I have a laptop running 24/7 at home, and I'm a total newbie when it comes to LN. What are the beginner-friendly LN nodes for Windows that I can use? (Win only, I know there's a lot of good stuff of Linux, but I can't use it there)
  1. If you really do not want to reinstall that PC with Linux, then you can use a VM (virtual machine) with Linux inside that Windows machine. But you will need a lot of RAM from which to allocate. I would not do this scenario, you are killing the LN node.
  2. Just buy the cheapest second hand PC (no more than 300 bucks), with 8GB RAM and 1 TB SSD disk, put a DebianOS on it and on top of that install any LN node software you want (I would recommend to start with MiniBolt)
I wrote several guides about LN nodes, please read them. Your life will be much easier if you read them BEFORE you start anything:
And a more broader list here: #77060
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Thanks for the useful links. Is there really nothing available for windows?
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No. It was in the past Eclair LN node but not anymore. Keep in mind that Windows is NOT designed to run these kind of apps. Whatever you will do, it will get worse. Don't complicate your life, keep it simple. Don't be scared to run a Linux. I was also a windows guy for many years (I worked 25 years in IT systems with a lot of Windoze servers and stuff). And read ALL of those guides. Not because I wrote them, but because will help you a lot into this new journey.
I wrote them EXACTLY for guys like you.
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Bro windows will literally just decide it needs to update and restart the machine without user intervention. Imagine you cant send or receive money because Microsoft decided you need a new audio driver RIGHT NOW!
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Mutiny Wallet
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Ya i was thinking the same.
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You gotta make the switch mate. Buy a lenovo thinkcentre mini used, 2 tb ssd 8 plus gigs ram. Flash start9 OS onto it, and voila you can have bitcoin core, electrs, lightning node with a few clicks.
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This sounds like a great time to learn about Linux! umbrel on a Vm is probably going to be your most user-friendly option.
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could try doing this with a virtual machine
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