bootstrap.dat allows a new Datacoin client to rapidly import the initial blocks from a local file instead of slowly downloading blocks from random peers. This significantly reduces the time it takes to get a client synced with the current blockchain.
Regardless of your operating system use the following steps to make use of the bootstrap.dat file:
- Download bootstrap.dat.gz OR bootstrap.dat.zip from github or mirrors.
- Decompress to obtain bootstrap.dat.
- Put it into the Datacoin datadir. This is the same folder that contains wallet.dat and the blocks folder.
Linux: Datacoin's data directory is located in ~/.datacoin/ by default. You can run ls -a to see directories that start with a dot. You can also search for the directory with the following command: find / -name wallet.dat -print 2>/dev/null
Windows: Go to Start>Run (or press WinKey+R) and run: explorer %APPDATA%\Datacoin Datacoin's data directory will open. "AppData" and "Application Data" are hidden by default in Windows.