Are my Bitcoins lost? - page 2. | Bitcointalksearch.org

binaryFate

legendary

Activity: 1484

Merit: 1003

Still wild and free

Quote from: brudog on June 17, 2013, 01:05:43 PM

Ok I found C:\windows.old\Users\my user name\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin I see the wallet.dat file where do I find %appdata% to copy it to?

C:\Users\User Name\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin?
Alternatively, start bitcoin-qt with "-datadir C:\windows.old\Users\your user name\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin".
Given the type of question you ask, I advise you to use an online wallet. Likely you will make a mistake again if you keep dealing locally, all by yourself, with 10BTC.

brudog

member

Activity: 79

Merit: 10

Ok I found C:\windows.old\Users\my user name\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin I see the wallet.dat file where do I find %appdata% to copy it to?

grue

legendary

Activity: 2058

Merit: 1431

Quote from: brudog on June 17, 2013, 11:22:01 AM

Yesterday I did a big dummy.

My PC has windows 8 and I've been having trouble with it so I decided to re-install it. I didn't think about my wallet which was a new wallet, but the day before I

transferred my almost 10 bitcoins from another PC to this wallet. It had never been backed up.

I have been reading and went to windows.old, found bitcoin QT and started it. when it finished loading all I got was an empty wallet. I've tried to load wallet.dat

and still get a new,empty bitcoin wallet.

No, you don't start bitcoin from windows.old. The install location is not where the wallet is stored. You have to go to "X:\windows.old\Users\your user name\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin", and find the "wallet.dat". Then you copy it to "%appdata%\bitcoin\" and open bitcoin-qt.

binaryFate

legendary

Activity: 1484

Merit: 1003

Still wild and free

Quote from: brudog on June 17, 2013, 11:22:01 AM

I have been reading and went to windows.old, found bitcoin QT and started it. when it finished loading all I got was an empty wallet. I've tried to load wallet.dat

I don't use windows since years, but this "windows.old" makes me wonder: does it mean windows did a backup of some files itself?
I suspect it has just moved the old stuff to a folder "windows.old", and bitcoin-qt does not find it so it creates a new wallet. If this is the case you just need to start bitcoin-qt and indicate the location of your old data directory with "-datadir".

Don't want to insist on your avoidable loss, but it might be useful for others so I'll say it anyway: never send funds to a wallet that has not been backed-up prior to the transfer. Don't even wait for the funds to appear to back it up.

DiamondCardz

legendary

Activity: 1134

Merit: 1112

Quote from: brudog on June 17, 2013, 11:45:30 AM

I have read people say all you need is an address to use your bitcoins, is there a place to find transactions with the address the coins were sent to?

No. You need your private key to use the bitcoins.

CIYAM

legendary

Activity: 1890

Merit: 1086

Ian Knowles - CIYAM Lead Developer

The address that BTC was sent to is not going to help you as you need the "private keys" (which is what your wallet *holds* for you).

Without the private keys you will not be able to recover any BTC.

brudog

member

Activity: 79

Merit: 10

I have read people say all you need is an address to use your bitcoins, is there a place to find transactions with the address the coins were sent to?

CIYAM

legendary

Activity: 1890

Merit: 1086

Ian Knowles - CIYAM Lead Developer

You have had a 10 BTC wallet and never backed it up?

Well - for your sake I hope you do have a backup which maybe you've missed (scan for wallet.dat files for a start) - but if you really didn't keep a backup and have lost the wallet then I am sorry to say that your BTC has "gone to Satoshi".

brudog

member

Activity: 79

Merit: 10

Yesterday I did a big dummy.

My PC has windows 8 and I've been having trouble with it so I decided to re-install it. I didn't think about my wallet which was a new wallet, but the day before I

transferred my almost 10 bitcoins from another PC to this wallet. It had never been backed up.

I have been reading and went to windows.old, found bitcoin QT and started it. when it finished loading all I got was an empty wallet. I've tried to load wallet.dat

and still get a new,empty bitcoin wallet.

I have the bitcoin address from the old wallet when I sent the bitcoins. Is there a way to use that address to recover those bitcoins?

Any help would be appreciated, this just devastates me, I've always been careful with my coins...must be getting old, brain farts and all.

Topic: Are my Bitcoins lost? - page 2. (Read 1797 times)