> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.crynux.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.crynux.io/node-hosting/start-a-node/start-a-node-windows.md).

# Start a Node - Windows

## 1. Prerequisite

Before you start, make sure your device meets the following requirements:

<table><thead><tr><th width="187">Hardware</th><th>Requirements</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>GPU</td><td>NVIDIA GPU with 8GB VRAM</td></tr><tr><td>Memory</td><td>16GB</td></tr><tr><td>Disk Space</td><td>60GB</td></tr><tr><td>Network</td><td>Public network access to Huggingface and Civitai</td></tr></tbody></table>

## 2. Install the software

### Install the latest NVIDIA driver

Make sure you have already installed the latest NVIDIA driver from the [NVIDIA official website](https://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us).

### Download the Crynux Node

Download the binary release version of the Crynux Node from the link below:

For Base users:

{% embed url="<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aFsaakzQJK0LFcbp16P207ZNmz2Aw5li/view?usp=drivesdk>" %}

For Near users:

{% hint style="info" %}
Coming soon...
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="info" %}
Starting a node on Windows using the binary release package, as described here, is still in **beta testing**. If you have trouble running the downloaded package, please use [the Docker version](/node-hosting/start-a-node/start-a-node-docker.md) instead.
{% endhint %}

## 3. Start the node

Unzip the downloaded package, double-click on the `Crynux Node.exe` to start the node:

<figure><img src="/files/VWzDuSbH0lA4Bgx48IdR" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

## 4. Prepare the wallet

A wallet with enough CNX tokens must be provided to the node. If this is the first time you start a node, click the "Create New Wallet" button and follow the instructions to create a new wallet and finish the backup of the private keys. Join the Crynux Discord to learn more about acquiring CNX tokens and starting a node.

<figure><img src="/files/jsbRJlgIKKHGkbrubNMx" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

{% embed url="<https://discord.gg/y8YKxb7uZk>" %}

## 5. Wait for the system initialization to finish

If this is the first time you start a node, it could take quite a long while for the system to initialize. The most time consuming step is to download \~40GB of the commonly used model files from the Huggingface. The time may vary depending on your network speed.

After the models are downloaded, a test image generation task will be executed locally to examine the capability of your device. If the device is not capable to generate images, or the generation speed is too slow, the node will not be able to join the network. If the task is finished successfully, the initialization is completed:

<figure><img src="/files/MD6EFoA1jyfzmk01sCuY" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

## 6. Join the Crynux Network

The Crynux Node will try to join the network automatically every time it is started. After the transaction is confirmed on-chain, the node has successfully joined the network. When the node is selected by the network to execute a task, the task will start automatically, and the tokens will be transferred to the node wallet after the task is finished.

<figure><img src="/files/PK0rVueHR90Nl0Y4l7h4" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Now you could just leave it there to execute the tasks. When you shutdown the Crynux Node app, it will try to quit the network before exiting, so that new tasks will not be sent to the node any more. And the next time the app is started, it will join the network to receive new tasks automatically.


---

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