As a non-techy type of person with limited ability, I'm not sure if I understand ThomasV's undoubtedly good, solid, expert advice. Terms like 'RBF' and 'binaries' just lose me, let alone fiddling about with code, although I'm reasonably sure that essentially such things are easy to understand by the experienced. To help get my mind around the problem of coin-splitting and countering the replay attack would this work:

Using two computers (A with original the wallet and B with a freshly installed wallet), both running on Windows, copy the [Electrum] folder located in the [Roaming] folder on Computer A to the [Roaming] folder of Computer B, overwriting the the fresh wallet's Electrum folder with the original wallet's Electrum folder.

• On Computer A, open the Electrum wallet and turn off automatic-connect and manually select a server running Core BTC. Would this effectively make the Electrum A wallet a Core BTC wallet?
• On Computer B, open the Electrum wallet and turn off automatic-connect and manually select a server running Unlimited BTU. Would this effectively make the Electrum B wallet an Unlimited BTU wallet?

Well, would this be enough to split the two coins?  But what about Replay attacks - how could they be prevented in this scenario if this approach is feasible?

Or, should I just simply send my BTC to an exchange shortly after a hard fork and let the exchange do the coin splitting etc. for me?

Thanks. Installing the Windows Installer download did the trick. I now have an Electrum wallet that doesn't disappear when I close it down and is installed as a program on my computer. FYI, when you install the Standalone Executable the wallet isn't saved anywhere in the Electrum [Roaming] folder other than a 2, or 4KB reference file (not executable), nor is the Electrum program saved in the program files. With the Windows Installer, it is.

The reason why I downloaded the (Standalone Executable) file was because I was following the YouTube guide: "Getting Started with Electrum" posted by Chronus Crypto.

He downloaded the (Standalone Executable) file to create the Electrum wallet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdVlH9N2oKU

I'm wondering what the Standalone Executable file is for - maybe to install Electrum on a USB, or another external hardware storage device? But thanks again for your insight.

1)  When clicking on the original Electrum-2.8.2 downloaded (Standalone Executable) file to install the Electrum wallet, I encounter a screen saying: "This file is encrypted. Enter your password or choose another file." (see djmcg's screenshot above).

2)  The first time I used this application file this didn't happen. At all other times the encryption notice did appear.

3)  I downloaded a fresh Electrum-2.8.2 Standalone Executable file to a different place on my computer and the same thing happened - I was asked for my password. When I clicked on the [Next] button, not putting my password in the box, a wrong password box popped up and I couldn't go any further (again, see djmcg's screenshot above).

4)  I then deleted the Electrum folder in my [Roaming] folder and and the two previously downloaded Electrum Standalone Executables. A fresh Electrum-2.8.2 Standalone Executable file was then downloaded from the https://electrum.org/#download web page - I had checked several times to make sure it was the genuine Electrum website.

5)  I sailed through to the "Confirm Seed" screen, inputted my seed words, and as before the only option available was to go [Back] - [Next] was greyed out. I'm sure I typed in the right words on both installations. When I went back, a new set of seed words was generated. The fresh generated words, as far as I am aware, didn't happen before when I went back. I inputted the new seed words and the [Next] button became active. I clicked on [Next].

6)  I proceeded without choosing a password to encrypt my wallet keys and my default wallet (standard) was created. Again there was no shortcut to the wallet on my desktop. The wallet had disappeared. The only Electrum wallet files on my computer were the ones I had before i.e. the electrum-2.8.2 .exe downloaded file and a 4KB default_wallet file in my Wallet folder.

7)  The full contents of my [Roaming] file are as follows: Certs (folder); Wallet (folder); blockchain_headers (file); config (file); daemon (file); and recent_servers (file).

This time when I clicked on the Electrum .exe file, I went straight into the wallet without going through the process I had done before. I then created a password from inside the wallet. As before, I had to go through the Install Wizard by clicking on the original downloaded .exe file - see djmcg's screenshot headed Electrum - Install Wizard.

9)  Conclusion: The installation process simply modifies the original downloaded installation .exe file. This file has to be clicked on to activate the wallet and the Install Wizard. I have never experienced this with any other wallet installation - there has always been a separate wallet access icon created on the Desktop.

P.S. the smiley at what should be point eight is unintentional. It seems to have been generated by the number and bracket symbol used in my post and I can't get rid of it!

I am experiencing a similar problem to djmcg. I have tried installing Electrum-2.8.2 on a Windows 7, 64-bit computer. The installation seems to go well, but when I close the wallet, it disappears and is nowhere to be found. When I trace the "default_wallet" (1st installation) and wallet_1 (2nd attempted installation as per ThomasV's suggestion) all that is there in the Roaming folder are two 2KB files. There is no shortcut icon on the Desktop, or anywhere else. Nor can I see any installed wallet.

I have gone back to the saved executable file and started the installation up again, inputted my password and it recognised the Appearance change I had previously made i.e. to list BTC as bits.

However, when I closed the wallet, it again disappeared, nowhere to be found.

When I tried ThomasV's suggestion and renamed "default_wallet" to "wallet_1". The program asked for my seed words (to restore), which I gave as given in the 1st installation. The program also asked for a new password which I repeated as that given in the 1st installation. Again, when the wallet was closed, it disappeared!

It seems that the only way to get into the wallet is to keep on installing it using the executable installation program.

I've just installed an Electrum wallet for the first time. In the [Console] details there is a "welcome to hachre's Electrum server!" (running Electrumx 1.0.5, Bitcoin 0.13.2)

Hachre sounds like hacker, but I notice that one of official servers on the electrum.org website is listed as "hachre" with the .de website country code for Germany.

However, further on in my Electrum wallet console the contact email "electrum@hach.re" is given. The .re is a website country code for Reunion - a remote French island next to Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.

My question is: Is this a genuine Electrum server?

I think I'll hold onto my Dash for a while longer. Some interesting developments!

@qwizzie, @110110101, @ddink7, @MasterMined710, and @afbitcoins

Thanks for the informative and considered responses so far. I've got some serious thinking to do.

Thanks for your explanation. Trying to get my head around Master nodes running full blockchains that sidechains (?) can run on. I read somewhere that that isn't a solution to blockchain bloat. Would appreciate enlightenment if I am getting this wrong.

To put things into a nutshell, I'm trying to work out whether to keep Dash, or sell while the price is high.

Here's my concern and you have highlighted it very well in your second paragraph. Dash will do doubt be used more as the number of payment providers increases. Mass adoption, if it happens, is bound to affect capacity available in each block. How can you say so definitely that blockchain bloat won't be a problem in the future?

By saying that lightweight wallets in an indirect way are a possible solution to blockchain bloat suggests that it will be a problem if Dash is widely adopted on an international scale. Lightweight wallets are off the blockchain and as such could be viewed as being prone to becoming centralized with all the perils associated with centralization.

By the way, I was stimulated to post after seeing the recent Bitcoin Core vs Bitcoin Unlimited debate which was mentioned in this thread the post before my original. Basically, I'm trying to work out which coins to concentrate on.

I have a modest Dash holding from when Dash was a lot cheaper than it is now with the current price spike. I hold other coins too. What I'd like to ask is this -

Is Dash immune from blockchain bloat and, if it isn't, whether this will be an issue at some point in the future?

@lurker10 - text in bold emphasis noted. Thanks.

Looking in my AppData > Roaming > NXT folder, I have 3 sub-folders:

conf (with .lock; logging properties; and nxt.properties files inside);
logs (with nxt; and nxt.log.1 files inside); and
nxt_db (with nxt.h2; and nxt.trace files inside)

... so what do I need to delete?  There is no "lib" folder that I can see connected to NXT (I do have a general Libraries folders with Documents; Music; Pictures; and Videos files inside, but no NXT). I assume that the conf and logs folders should be on the delete list while the nxt_db (database?) folder should be kept intact.

I think non-techy NXT adherrents, like myself, might appreciate guidance on this (my operating system is 64-bit Windows 7).  

I'm going to upgrade to the new NXT client version, NRS v.1.11.3.  I've read that you should delete the the original client before installing a new version (but not the blockchain file).

I've upgraded the NXT client on two occasions before without deleting anything. I found that when I installed the new client it seemed to simply write over the old files and everything to worked perfectly afterwards. Am I right in continuing to install the new client without deleting any files beforehand?

For me, the developers put the kiss of death on NXT by coming out and saying that they will only support it for a year, or so. Not exactly welcome news. This is a shame since I was starting to get used to the exchange within a wallet features.

I think a lot of people cashed out on the Ardor freebie and that has affected the price. I expect it will rise as more details come out about the Ardor project and wallets become available.

@freshman777

The SHA-256 .exe flavour of NRS 1.10.3 is happily syncing away on my computer. The wallet and server blue NXT icons are sitting on my desktop. You're a gem!   

Are you sure about SHA-512? That was the one I downloaded last time and it seemed to work perfectly until after the fork. Maybe that could have been the problem.

I'm getting used to deleting everything, so I'll download the SHA-256 .exe file and install as you suggest. Thanks once again! 

Thanks freshman777. You're one of the few dependable people here. I couldn't download any further than block 10000012 no matter what I tried and I couldn't get to the red alert that enables an upgrade.

I uninstalled and deleted everything. Then I downloaded the SHA512 flavour of 1.10.3 for my 64-bit machine. After unzipping to my desktop all that popped out was a NXT folder with lots of files inside. The installer didn't pop out.

I clicked on the nxt Executable Jar File inside the folder and nothing happened. The same goes for the nxt application and other executables. I copied the NXT Wallet Internet shortcut onto the desktop, clicked on it, and the 1.10.3 wallet opened up and started the blockchain download, running on a remote node. It also recognised my NXT balances.

I don't think that the wallet shortcut solution is what is supposed to happen. I don't have the two NXT blue icons I had before for the NXT wallet and the NXT desktop server - just the single Firefox shortcut. But thanks for throwing me a lifeline. Appreciated!

For all those needing to upgrade, I downloaded 1.10.3 from:
https://nxtforum.org/nrs-releases/nrs-v1-10-3/

... but I'm still having problems as indicated above. 1.10.2 doesn't recognise the new 1.10.3 client and says it cannot install any upgrade until after the blockchain is fully downloaded. That's not happening because the blockchain is still stuck on block 10000012.

What am I doing wrong?!!! Do I have to download the entire blockchain again? How do I do that? Do I have to delete everything - all the downloaded previous client files and delete the NXT folder containing the database etc. and start all over again with 1.10.3?

I saw the last posts advising to download the 1.10.3 client which was only just put up for download a few hours ago. They said they had done it and everything is fine. However, when I've unzipped 1.10.3 and tried to update by clicking on the NRS version number at the top right hand side of my wallet and clicking on NRS update, it tells me that "the blockchain is still loading, check again after it's up to date."

So I am back to Square One with a wallet that doesn't seem to update beyond Block 10000012.
My wallet shows no alert message and it is still showing NRS version 1.10.2 in green, not red, so it doesn't look like I can upgrade just yet.

Please advise.
 

My Desktop NXT 1.10.2 wallet does not seem to be downloading the Blockchain. The number of blocks left to download is going up and is now showing 2412. Other people seem to be having the same problem.

Just now the number of blocks left to download dropped down to the 1500s, but then instantly went back up to 2415 where it's staying and increasing ... now on 2420.


Anyone know what's going on?

Ardor wallets have been created on Poloniex and Bittrex and show Ardor credited on the balances pages.

My desktop 1.10.2 wallets seem to be OK and Ardor has been credited to me as an asset.

However, the blockchain is taking a long time to download - I was last fully synced about 10 hours ago. I reopened my wallet about 30 minutes ago and the number of blocks left to sync is going up and down - going up from 1813 to 1818 then down to 1815, back up to 1818 to 1822 to 1825 blocks left in the last few minutes. ?

mynxtinfo online wallet is not showing Ardor credits that should have been credited to me. ?