Bitcoin Forum

Hi guys,

I have a corrupt wallet from the following scenario.


128gb SSD -> about 95% full with bitcoin-QT and wallet with 8 bitcoins on it.
HDD is quickformatted to win7
Approx 5gb of software installed (I would estimate still around 75% free)
Oh shit moment realised..

HDD removed -> put into other PC -> used Runtime GetDataBack to find wallet.dat

Wallet.dat is reading 1100kb

Have tried various Bitcoin-QT restore methods but all still saying corrupt.

I've also sent a copy to someone I trust and they are saying the file is blank ? Not sure what this means as its reading 1100kb.


What is the best procedure from here? should I try starting all over again from a Linux LiveCD with different recovery software? Then a different restore method?

Will donate something substantial to anyone who is able to provide successful help :)

Thanks

The best procedure is to just recover your last backup, but I guess it isn't a successful help, is it? :)

Have you tried with pywallet.py --dumpwallet --password=="[password]"

i lost
2013 summer this
4 or 5 wallet btc/ltc my


i cry  :'(
some times  :-\
not possible best way

all way you lost your bitcoins  ::)

It could be full of zeros.

I get asked to help with these fairly often.

Hard drives have blocks.  Files are chains of these blocks.  Directories are special files containing a list of file names and addresses for that file's chain.  When you format your drive, all of the blocks are marked free, but not typically changed.*

As you use the newly formatted drive, blocks get overwritten.  When you realize that you had a wallet on there and try to undelete it, the utility searches all of the blocks looking for directories, and then it scans the directory looking for a file named wallet.dat.

What you actually get is the current contents of the blocks that formerly had your wallet.  You should not hold your breath, because the odds aren't good, unless you realize your mistake very early and don't use the drive at all.  You can improve your chances slightly by shutting down the computer immediately (flip the switch), and then using a different computer to attempt the recovery.

If the undelete tool doesn't find a wallet.dat, the directory has been overwritten.  The blocks for the file may not have.  Pywallet can search the drive, block by block, looking for keys.

In an extreme case, if the wallet was not encrypted, you can walk the candidate file byte by byte, treating each overlapping region as if it were a private key to be checked.  This takes forever even for moderately sized files, and you can just plain forget about doing it on a whole drive.  Also, it never works.

*  This is extremely simplified.

Have you tried performing BDB recovery and dumping of (a copy of) the wallet file? If it is at all damaged, Bitcoin-Qt probably won't load it, but the BDB tools might. You can then use pywallet or something similar to reconstruct a wallet with the keys you can find.

Was the wallet encrypted? If not, you can try this: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=25091.0

Have you tried something like ghost recovery software or some undelete software, just so you can at least see it and from there you should have better options to retrieve it.
Max

That would be because the wallet was saved on a SSD. Within a few minutes, the garbage collection system of the SSD will wipe all erased data, even if you aren't reading or writing to the drive. By the time you recovered the filesystem, the wallet's data was gone.