Bitcoin Forum

Would be grateful if someone could answer these questions as I can't find a definitive answer via search..

I have my seed written down and stored safely as a backup but have also exported the private keys as an additional measure, do I need to export the private keys each time my balance is updated when I receive coins to a different address in my wallet? If I lost my seed, would the private keys allow me to recover my wallet into another provider say if the Electrum service were to disappear? Any other back up options?

Thanks

Don't mess around with all the "fancy" keys and stuff.  Just make SURE you retain the SEED words.  With SEED you can always restore your wallet, and you can use those words to recover even IF Electrum were to disappear from the face of the planet.  All you need is a software that supports the proper BIP, of which there are numerous options.  Plus, having a solid copy of your SEED is so easy.  Its idiot proof, in fact.

Yeah, I would just focus on ensuring you have a proper backup of the seed.

If you backup private keys, you would need the private key for every address that has funds which could be a lot with change addresses, etc. Using the seed ensures that you can restore the entire wallet and all addresses and is the best method.

Thanks for the help guys, I'll keep multiple backups of the seed, glad as it's relatively easy compared to saving the keys etc

I broke the laptop and the wizard deleted all my secret records, there was only a purse and there are funds on it, and now I can not get them out as I do not remember the passport, what should I do?

Did you write the seed words down when you created the wallet like it said to do. If so, then you can simply create a new wallet and select to restore from seed. Then you enter the seed words and your wallet with all the funds will be regenerated.

If you didn't write down the seed words, then you are likely out of luck.