How to Mine Litecoins
If you want to mine Litecoins, purchase or build a computer with at least two graphics cards, although ideally, you would have 4-5. You'll also need specialized cooling components to keep your system from overheating. Once you have the setup, install a Litecoin wallet on your machine to store the coins that you earn, then download a mining program. You can either mine on your own or join a mining pool, where you will receive smaller but more frequent returns.
Understand the basics of cryptocurrency mining. Traditional currencies are printed to increase the amount of cash in circulation. Cryptocurrency such as Litecoin is generated by machines that solve complex algorithms. Whenever a "block" of algorithms is finished being processed, more currency is released into the market, usually as a reward to the miner that finished the block. Mining algorithms become more difficult as more currency is mined. This is intentional as it helps prevent all of the possible currency from being mined immediately. The practical side effect is that the longer you wait to start mining, the less likely you are to solve blocks on your own. Mining pools were created to help individuals have a better chance at making money from mining. The mining pool applies all of its members' processing power to solving a block, and if the block is finished by any member, all members get a share of the reward. You'll get far less reward than if you finished the block on your own, but have much higher chances of actually seeing results. Consider alternatives to mining. Unless you're willing to drop thousands of dollars on a dedicated mining machine, or you don't pay for electricity and don't care about the lifespan of your home computer, there's very little reason to mine Litecoins instead of just purchasing them. The electricity costs of mining 24/7 often outweigh the value of anything you mine, especially if you're using a home computer, and running constantly puts a serious strain on your hardware components. Litecoin mining is only going to increase in difficulty, as this one of the fundamental principles of cryptocurrency mining. This means that it will get more difficult to mine at a profit unless the value of the Litecoin sees a significant boost. If you're mining Litecoin to use as a speculative investment or to use an an alternative form of payment, it's usually better to just purchase them outright. Purchase or build a mining computer ("rig"). In the cryptocurrency world, computers used to mine coins are called "rigs". In order to be remotely effective when mining Litecoins, you'll need a computer with at least two graphics cards. Ideally, you'll want four or five graphics cards attached in a custom setup. You can purchase these online, or you can try building your own, though this requires a fair amount more work than building a standard desktop computer. You will want at least as much system RAM as graphics card RAM. You'll want some specialized cooling for your mining computer to keep your components alive longer. Consider an ASIC Scrypt miner. These are dedicated mining machines that can greatly increase your mining power, but they can be expensive for effective ones. ASIC Scrypt miners can come in low-power models too, allowing you to save on electricity. One of the big benefits of a Scrypt miner is that you can easily change it to mine a more profitable coin as long it is Scrypt-based like Litecoin. You can get a USB ASIC miner and connect it to a Raspberry Pi for a low-power miner. ASIC Scrypt miners sell out quickly, but you can find them for purchase online at retailers such as Zeus Miner ( zeusminer.com ) and Zoom Hash ( zoomhash.com ). You may have to put your name on a waiting list for the more popular models. Estimate whether mining will be worth it. Once you've decided on some equipment, look up the market trends for Litecoin and make a projection on how much mining you will have to do to make up the cost of the equipment, power, and internet. If you can purchase the same number or more coins than you will earn mining, you're probably better off just buying the coins. For example, let's say that your equipment has a hash rate (processing power) of 200 KH/s, which is about the average for a high-end graphics card. The computer uses 600 watts of power to mine, and power costs $0.10/kWh. Assuming that you're mining solo, mining Litecoin at the current rate (March 2015) with the above setup will cost you $520 per year, and you would never break even. Get a Litecoin wallet. You will need this wallet to store the coins that you earn while mining, or any coins that you purchase or receive. You can download the Wallet program from litecoin.org. There are also official wallets available for mobile devices. Download the Bootstrap file. This will save you about two days of waiting for your wallet to sync for the first time. Encrypt your wallet by clicking "Settings" → "Encrypt Wallet". Give it a strong passphrase. Join a mining pool. There are a large number of mining pools out there, and it is highly recommended that new miners join a pool instead of trying to mine solo. When you mine solo, you have the chance to make big rewards for completing a block, but the chances of you specifically doing that are very, very low. A mining pool combines the efforts of everyone in the pool to complete the block, and then any rewards are split amongst the pool. You'll earn less for completed blocks, but have a much better chance at a a steady income. When joining a pool, make sure that your wallet is linked to your account so that you can collect your earnings. Create a "worker" in your pool. A mining pools use a system called "workers". These workers are assigned to you, and represent the work you are doing while mining. The process for creating workers varies depending on the mining pool you join. Many mining pools will create your first worker automatically when you register. The worker will typically be named " username _1" or " username.1". Most beginner miners won't need more than one worker. You can create additional workers if you have multiple mining rigs. Typically you assign a worker to each piece of mining equipment you have, which allows you to track efficiency across your machines. Download a mining program. There are several different mining programs available depending on your needs: cgminer - This is a good all-around mining program. It was designed primarily for Bitcoin, but can mine Scrypt up to version 3.7.2. cudaMiner - This is a mining program specifically for Nvidia graphics cards. You can download it here. cpuminer - This is a mining program that is designed for use for CPU mining. This is much less efficient than using a graphics card, but for some it's the only way available. You can download it here. Configure your mining program. Different mining programs have different configuration processes. Below are instructions for setting up cgminer in Windows. You will need to know your mining pool connection details, including the "stratum" (address), port number, and your worker information. Your mining pool should have detailed instructions on configuring your miner for the pool. Extract cgminer to an easily accessible folder, such as C:\cgminer. Press ⊞ Win + R and type cmd to open the command prompt. Navigate to the cgminer folder. Type cgminer.exe -n to scan for your graphics card. Open Notepad and type the following, using your mining pool information: start "c:\cgminer" --scrypt -o STRATUM:PORT -u WORKER -p PASSWORD Click "File" → "Save As" and then save it as a ".bat" file. Double-click your .bat file to start mining. Once your miner is configured and connected to your pool, you can begin the mining process. The command prompt window will display the results of your mining as it happens, such as the rate you are mining at and how much you've accomplished. Some miners will tell you the market value and your mining pool information as well. Try to avoid running any other programs while the computer is mining. Anything else that you run will only hurt your miner's efficiency, which will lower your profits. Monitor your system hardware. Mining is very taxing on your hardware, as it constantly pushes it to its maximum limit. Make sure that you keep an eye on your temperatures to prevent any overheating, which can destroy your equipment. While running your equipment 24/7 will give you the best mining results, it will also kill your hardware much quicker. You may want to consider powering down every once in a while. Continue to check your profitability. As you continue mining, check your power bills and computer costs and compare them against the coins you are earning through mining. If you aren't making a profit, you may want to consider selling your equipment to help recoup a potential loss. Use online profit checking tools such as CoinWarz ( coinwarz.com ) to calculate up-to-the-minute profitability reports. Refer to your power bill to find your exact kW/h price, as well as the amount of power that you use each month. If you've accumulated some powerful hardware and want to strike it rich, consider leaving your mining pool and mining solo. This should only be considered if you have a lot of experience mining in a pool, have a good grasp on the Litecoin market, and have a serious mining hardware setup (multiple server racks of ASIC miners, ideally in a climate-controlled environment). Make sure to use a profit calculator to ensure that mining solo will make financial sense. 
Understand the basics of cryptocurrency mining. Consider alternatives to mining. Purchase or build a mining computer ("rig"). Consider an ASIC Scrypt miner. Estimate whether mining will be worth it. Get a Litecoin wallet. Join a mining pool. Create a "worker" in your pool. Download a mining program. Configure your mining program. Double-click your .bat file to start mining. Monitor your system hardware. Continue to check your profitability. 