GUAP Desktop Wallet Best Practices

Cryptocurrency is brand new technology that has new concepts, procedures, terminology, and security risks to learn about.  Even if you are familiar with other cryptocurrency, there are some unique parts of GUAP that you may need to know:

1. When closing the GUAP wallet software always gracefully shut it down (File -> Exit or ./guapcoin-cli stop). Not doing so can run the risk of corrupting the wallet, which may stop the wallet from starting up. You can find instructions on troubleshooting wallet startup issues here: https://www.guapcoin.org/discussion/guapcoin-technical-support/troubleshooting-guap-core-wallet-startup-issues/ 
2. Always encrypt your wallet file with at least a 16+ character passphrase, but preferably a 12 or 15 word passphrase (most secure).  This will protect your GUAP in case someone steals your wallet.dat file physically or digitally. You can find instructions on wallet encryption here: https://www.guapcoin.org/discussion/guapcoin-technical-support/how-do-i-encrypt-my-guap-wallet/ . 
3. Always back up your wallet.dat file.  The desktop wallet software automatically does this for you, but for extra caution you can also do it manually.  When manually creating backups from “File->Backup Wallet…” always create new backups files to the backup locations (only add to them, do not overwrite old backups). For example if you already have a backup file called ‘wallet.dat.2019-11-18-01-44’ in your backup folder then create a new backup file with the current date and time added to the filename. Once created save your wallet.dat backups as instructed here: https://www.guapcoin.org/discussion/guapcoin-technical-support/how-do-i-backup-my-wallet-and-guap-holdings/ 
4. Never ever delete or overwrite a wallet.dat file or your backups folder.  Instead, rename the existing file and add it to your backups (see item #3 above). 
5. Do not forget your encrypted wallet’s passphrase.  If you do, your funds are lost.  If you need to record the passphrase somewhere, make sure you use an offline, secure method that you will not lose access to and nobody else can access (for example handwrite the passphrase onto a piece of paper that you keep in a secure safe or bank safe deposit box). 
6. Do not run the same wallet in multiple locations at the same time.  This can corrupt your wallet files. 
7. Do not back up your wallet.dat file to a cloud provider or shared storage without a second layer of encryption like 7zip or veracrypt container (NOTE: it is best not to backup to a cloud provider at all). 
8. When designing your backup scheme, consider what level of protection you want for your balance.  Do you have an offsite backup?  Could your active wallet.dat and cold storage backups be lost to theft?  Floods, tornados, hardware failure, fires, or hackers may also be things to consider. 
9. Do not ever send your wallet.dat file to anyone for any reason.  At best this would violate your privacy and at worst put your GUAP coins at risk.  There is no support reason to request your wallet file, so if anyone asks you for this report them to the GUAP team immediately. 
10. Do not ever share the information from the dumpprivkey command with anyone.  This would give them access to your money.  If anyone asks you for this information, contact the GUAP team immediately. 
11. Do not accept or solicit support over Private Messages, this is where scammers prefer to work. Legitimate support will have no issue corresponding out in the open.