If you don't want to wait a week or more to download the blockchain within the bitcoin program, there is a torrent to bootstrap the blockchain for new installat

If you don't want to wait a week or more to download the blockchain within the bitcoin program, there is a torrent to bootstrap the blockchain for new installations, last updated in April: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=145386.0 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=145386.0 That will get you up to April, then bitcoin the software will sync the remaining blocks up to the latest.