i nearly lost all my BTC... I installed Multi-bit and then deleted it... I reinstalled it and somehow managed to restore the .dat file. Now i'm definitely going to be careful 
Topic: six months later and I'm lost (Read 1148 times)
i nearly lost all my BTC... I installed Multi-bit and then deleted it... I reinstalled it and somehow managed to restore the .dat file. Now i'm definitely going to be careful newbie 
Thanks for being gentle. I was thinking more like "dumb a$$".1) Stop using the drive with the wallet.dat file as an OS drive
2) Place said drive into another PC
3) Run a program to find deleted files (I use File Scavenger - worth buying if you're talking about a few BTC)
4) If you are able to find an older version of wallet.dat then you have some hope. Backup that file onto 2 USB drives
5) Install new Bitcoin-qt client onto a PC and let it run for a minute, just long enough to finish installing and creating a new wallet.dat file
6) Replace that new wallet.dat file with your backup from one of the 2 USB drives (again under App Data)
6) Resync and cross your fingers
I couldn't put the drive into another PC, but I did run File Scavenger. It was only able to find the same 88kb file (compared to a freshly-installed file size of 80kb) that I already had found and used to replace my Qt wallet, so I didn't buy it to access that file. At this point the only remaining question is why the wallet's file size is 8kb larger than a freshly-installed wallet, but the wallet appears empty - nothing. Not even my original address, which I would think would show up. If anybody has an explanation for that, I'm curious, but I think that bitcoin is gone for good... 2) Place said drive into another PC
3) Run a program to find deleted files (I use File Scavenger - worth buying if you're talking about a few BTC)
4) If you are able to find an older version of wallet.dat then you have some hope. Backup that file onto 2 USB drives
5) Install new Bitcoin-qt client onto a PC and let it run for a minute, just long enough to finish installing and creating a new wallet.dat file
6) Replace that new wallet.dat file with your backup from one of the 2 USB drives (again under App Data)
6) Resync and cross your fingers
Ah, well, live and learn - I don't tend to make the same mistakes twice...
1) Stop using the drive with the wallet.dat file as an OS drive
2) Place said drive into another PC
3) Run a program to find deleted files (I use File Scavenger - worth buying if you're talking about a few BTC)
4) If you are able to find an older version of wallet.dat then you have some hope. Backup that file onto 2 USB drives
5) Install new Bitcoin-qt client onto a PC and let it run for a minute, just long enough to finish installing and creating a new wallet.dat file
6) Replace that new wallet.dat file with your backup from one of the 2 USB drives (again under App Data)
6) Resync and cross your fingers
2) Place said drive into another PC
3) Run a program to find deleted files (I use File Scavenger - worth buying if you're talking about a few BTC)
4) If you are able to find an older version of wallet.dat then you have some hope. Backup that file onto 2 USB drives
5) Install new Bitcoin-qt client onto a PC and let it run for a minute, just long enough to finish installing and creating a new wallet.dat file
6) Replace that new wallet.dat file with your backup from one of the 2 USB drives (again under App Data)
6) Resync and cross your fingers
newbie
No luck with using BtToMt as per previous post.
I've copied and pasted the old wallet.dat into the same location on my new computer as I found it on the old computer. Bitcoin Qt does not show my info, and I see no option to import anything (I've saved a 2nd copy on my desktop and have yet another copy on a flash drive - don't want to lose this puppy again!).
I must be missing something, but don't know what it is...
edit
OK. Wait. What I did today, was in my initial recovery attempt, before I knew to look in AppData, I reinstalled Bitcoin Qt. I think I screwed myself with that. That's why the wallet looks empty - because it is. Is there a way to recover the file that was there before I reinstalled Bitcoin Qt?
How bad is my karma if I messed myself up moments before retrieving the file I needed.....
I've copied and pasted the old wallet.dat into the same location on my new computer as I found it on the old computer. Bitcoin Qt does not show my info, and I see no option to import anything (I've saved a 2nd copy on my desktop and have yet another copy on a flash drive - don't want to lose this puppy again!).
I must be missing something, but don't know what it is...
edit
OK. Wait. What I did today, was in my initial recovery attempt, before I knew to look in AppData, I reinstalled Bitcoin Qt. I think I screwed myself with that. That's why the wallet looks empty - because it is. Is there a way to recover the file that was there before I reinstalled Bitcoin Qt?
How bad is my karma if I messed myself up moments before retrieving the file I needed.....
I think this thread https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/how-change-bitcoin-wallet-client-bitcoin-qt-to-multibit-189628 answers my question. Working on it...
The import options are .key .json and .aes.json
that makes 5 lost wallet threads today by my count
glad it is looking like this is a happy one
glad it is looking like this is a happy one
There should be an option to import a wallet.dat (backup) file. maybe?
It was there!!!!! 
How do it get it into Multibit?
How do it get it into Multibit?
In Windows \Appdata\ is hidden by defult.
Hello again,
I may have great news, but I need your help to figure it out. I had a brain fart before - I didn't delete the user account on my old computer, but I /did/ uninstall most of the programs (including Bitcoin Qt), and lowered the user privileges. I haven't accessed the user in a couple of months (which is why I thought I'd deleted it), so most of the stuff I uninstalled is pretty intact, I think. I reinstated Admin privileges and ran Recuva, which found 21 .dat files. None of the .dat files are identified as a wallet, so I don't know if they're useful. Do I have a chance of claiming my lost bitcoins, or are these dat files going to be useless? How do I figure it out?
I may have great news, but I need your help to figure it out. I had a brain fart before - I didn't delete the user account on my old computer, but I /did/ uninstall most of the programs (including Bitcoin Qt), and lowered the user privileges. I haven't accessed the user in a couple of months (which is why I thought I'd deleted it), so most of the stuff I uninstalled is pretty intact, I think. I reinstated Admin privileges and ran Recuva, which found 21 .dat files. None of the .dat files are identified as a wallet, so I don't know if they're useful. Do I have a chance of claiming my lost bitcoins, or are these dat files going to be useless? How do I figure it out?
If you ran Windows 7 then your wallet file is: "C:\Users\YourUserName\Appdata\Roaming\Bitcoin\wallet.dat"
If you ran Mac OS then your file is: "DiskName/Users/YourUserName/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/wallet.dat"
Hello again,
I may have great news, but I need your help to figure it out. I had a brain fart before - I didn't delete the user account on my old computer, but I /did/ uninstall most of the programs (including Bitcoin Qt), and lowered the user privileges. I haven't accessed the user in a couple of months (which is why I thought I'd deleted it), so most of the stuff I uninstalled is pretty intact, I think. I reinstated Admin privileges and ran Recuva, which found 21 .dat files. None of the .dat files are identified as a wallet, so I don't know if they're useful. Do I have a chance of claiming my lost bitcoins, or are these dat files going to be useless? How do I figure it out?
I may have great news, but I need your help to figure it out. I had a brain fart before - I didn't delete the user account on my old computer, but I /did/ uninstall most of the programs (including Bitcoin Qt), and lowered the user privileges. I haven't accessed the user in a couple of months (which is why I thought I'd deleted it), so most of the stuff I uninstalled is pretty intact, I think. I reinstated Admin privileges and ran Recuva, which found 21 .dat files. None of the .dat files are identified as a wallet, so I don't know if they're useful. Do I have a chance of claiming my lost bitcoins, or are these dat files going to be useless? How do I figure it out?
Thank you for explaining this.
Thank you cocqui 33, I have added that link to my Evernote for permanent reference.
OK, so I have a follow on question: when bitcoin gets lost like that, or when it gets seized by a government, as recently happened in the news, like this: https://blockchain.info/address/1F1tAaz5x1HUXrCNLbtMDqcw6o5GNn4xqX, what happens to it in the long run? Is it forever out of circulation?
OK, so I have a follow on question: when bitcoin gets lost like that, or when it gets seized by a government, as recently happened in the news, like this: https://blockchain.info/address/1F1tAaz5x1HUXrCNLbtMDqcw6o5GNn4xqX, what happens to it in the long run? Is it forever out of circulation?
It is forever out of circulation only when someone loose private key (access to the Bitcoin addresses)
when bitcoin gets lost like that, or when it gets seized by a government, as recently happened in the news, like this... what happens to it in the long run? Is it forever out of circulation?
If no one can find the private key, the coins are lost forever. If the FBI knows the private key, it is up to the agency whether or when to spend them or exchange them for dollars.
Thank you cocqui 33, I have added that link to my Evernote for permanent reference.
OK, so I have a follow on question: when bitcoin gets lost like that, or when it gets seized by a government, as recently happened in the news, like this: https://blockchain.info/address/1F1tAaz5x1HUXrCNLbtMDqcw6o5GNn4xqX, what happens to it in the long run? Is it forever out of circulation?
OK, so I have a follow on question: when bitcoin gets lost like that, or when it gets seized by a government, as recently happened in the news, like this: https://blockchain.info/address/1F1tAaz5x1HUXrCNLbtMDqcw6o5GNn4xqX, what happens to it in the long run? Is it forever out of circulation?
To avoid similar future loss, read topic "4.1 Security" in Getting Started With Bitcoins.
The reason I switched to MultiBit is because I got a new computer. I'd actually forgotten about the bitcoin because it was static. I've got my Qt login, but never exported the .dat file. :-( Guess I'm screwed. Funny because I'm really good about doing backups, generally speaking. I just never thought to back up the wallet because I guess I never realized I couldn't just log in with my identifying info and access the bitcoin. I'm lucky it wasn't a large amount of money.
What was truly astounding to me, however, when I logged on yesterday to get back up to speed with bitcoin, was that the value of what I'd been given had quadrupled! So even though I lost basically everything, I'm going to start over, and this time I know to back up the wallet.
What was truly astounding to me, however, when I logged on yesterday to get back up to speed with bitcoin, was that the value of what I'd been given had quadrupled! So even though I lost basically everything, I'm going to start over, and this time I know to back up the wallet.
If you didn't backup your wallet.dat file you are doomed. Your wallet is gone....
It's lost.
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