New import blocks procedure - Bitcoin version 0.7.1+:...
Making sure that I understand you correctly, with Bitcoin version 0.7.1+, there is now no reason (even for security purposes) to use the bootstrap.dat method as offered by jgarzik at that last link, because now any external blockchain files used are fully validated when following these quoted steps?
Rather, there is no reason
not to use it other than time required, which is still 6+ hours to import the blocks
after the time spent downloading (making total time near that of normal sync on a good connection), and the fact that the method the developers hoped to create - simply drop a bootstrap.dat file in the datadir and it will be automatically imported - will only will import up to 2.0GB of blocks due to a
bug.
Here is a summary of methods, using the current 0.7.2 client:
1. From an already-synced copy of Bitcoin (which must have been last closed with the -detach option), copy all blockchain files (BLK000x.DAT) plus the matching index file (BLKINDEX.DAT) to your data directory [fast, no re-verification of block data]
(This is what I offered in the first post, but I've temporarily removed my files due to DOS attempts. The current best drop-in blockchain is
this 2.1GB torrent),
2. From an already-synced copy of Bitcoin, copy just the blockchain files (BLK000x.DAT), and use the -loadblock=BLK0001.DAT -loadblock=BLK0002.DAT -loadblock=BLK0003.DAT option to import any or all block data into your fresh Bitcoin, and re-verify the contents. [slow, safe, verifies all data],
3. Get the bootstrap.dat that has been distributed (2.3GB
torrent or
direct download ), and drop it in your data directory before you start Bitcoin, to import only 2GB of blocks up to 189205 (due to bug). Basically does the same thing to import data as loadblock command. [slow, safe, only 40% of current size]
3a. Optionally split the bootstrap torrent into two parts, and import both parts with the -loadblock option to use the complete data (instructions
here). [slow, safe, only 50% of current size]
Bitcoin 0.8.0+ fixes the bootstrap.dat import bug and will probably coincide with a new larger bootstrap torrent. It also improves the initial download experience with it's complete refactoring of how data is downloaded and stored.