This guide includes instructions for optimizing windows to mine cryptocurrencies with your computers hardware. Follow this step by step guide to learn how to get started mining.
(you may skip farther below to find specific details on the wallet, miners, command line preferences as well as discord links at the bottom of this text if you already know how to mine)
Introduction:
This guide will be a simple and basic walk-through for new or inexperienced window users to begin mining the proof of work cryptocurrency SkyDOGE for the first time. Proof of work cryptocurrencies are valued because they are decentralized due to the ability for each participant to earn and contribute in the network by mining or by simply keeping their wallet online (called a node) and connected to the network.
In this guide you will learn to setup a wallet to store your SkyDOGE coins, prepare the windows environment to mine, download the mining software and then use the interface on Zergpool to view your mining earnings after you have started the software on your computer.
Zergpool is a pooled mining service which offers a range of payout options, such as Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin, or even Monero — but also allow users to get paid out in SkyDOGE as well. Mining with a pool is recommended for most users, especially if you are not very technically savvy.
SkyDOGE is a decentralized crypto currency with no central authority. As a miner you are maintaining the ledger ensuring transactions are legitimate and also getting rewarded for your effort. This means you have an easy and low-risk way to gain exposure and equity in most cryptocurrencies, simply using the power of your own computer! This is a design similar to the one Satoshi used to build bitcoin.
By mining shared with the pool, you get part of the block by working together with other miners. You get a percent of the block based on the weight and values of the shares your computer hardware delivers to the pool, based on its overall efficiency.
If you feel you have powerful hardware or just want to try your luck, you could attempt to solo or party mine on zergpool as well. Find the discord link at the end of this guide for help setting up a large farm on solo or a group of miners on party mining. For most miners, especially someone getting started — shared pool mining is recommended as the most fair and quickest way to get paid. This guide will teach you how to do that.
Preparation:
You will need to prepare the folder where you will install the mining software. If you are new to mining and want to try on a windows operating system, please keep in mind that windows anti-virus is incredibly hostile to all forms of mining and will always flag miners as malicious software, even if you have downloaded it from a trusted source such as github. If you find that you are having trouble getting mining software to run on windows, try this workaround:
Press the “windows” key on the taskbar or on your keyboard. Once the menu pulls up, start typing in “exclusions” on your keyboard. The tab will automatically recognize your typing and a page to the windows settings for anti-virus exclusions will appear. Click on this option.
This will take you to the “virus and threat protection” options menu. Under “Virus and threat protection settings” there is a blue link which says “manage settings.” Click this and then scroll down until you find “Exclusions.” Click on the blue link which says “add or remove exclusions”
This will bring up another tab, which has a box with a plus arrow stating “+ add an exclusion” Clicking this gives a drop down selection. Please select the option “Folder.” Now a pop up appears which shows you the entire computer directory. Navigate to the “documents” director and create a new folder by right clicking in the inside area and choosing “new folder.” Name this new folder anything like “mining” and then choose “Select folder” with the option on the bottom right until you have chosen this new folder.
Once you are done you will return to the windows security tab which we were in before and you should now see the new exclusion folder directory path appear. This will allow any program running from this folder to avoid antivirus scans which may affect mining, but not affect the security of the rest of your system.
Another thing to consider doing at this point is taking advantage of a tool known as “O+O Windows Shutup.” This removes certain tasks which windows uses to track you. This adds security to your computer, as well as freeing up a bit of your processor to mine more efficiently that would otherwise be running these tasks.
O+O Windows Shutup for removing windows bloatware:
https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10
Now that you have created an area within your file system to safely store and run mining software, download WildRig.
(Note: It is entirely possible to mine with both cpu and gpu at the same time! See my ghostrider guide for tips on how to setup xmrig for cpu mining)
Creating your wallet
If you have not already, you should setup your SkyDOGE wallet. The pool is auto exchange so you can actually mine SkyDOGE and get paid out in any of the supported coins on zergpool.
https://zergpool.com/site/payouts
The fastest way to get started is using a hot wallet with an exchange,
Like XeggeX
https://xeggex.com
Though that is easy, it would be better to run a node for the health of the network. Because cryptocurrencies are a peer to peer operation, wallets require peers to connect. The more wallet nodes online, the better. In the long term you will also want to secure you own keys, which is best practice — you can find the official wallet release below:
https://github.com/skydogenet/mainchain/releases
(Download and setup the windows file)
You can run this wallet in a separate folder from your miners for security, or even a separate computer. Once you start the file — it will need to synchronize with the network, connect to peers and establish the ledger of the block history. This may take some time, allow it to run overnight or while away. This is where you can get your “receiving” wallet address — copy and paste this somewhere as you will need this later.
As a wallet owner, you are the sole custodian of your own funds, if you fail to secure your seed words properly you will lose access to your funds. That means If they are lost or stolen, no one can help you restore your funds! They will be lost forever!
If you need detailed assistance securing your funds with a wallet, be sure to locate the SkyDOGE discord at the end of this guide. If you are unable or unwilling to run your own node wallet, you may use your wallet generated on XeggeX to continue the guide.
If you already have a wallet from another crypto, for example, Bitcoin Cash and would prefer to mine SkyDOGE with your GPU and get paid out in Bitcoin Cash, you may do that as well. The section about setting up WildRig listed below will teach you how to connect your miner, make sure to remember to change the username and password settings to the appropriate wallet when you setup your miner, using c=BCH instead of c=SkyDOGE in the password and entering your Bitcoin Cash address as the wallet instead of your SkyDOGE address.
Setting up Wildrig
Official release:
https://github.com/andru-kun/wildrig-multi/releases
You may need “7-zip” to extract the file, found here: https://www.7-zip.org/. After installing 7-zip right click on the file to extract using 7-zip
(Remember to extract to the exclusion folder you created earlier in the guide.)
Before starting WildRig it is important to first update the drivers for your bios, your cpu and definitely your gpu, especially if you are on windows! Please search online for the model number of your hardware for the appropriate windows drivers. To install a bios driver, you should search online the model number of your motherboard and see the process to installing latest driver. To access your bios, spam the “DELETE” button as your system starts from boot.
Using the link above, download and extract WildRig into the folder you prepared for mining. Navigate to the folder and find the list of example batch files. Right click to “rename” one of the available example batch files anything that you will be able to remember. Then right click again and click “Edit” (pick notepad if asked).
Once the file opens, there will be something written already. Erase the example text and Copy and Paste from the below code instead. Remember to change the YOUR_WALLET_ADDRESS value to your wallet address. This is how the pool knows where to send your rewards for mining.
Copy and paste the below into the empty batch file:
@echo off
:loop
wildrig.exe --print-full -- algo skydoge -- url stratum+tcp://skydoge.mine.zergpool.com:3735 --user YOUR_WALLET_ADDRESS --pass c=SKY,refcode=newminerbonus,id=RIGNAME
if ERRORLEVEL 1000 goto custom
timeout /t 5
goto loop
You will want to change the RIG_NAME field to a specific name if you have more than one rig. The c=SKY field is used to designate the payout currency, which is defaulted to SkyDOGE. If you prefer to get paid in another currency, be sure to change c=SKY to the coin you want to get paid out in.
The string “,refcode=newminerbonus” (without quotes) is an exclusive code used to save 40% on your pool fees, as a first time new miner of Zergpool! This is a loyalty promotion available to new miners and readers of this walk-through! Using these settings will also give you a 40% discount on your pool fees — changing from 0.5 to 0.3!
Users who want to try solo mining can add “,m=SOLO” (without quotes) to the end of their password field as well. Please note it can take several months for a single computer to find a block on solo, so not recommended for those looking for steady rewards.
Once this is complete, hit “File” and “Save as.” This next step is important, you must make sure the file saves as a batch file not a text file. On windows, notepad will default the batchfile as a text file if you did not change the “save as type.” This would result in a file which will not run and instead will just open as a text file. To correct this you must change the “save as type” from “.txt” to “All files”(see the example image below)
You can right click on the batch file, send to desktop (shortcut) to create a shortcut link on your desktop to your GPU mining software. Close out of everything and attempt to start the shortcut batch file on your desktop. It should start the WildRig in a command line box. It may ask you to accept some internet connection settings. The software will spit out a lot of information, so take a few minutes to observe. If everything was configured correctly you should see that your miner has connected to the pool, is hashing and is also sometimes finding shares.
Now that you know the connection and software works, you may want to spend some time to more finely tune your GPU devices.
A free tool to adjust your GPU clock-rate on windows would be MSI afterburner:
https://www.msi.com/Landing/afterburner/graphics-cards
This part may require a lot of testing to make perfect. You can try out the website “hashrate.no” to get detailed tuning information for your specific hardware. At the end of this guide there are social links where you can get more detailed assistance with your specific hardware.
Viewing your Mining Rewards
After you are satisfied with your clocking and are hashing, head over to Zergpool and type in your wallet address under the “wallet” tab. You will see a verity of detailed information, primarily your workers and your percentage of shares submitted. Once the pool has found a block, you will earn a share of the rewards!
On the left you will see your earned funds, on the right you will be able to see your workers and the pools mining progress. Once a block is found, you will get credited a percentage of the rewards based on your hardware’s hashrate.
Conclusion:
You made it to the end, great job! You are now mining with your GPU again, creating profitability from your computer’s hardware! You successfully got through the hardest part and now whenever you want to mine you just need to start the batch file. Make sure to check for updates to the mining software regularly, as occasionally things such as hashrate improvements are implemented.
You may even be able to start mining with your CPU for the first time if you checked out my ghostrider guide. Zergpool will allow you to get paid out in SkyDOGE (or any other currency) while mining with your cpu!
Click here to learn how to mine with your CPU and get paid in SkyDOGE
SkyDOGE Discord: https://discord.com/GKHGDGbt8S
WildRig Discord: https://discord.gg/6WmjEV6t4P
Zergpool Discord: https://discord.gg/2xuTT3Xm3G
Where to trade your accumulated coins?
XeggeX Exchange
NonKYC Exchange
Consider following me on social media to find more or ask me questions!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealSetvin
Want to learn more about CPU Mining?
CPU Mining Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/cpumining/
CPU Mining Discord: https://discord.gg/vk5zmkAHkY
Need a reliable service to host your altcoin smartnodes / masternodes?
Some of the products referenced in this guide may contain affiliate links. Thank you for your support! The information contained within this article is designed to be for educational purposes only. Many proof of work cryptocurrencies can be earned with home computer and this guide is meant to teach individuals how to mine — this is not to be taken as a specific endorsement or recommendation to purchase any crypto currencies. Trading crypto currencies can involve a significant risk, so learning and education is advised. Always do your own research!
