Bitcoin Forum

I made a bad call and moved my BTC two years ago to a tails operating system USB stick for storage, not realizing how insecure that is. Now i cant connect because the electrum version is too old. Im afraid to update it, because i have come to notice that these tails USB:s can be very unstable, as ive actually destroyed two USB sticks when i was trying to install tails on them, using the tails installer and doing exactly as i was supposed to.

So please, how would you advice a clumsy idiot? If you had this issue....what is the safest easiest most secure absolutely the prudent way for me to redeem my btc? I would rather not start messing with updates too much if i dont have to, because im afraid the USB might break or something else.

I have a natural talent for creating technical problems much moreso than i have a talent for solving them. Please help dummy.

You did NOT move BTC to a USB because all BTC reside on the blockchain, which is a public thing.  I understand what you meant but knowing the BTC can still be moved using other devices creates some safety for you.  IF you kept your SEED and have access to it you can create a wallet on any device using those SEED words.  Just leave the USB alone if you are worried about touching it (physically).  Before I or others here try to give you the simple steps, do you have your SEED words for the wallet on that USB?

*facepalm* Yes of course, i should have actually known that  ;D  ::)

Yes, i have the seed. Do i just import it to a new electrum wallet on a different device?

Yes. Your seed/private-key is just like the username+password of your Bitcoins. It doesn't matter where you stored the wallet file, just that you have access to this information so you can manage your coins wherever you want by importing them in any wallet software.

Well i did just that, and it did not work.

So first of all....

I had an another electrum wallet on my main OS earlier, and i downloaded electron cash to take my bch after i moved btc away from it. So i uninstalled the electrum today so i could reinstall it. But as i installed it, it only opens as electron cash.

So i decided fuck it then, im going to my parents house and download a new electrum wallet there. Well the installer did not start so i could do nothing.

Well i decided il try an another tails USB stick, and il just import the seed there. It says 0mbtc, does not show any transactions. I dont know if it is the wrong seed or something. What the hell should i do now?

try use older version of Electrum, the version closest to the one you created and used before

You can always try the Standalone or Portable version of Electrum if the installer isn't working correctly. Older seeds should be compatible with the latest versions of Electrum as well.

You'll also need to verify the wallet is fully synchronized as if you just installed it, it may not be. Check for the Green dot in the lower right corner. If it is fully synchronized and you aren't seeing any transactions, you likely have the wrong seed.

Sorry for the spam, i made a new topic since the nature of the issue seems different as you can see

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2170905.new#new

Im locking this topic.