There is a point, when you want to "Safe Deposit" "Store & Forget",
for those who dont know, wallet.dat is the file where the money PrivateKeys are Stored in Desktop Node Wallets "Full Wallets",
Now there is Backup Phrase, for Mobile Wallets, like Jaxx, Coinomi, etc...
some Portable Mobil Wallets allow to also export Private Keys, other do Not...
Back Up Phase allows to combine & restore many different wallets at same time...
but is Not as Safe / Secure, Fail Proof, as having each individual Private Keys.
Method #1.
Write down Private Keys Manually in Paper.. "Human Error possible"
then Plastic Laminate the Paper, and Store in a safe.
but some papers, some inks, and some glues absorb / dissolve ink... "ink disappears"..
Make lots of tests before deleting the Wallet.dat file.
Method #2.
Use a clever software like Paperbak.
that software converts any small file, "less than 1MB" to something very similar to a very long QR code,
Only Works for Windows, last time i tested did Not work in Wine "Windows core Emulator for Linux & OSX PlayOnMac".
when file is converted with proper settings, DPI PPI resolution can be changed, to fit your Printer,
the Sheets can also be Scanned back, and converted again to the Original Wallet.dat File...
http://ollydbg.de/Paperbak/
http://ollydbg.de/Paperbak/paperbak-1.10.exe.zip
http://ollydbg.de/Paperbak/paperbak-1.10.src.zip
https://github.com/Rupan/paperbak
Basically PaperBack is the predecessor of QR code.
Paperbakc & QR code has Error correction, but still Error can happen if you select settings too small to save space, if you try to fit too much information in a piece of paper....
Remember Bill Gates standing on a Tree of paper and Holding a CD.
https://ssl.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000jtF1ui2j79Q/s/1200/I0000jtF1ui2j79Q.jpg
if you do tests, also Scan and convert to the original file.
Method #3.
Store the file offline and forget...
A) SSD drives and NVMe drives, will loose information,
when turned on they must constantly move the information, "scrub", to refresh, similar to servers ECC Memory.
Most SSD have a 1GB Cache, but is Not used to increase R&W speeds like standard HDDs, its used to scrub / move / refresh the information.
when turned off, time & temperature is the killer, energy stored in the cell eventually will degrade..
if storage temperatures are over 40ºC, will loose information in 1 year or less.
just 1 bit of error is enough to corrupt all data of the file.
also cheap SSD / NVMe have 4 Bits per cell, those have 4x time more probability of a failure,
High Quality SSD / NVMe have 2-Bits per cell, or less.
B) in a external Hard Drive 3.5" or 2.5"
Spinning Magnetic disks specially 2.5" are built to last.
Magnetic energy also losses strength with high temperature, but is much more tolerant than SSD / NVMe technology.
3.5" HDDs are mose sensible to falls, Mechanical failure, than 2.5", ive never seen a 2.5" drive fail in my life.. i have 14x
the more capacity, the more probability of a Mechanical failure, try to avoid very large drives over 2TB, 12TB drives are very delicate.
also very large drives produce too much heat, and must be sealed in Helium, to increase Heat Transfer / Dissipation from the plates to the enclosure,
Helium reserves in the Planet earth are getting depleted, will be over in 10 years or less..
if you have a Helium o-ring leak, will be very difficult / expensive to repair in the future.
Nobody sells 100% pure Helium today,
only 80%.
C) CD-R & DVD-R will also loose information in 10 years or less depending the quality of the CD-R / DVD-R Brand, chemicals used.
D) external USB drives with 2TB have 2x 1TB drives in RAID 0, those are more prone to fail, because Raid is Striped, Not Redundant.
E) best bet is a 1x 2.5" USB 3.0 1TB external drive, and also make a copy of the file to another drive from another brand.
like a Manual RAID 1.
F) other method is to buy an icy dock or startech 2x 2.5" drives to a 3.5" enclosure, with RAID... (35SAT225S3R)
Icy EZConvert Pro MB982SPR-2S R1
and use RAID 1 Redundant Safe Mode, Not stripped Raid 0, Not Big mode Combined, JBOD mode is also acceptable.
2.5" drives from Seagate M021 with 7200rpm are the best i tested...
WesternDigital are also very good,
Toshiba,
all are very good.
2x drives must be exactly the same, if Using RAID 1 Redundant "safe" mode.
drives can be different if using JBOD mode.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_RAID_levels#RAID_1
there are 1x 3.5" drive to USB3,0 external enclosure from different manufacturers, Thermaltake, Startech, monoprice, etc...
there is also 2x 3.5" but those usually fail, because 3.5" drives need more than 2Amps at 12v to Spin-Up, and those enclosures have a Chip Circuit that cannot deliver the energy required.
Method #4.
storing the wallet.dat file encrypted..
A) Windows Pro has a built in software to encrypt the whole drive, BitLocker...
ive tested that method, and does Not have error correction 1-Bit error and all information goes to hell.
if you use BitLocker on a RAID 1, will have Error correction, but still there is a risk.
B) ZIP, RAR, 7z,
some allow to increase security creating an error correction code in the encrypted file. IF activated...
problem with password encrypt a file, is that most humans will choose a very difficult password to remember,
and eventually most humans will forget the password.
that happened to me, i had 1 BTC, encrypted in a .rar, and stored offline in a 3.5" HDD drive for many years.
but i forgot the password...
if that happens to you, i recommend using a Brute Force password recovery software like:
http://www.parallelrecovery.com/
there is another Free for Linux called BlackCat or something... but haven´t tested.
yes, i recovered the password eventually, and sold the BTC when price was rising.
Now i believe there are better coins, technologically more advanced, but Not as popular, yet.
Method #5.
Double Encryption.
A) Encrypt the Drive, BitLocker.
and also password Encrypt the File. .ZIP, RAR, 7z
B) Convert to PaperBak, to .jpg .png .bmp (worse--better) Not paper, and .ZIP. RAR .7z the file with Error correction active..
this method will have double Error correction,
the PaperBak, and the Encrypted file *IF Activated,
if file is also stored in RAID 1 enclosure, will have triple, Error correction.
its recommended to format the drive in ExFAT, because its compatible with All Operating Systems...
OSX can Read NTFS but cannot Write NTFS unless you buy a 3rd Party Software.
Windows cannot Read Nor Write HFS+ nor APFS+, without another 3rd party software.
BEWARE:
All those methods are useless, if every body knows you have too much money...
they will kidnap you, and start chopping fingers until you remember the password. LOL Jajajajajaja
That was probably how the Real Satoshi Nakamoto died.
Also PaperBak software requires a strange 2-Bit BMP file format, Most Modern softwares like GiMP do Not export,
you will need the Old Microsoft Paint software to save in that strange .BMP file format.
so PaperBak can detect the files.
if you have other ideas let me know...
Topic: Tips Guide Methods to Store and Recover wallet.dat file.. (Read 168 times)
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