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How Cryptocoin Mining Works
The focus of mining is to accomplish three things:

Provide bookkeeping services to the coin network. Mining is essentially 24/7 computer accounting called "verifying transactions."
Get paid a small reward for your accounting services by receiving fractions of coins every couple of days.
Keep your personal costs down, including electricity and hardware.
The Laundry List: What You Will Need to Mine Cryptocoins
Lancelot-A FPGA based bitcoin mining board
Wikimedia / Public Domain
You need eight things to mine Litecoins, Dogecoins, or Feathercoins.

A free private database called a coin wallet. It's a password-protected container that stores your earnings and keeps a network-wide ledger of transactions.
A free mining software package, like this one from AMD, typically made up of cgminer and stratum.
A membership in an online mining pool, which is a community of miners who combine their computers to increase profitability and income stability.
Membership at an online currency exchange, where you can exchange your virtual coins for conventional cash, and vice versa.
A reliable full-time internet connection, ideally 2 megabits per second or faster.
A desktop or custom-built computer designed for mining. You may use your current computer to start, but you won't be able to use the computer while the miner is running. A separate dedicated computer is ideal. Do not use a laptop, gaming console or handheld device to mine. These devices just are not effective enough to generate income.
An ATI graphics processing unit (GPU) or a specialized processing device called a mining ASIC chip. The cost will be anywhere from $90 used to $3000 new for each GPU or ASIC chip. The GPU or ASIC will be the workhorse of providing the accounting services and mining work.
A house fan to blow cool air across your mining computer. Mining generates substantial heat, and cooling the hardware is critical for your success.
You absolutely need a strong appetite of personal curiosity for reading and constant learning, as there are ongoing technology changes and new techniques for optimizing coin mining results. The most successful coin miners spend hours every week studying the best ways to adjust and improve their coin mining performance.