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Suppose I buy a new wifi router and a new pc. I set up both the wifi network (of course, with a password) and the pc.

Now I access the internet for a few seconds in order to download bitaddress.org from GitHub or as an HTML file. Then I turn off the wifi connection on my pc and open the downloaded file and generate many pairs of public and private keys (which I write down on paper). Once I'm done, I clear the web browser history, cache, cookies, etc. and delete the downloaded files.

Would this be enough to make sure no records of the keys of any kind are left anywhere on the pc? Should I restart the pc before turning its wifi connection back on again? Or should I reinstall the operating system just in case? Or would it be a good idea to install Deep Freeze before generating the keys?

I'm planning to continue using my pc for my daily work.

Thanks in advance!!

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2 Answers 2

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What you describe has some risks:

  • The new PC and router likely won't have the latest software updates, which could increase the chance of it being compromised immediately
  • The bitaddress.org website may have been compromised, in which case it may generate pre-determined addresses that are monitored for stealing coins deposited to them. This is a real and significant risk that you should take steps to avoid.

I suggest that you look at a process like this:

  1. Download a copy of the bitaddress.org page and store it on USB.
  2. Open it from a cleanly booted offline PC, perhaps from a live linux CD, or even better, from a permanently offline PC.
  3. Verify the bitaddress.org code (I'm not going to cover this here; it would make a good separate question perhaps)
  4. Generate your private keys
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  • So, you suggest that I make sure both the router and the PC have the latest software updates before taking any further steps, right? Besides, where can I get the Linux CD from? On bitcoinpaperwallet.com one can buy the CD with bitcoinpaperwallet.com generator pre-installed. Should I just buy it there?
    – User X
    Commented Nov 30, 2017 at 17:15
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    Whatever technology you choose to use, you need to be confident that it hasn't been tampered with. It seems more likely that a Bitcoin-specific tool would have been targeted than one that isn't, such as help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCD but if you trust the developers of bitcoinpaperwallet.com then it could be a good option. Do your homework if you're storing any substantial amounts.
    – Highly Irregular
    Commented Nov 30, 2017 at 17:32
  • Is the link you've posted where I can get the CD from? Or do you know where else I can get it or if I should make my own CD?
    – User X
    Commented Nov 30, 2017 at 21:00
  • Maybe you can also answer this question, which is about verifying the code and authenticity of bitaddress.org. I think the only answer to that question so far is good but a little too technical. I'll choose your answer as the best if I can understand all these complicated things.
    – User X
    Commented Nov 30, 2017 at 21:08
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Just deleting your cookies is enough, Or you can use incognito mode on your browser, So when you close the browser all the records will be deleted.

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