Bitcoin Forum

Bitcoin => Armory => Topic started by: gibbo42 on October 10, 2015, 09:28:55 PM



Title: lost watch only with new public keys
Post by: gibbo42 on October 10, 2015, 09:28:55 PM
I like the idea of armory cold storage and offline transactions but I'm relucant to use as I don't know what would happen in the following sernario.

You create new wallet, save encrypted and watch only wallets to usb stick, you import watch only wallet and generate new public adderesses.
Later your pc with your watch only wallet and new generated public adderess dies taking your wallet with it.

If your still have your orignal encrypted wallet and your former watch only wallet without the newly generated public keys on your usb stick, what happens to your bitcoin sent to those adderesses and would they even show up on a fresh install and import of your former watch only wallet?

Many Thanks,
Gibbo42


Title: Re: lost watch only with new public keys
Post by: achow101 on October 10, 2015, 09:33:55 PM
I like the idea of armory cold storage and offline transactions but I'm relucant to use as I don't know what would happen in the following sernario.

You create new wallet, save encrypted and watch only wallets to usb stick, you import watch only wallet and generate new public adderesses.
Later your pc with your watch only wallet and new generated public adderess dies taking your wallet with it.

If your still have your orignal encrypted wallet and your former watch only wallet without the newly generated public keys on your usb stick, what happens to your bitcoin sent to those adderesses and would they even show up on a fresh install and import of your former watch only wallet?

Many Thanks,
Gibbo42
Yes. Armory uses HD (hierarchical deterministic) wallets which means that as long as you have the same wallet file the same addresses will still be generated.


Title: Re: lost watch only with new public keys
Post by: gibbo42 on October 10, 2015, 11:14:05 PM
I like the idea of armory cold storage and offline transactions but I'm relucant to use as I don't know what would happen in the following sernario.

You create new wallet, save encrypted and watch only wallets to usb stick, you import watch only wallet and generate new public adderesses.
Later your pc with your watch only wallet and new generated public adderess dies taking your wallet with it.

If your still have your orignal encrypted wallet and your former watch only wallet without the newly generated public keys on your usb stick, what happens to your bitcoin sent to those adderesses and would they even show up on a fresh install and import of your former watch only wallet?

Many Thanks,
Gibbo42
Yes. Armory uses HD (hierarchical deterministic) wallets which means that as long as you have the same wallet file the same addresses will still be generated.

Will I have to regenerate the adderesses after re-importing the wallet prior to sending bitcoin or will the bitcoin just show up once the network is synced and you can continue as if nothing has happend?

Gibbo42


Title: Re: lost watch only with new public keys
Post by: achow101 on October 10, 2015, 11:40:56 PM
Will I have to regenerate the adderesses after re-importing the wallet prior to sending bitcoin or will the bitcoin just show up once the network is synced and you can continue as if nothing has happend?

Gibbo42
Depends. If you used the wallet a lot since the backup, you might need to generate more addresses. This is easily done in the wallet properties window. Just lick on the number next to Addresses Used and it will open another window with an explanation and instructions.


Title: Re: lost watch only with new public keys
Post by: goatpig on October 11, 2015, 07:27:37 AM
Since 0.93, importing a wallet from the root or watching only key will pre-generate 1000 addresses. Importing from a wallet file will not give you an extra look up.

If you are using a wallet file, I suggest you start Armory in offline mode, import from file then extend the address chain to something reasonably long (1000 addresses is good figure in 99% of cases), then restart Armory in online mode.

Otherwise, you will have to rescan a second time if you chose to extend the address chain after getting online with the fresh import