Topic: Electrum Wallet Backup Question (Read 6288 times)

its one of those custom fast laptops.  Its not mac or anything like that.


Actually the laptop is still in warranty at the moment.  I know i could send it to them and then they replace my battery for free of charge.  Issue with this though is i don't know how long they will have my laptop for during this process.  The other alternative is just paying for the battery and thus they won't have my laptop.  Would you say that is best option as i dont want someone to have access to my laptop?  The other thing is didnt someone mentioned if you remove the hard drive, then its safe?  However if u do that, isn't the warranty voided?  I never heard of someone sending back a laptop and taking out the hard drive.


Also its not possible for me to take out the battery.  There are tons of screws to take out and it require screwdriver and theres even directions on how to take the battery out.  Its very complicated...
So wondering what is my best option.  Now if my laptop is out of warranty, i have an easy option since i will just buy the battery.  But since its still in warranty, is it better to just pay for the battery then when i get the battery, go to a computer shop to put in battery for me then i dont have to worry about my computer security such as bitcoin and other things?  Also they are a pretty legit company where my laptop is from... so based on that... there would probably still be technicians that might do something unethical?  Im curious if anyone has heard of anything like this happen such as returning a laptop back to repair whatever the issue is then find out their bitcoin got hacked or program got hacked...

Depends on how paranoid you are. If you don't trust the laptop repairmen then you should know that he could just install some malware on your hard drive while he has it with him. That way he can steal your bitcoin remotely later.

My laptop is very complicated.  You can't just take the hard drive just like that.


So you telling me best to send the bitcoin to blockchain or a site then just keep it there until i get my laptop back?

You should remove your hard drive before sending off your laptop for repair. Otherwise the repairman might steal your bitcoin!

Just use the file menu > save copy command to save a copy of the wallet on a removable drive. Then on the freshly installed system use file>open to open the wallet. That's all.

my electrum is 1.9.8.  So that should be fine?


but if my electrum is version 2.x.x... then i have to download electrum 2.x.x in order to recover bitcoins?

Thanks for the correction, will fix it above.

This is no true - seed from versions 1.xx are compatible with version 2.x.x but with version 1.xxx you can't use seed from version 2.x.x.

You believe in something correct. The seed or electrum phrase as you call it is all you need to restore the wallet.


No issues electrum seeds from 1.x versions even work on the newer 2.x. versions.

Nope as long as you stay on the same major version of electrum. E.g. updating from 1.9.7 to 1.9.8 is fine as they use the same kind of seed. But electrum2 versions use different seeds that are not working on electrum1.x versions and vise versa. thanks vfilchef for the correction.


You dont need the password, just the seed.


Nope, just put in the words, set a new password (or the same as before) and you are back.


I would not recommend using blockchain.info as a wallet in between, but its certainly possible. I also see no problem in using the same electrum wallet, unless you reinstalled because of issues with malware.


If you feel unsure that it will work, make a test. Create a new wallet, transfer a small amount there and restore it from seed on a different machine.


I would not bother with something different unless you have a weak password that might get brute forced by some shady bitcoin lower working for the company that fixes the computer.

I use electrum and its great and easy to send/receive bitcoin.  There might be a chance I will be resetting my laptop and doing a clean reinstall install of my laptop.  its windows 7.  I believe as long as i have that electrum phrase... then i would be able to recover the bitcoin i currently have?  Thus whether its my computer that gets a clean reinstallation, or new computer or use someone else's computer... that would never be an issue?


So basically I would need the long electrum phrase and my electrum password and that is all?  So basically i would install electrum on laptop after the clean reinstall then put the 20 word phrase and then the electrum password and that is all?  Or is it a long process?


The other thing I thought about was wouldn't it be a better idea to send the bitcoins to blockchain in the meantime?  Thus send the bitcoin to blockchain and keep the bitcoin there.  Then once i get my computer clean reinstall, then send the bitcoin to my new electrum wallet?  Would it be actually recommended to use the same electrum wallet if doing a clean reinstall of laptop?


The reason why i ask is this because i'm going to have my laptop looked at for another issue and if something happens to my laptop in the repair, then i want to make sure my bitcoins are safe. 


Whats the best recommendation for my situation?  Send the bitcoin to blockchain from electrum until i get my computer fixed... or just don't bother with it since i have that electrum phrase and password and thus with that, i wouldn't have any issues.  However i would like to take precaution is why i considered sending the bitcoin to either blockchain or a gambling site in the meantime.  I have a blockchain account but never stored any bitcoin there but i assume its very easy to send/receive from it.