if you have desktop PC (or notebook) with a 1050Ti or better, let’s go to the next step.

Step 2: get yourself a crypto wallet for Ethereum

A wallet is where you will store your mined Ether, the cryptocoin on the Ethereum blockchain. You will need your own unique wallet address (a long string of numbers and letters) for your mined Ether to be stored.

The Ethereum page has a list of wallets on its website. I suggest using the wallets listed under “Crypto curious” heading on the wallets page.

Alternatively, if you want to sell your mined Ethereum on a crypto exchange, I recommend signing up to the Australian based Coinspot exchange (which is what I use) and using it to generate your wallet address. That way it’s put straight into your account on the Coinspot exchange ready for you to sell, or trade for other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Litecoin.

Step 3: download and install the Windows Ether mining software (suitable for Windows 7, 8 and 10)

WinEth is a one-click mining software for Windows and AMD or nVidia GPUs.

It’s super simple to download and install.  Once you’ve downloaded and installed it, run the WinEth miner and put in your unique wallet address into the “Ethereum address”. Without this wallet address, you won’t be given the Ether you mine, so don’t skip this step.  You can also put in your email address to make it easy to manage.

The WinEth miner uses the Nanopool as your default crypto mining pool. A crypto mining pool is a place where lots of people (including you) collectively mine Ether like a giant supercomputer. You get paid for your computer’s contribution to this mining pool supercomputer.

To see your progress in mining Ether, select the “Click here to view payout status” on the WinEth miner which will take you to your page on the Nanopool. This will not work until you have been mining Ether for at least 30 minutes (maybe longer). 

If you’ve put your email into the WinEth miner, you can adjust some settings here in your Nanopool account. I suggest you click the “SETTINGS” button, enter the email you put into your WinEth miner (that’s your password so they know it’s you) and change the default “Minimum payout” to 0.05 Ether. That way you will get your mined Ether sent to your wallet sooner rather than later.

That’s it! You’re now mining Ether and will become a billionaire! Or more realistically you may make some money to buy a case of beer once a month. Enjoy!

Below is a simple video guide too.

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Bitcoin mining for beginners (Australian version)

You are probably here because you’ve heard of bitcoin, maybe even bought some bitcoin, so now you want to get into mining bitcoin. But you have no idea how and don’t want to do anything too complicated, right? You’re wondering “how do I mine bitcoin?” and “I hope there is a dummy’s guide to mining bitcoin“.

Well, you’re in luck. I’m not that smart yet I’ve figured out how to mine bitcoin, and I can show you how to do it too.  Just follow these simple steps and guide to start mining bitcoin today.

Getting started: what you need to start mining bitcoin

First up, you need a computer with a recent nVidia GPU. This can be in a basic gaming PC (such as with a GTX1050 GPU) up to more powerful gaming PCs with RTX2070s to RTX3090s. My setup has the nVidia 1660Ti in a notebook computer; so a not too fancy middle of the road gaming notebook.

If you’ve got a PC with a GTX1050 GPU or better, good for you and let’s go to the next step to start mining bitcoin today.

If not, you’re going to have a bad time. Older GPUs don’t have the power (or up-to-date drivers) and CPUs aren’t going to cut it either, even if it’s a recent Intel i7 CPU.

Step 2: sign-up to a mining pool

Mining pools make it easy for you to contribute your GPU mining power to a giant collection of people like you wanting to mine bitcoin. Mining pools make it easy to set up mining and you don’t have to mine a whole bitcoin to get paid.  The mining pool below also includes Windows 10 mining software to make it even easier.

I use NiceHash. To get started, go to the NiceHash site, then select “GET STARTED” and then register your details (no I didn’t get any spam after signing up).

NiceHash is very simple, automatically mines the most rewarding crypto, and pays your only in Bitcoin. If you want to try mining and getting paid in other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum or Bitcoin Gold, then try MinerGate instead.

Once you have registered, it’s time to download and install your mining software.

Step 2: download and install your mining software

Go to the “TRY MINING NOW” page on NiceHash and install the NiceHash Quick Miner.

Once the QuickMiner file has downloaded, find it and install it on your PC (follow the prompts).

Once the QuickMiner is installed, open the QuickMiner software. You will need to link it to the NiceHash account you created above.

When NiceHash QuickMiner is started for the first time, it will ask you for your NiceHash Mining Address. There is a link and a picture how to get this address in the app. This is a very important step – this is how NiceHash QuickMiner gets linked with your NiceHash account, so it mines for you and not somebody else.

To do this, go to the “MINING” tab in your NiceHash account and click the “MINING ADDRESS” button.

This will show your mining wallet address (a long string of numbers and letters) which you can grab by pressing the “COPY” button.

Now go back to the QuickMiner software and paste your unique mining address into the app. Then you are good to go.

If you want a more detailed step-by-step guide, go to this “Starting NiceHash QuickMiner for the first time” wiki-page.

You can right-click on the Nicehash QuickMiner icon to stop and start the QuickMiner, and to access its basic settings.

You can also go to the online NiceHash Rig Manager to access more settings. Press the PLAY and STOP buttons to start and stop mining.

Pro-tips:

  • keep the mining setting on “LITE” not “MEDIUM” or “HIGH” if you don’t want stability problems and a flashing screen
  • only mine with your GPU and don’t turn on the CPU mining (it’s too slow and runs too hot).

That’s it! You’re now an advanced bitcoin mining magnate ready to make billions of dollars (or more realistically, enough to buy a case of beer once or twice a month).