Bitcoin Forum

Help!  I've downloaded the bitcoin software on Windows 7... ran into the errors...backed up the wallet.dat file then re-loaded..I'm not tech savvy obviously..how do I re-integrate the wallet with the new download?  Please help and be very specific...I don't want to lose my coins!

Thanks!

The wallet.dat file is AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin

Just copy paste your wallet there. Make sure you don't lose your wallet, so keep a copy somewhere

this is what I got after I reloaded and then copied the wallet:

AppData\Roaming\bitcoin-0.4.0-win32-setup

the bitcoin-0.4.0-win32-setup and wallet.dat are both in the Roaming file...If I double-clikc on the bitcoin it runs but the wallet is still empty

What about you first download all the blocks?

I don't understand?  How do I do that?  Remember I'm extremely non-tech...thanks by the way..this whole process has been frustrating...I've switched to a different wallet but I want to retrieve the bitcoins from this one...

The blockchain is a copy of all the transactions that have ever taken place in the Bitcoin network. You need to download it the first time your client starts, only. It will take place automatically, and you can track its progress in the main Bitcoin Client window, looking at the number of "blocks" in the bottom of it.

Currently there are 152859 blocks. So, once your client reaches the block # 152859 (approximately), you will be synchronized and start seeing everything normally: balances, transactions...

That might be the problem.

mine is currently showing "0" blocks...how do I download the blockchain??

Easy, you start the bitcoin client and wait. 0 connections is no good, wait a bit more and see if they increase.

Make sure you opened port 8333 on your router

Should the bitcoin install wizard run every time I open the application?  I changed the port to 8333 and a connection appeared..still 0 blocks and wallet is still empty

also the wallet.dat file is still separate from the bitcoin-0.4.0-win32-setup...I assume that's why my wallet is showing empty...how do I merge them so my bitcoins show?

hey, you don't have to "merge" nothing Dashwood, just wait for the bitcoin software, client, to download the blockchain, ~152000 blocks that client will show in the right corner next to connections. It's a bit strange that install wizard starts every time you launch the client, make sure you you do it from the newly created icon after the set-up.

edit: Try to relax, breath slowly and tell if you got at least 1 connection...

how long does that take?  I'm confused...I was told to back up the program and the wallet because I was getting the blkindex error so I did...the wallet seems to be a separate file..I purchased bitcoins before I had the error message and now they're gone...

EDIT2: Actually, never mind.

Actually, Therelith, it's better to restore your wallet backup before downloading blocks - the wallet balance is updated while the client is scanning the blocks as they come in; if you have downloaded the entire blockchain and then replace the wallet, it likely won't show a proper balance, and you will have to launch bitcoin.exe -rescan to have it find the missing payments.


It sounds like Dashwood is clicking on the installer over and over again, instead of launching the installed client. bitcoin-0.4.0-win32-setup.exe is not Bitcoin and is not your wallet! It is the installer you downloaded, you run it only once to install Bitcoin on your computer, and then you should not run it again. Launch Bitcoin using the Start Menu -> All Programs -> Bitcoin -> Bitcoin.

The first thing to understand is that uninstalling and reinstalling Bitcoin doesn't erase your wallet.dat file (the file with a record of all your addresses and private sending keys). Bitcoin knows how important this file is, and will leave it on your computer even after uninstalling and reinstallation; you'd have to manually find and delete it. If you launch Bitcoin, and your old address is still the address shown at top or is in the address book (in the receiving tab), then you don't need to worry about restoring anything, you are still using your original wallet.


The full location of the Bitcoin user data directory on Windows 7 is C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin, where {username} is your windows logon name. Windows has a shortcut to get there: click on the start menu button, and in the search box, type %APPDATA%\Bitcoin. Press Enter, and it will launch Windows Explorer and show you the contents of the correct directory.

Secondly, Windows 7 comes in a "dummy mode" that hides the full filename from you, which can cause big problems. To disable this, in the Windows Explorer you just launched, click "Tools" in the menu, and choose "Folder Options". Go to the "View" tab, and in Advanced settings, uncheck the box for "Hide extension for known file types" and press OK. This will prevent you from making mistakes.

If you didn't previously know this information about locating your wallet, or didn't verify that Bitcoin was completely terminated, it is likely that any "wallet backup" you made isn't actually a good backup. In the data directory, the wallet.dat file is your wallet file. This is the file that you should copy to a USB stick and put away, but only copy it after verifying Bitcoin is not running at all (not even in the tray by the clock) - if you don't completely close Bitcoin, the backup copy of wallet.dat file will likely be bad. Close Bitcoin now, verify it is closed and close it's icon in the system tray if it remains.

If the central problem is that you started getting database errors like you describe above, then there are several particular files in your Bitcoin user directory that you should delete (or simply rename) to erase the corrupted transaction blockchain and force it to re-download:
1: blk0001.dat
2: blkindex.dat
3: any log files in the "database" directory (inside your Bitcoin data directory.)


After you launch Bitcoin, then it should get up to eight connections to other clients (or more if you have properly forwarded port 8333 in your router to your computer). It will take several hours to get all the transaction blocks; after a minute or two of making connections, you should see the block count on the bottom of the client start increasing from 0 blocks. You will only see Bitcoins that have been sent to you after Bitcoin has downloaded all the transaction blocks.

If you are getting 0 connections or block downloads don't start, first uninstall "Microsoft Security Essentials" from you computer if you have it, it is known to mess with Bitcoin. Other antivirus programs like Norton or McAfee that have firewall "features" can also mess with these connections. Finally, make sure you did correct port forwarding to your computer on port 8333, misconfiguring it can be worse than not messing with port forwarding at all.

Really? Could've sworn that I read... oh well, thanks for the correction. I'll update my post.

Thank you! This is slowly making sense...I should have studied up a bit more before I downloaded but I figured it would be as easy as most things these days...so I have been "reinstalling" all this time so I launched from Start>Programs...I've currently got 1 connection...had two briefly..and I changed "Hide extension for known file types" and had earlier deleted the blkindex.dat and the blk0001.dat so I just need to leave the app open for the blocks to accumulate?

after about 10 minutes..still only one connections...how would I "if you have properly forwarded port 8333 in your router to your computer?"  I don't see that I have the Microsoft Security Essentials...

It's been an hour and still only one connection...ugh!  why is this so difficult??

difficult ... ? don't think so (http://lmgtfy.com/?q=open+router+ports+windows)  ;)

You should quickly get up to eight connections to other p2p clients. The only thing that would prevent this would be a very strict firewall policy by your ISP or firewall-type software blocking connections on your computer. Even Chinese and Iraqi users don't generally get Bitcoin connections blocked by their ISP.

When you say "I changed the port to 8333 and a connection appeared", where was this change done? Whatever it was, maybe you should put it back?

The default Windows firewall might be blocking you, it might be confused from all your reinstalling, or you might not have seen a prompt to give Bitcoin permission. Follow these instructions (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Allow-a-program-to-communicate-through-Windows-Firewall) to ensure Windows itself is letting Bitcoin connect to the Internet.

Then as I advised above, investigate other installed firewall/antivirus software installed on your computer, it may be too aggressively blocking connections. I supposed you might even have a computer virus or malware that has screwed up your computer.

Google?  How do you think I got this far : ))  actually I Binged....Deepceleron..I changed the port in the Bitcoin app...Settins>Options>Proxy...changed the port from something else to 8333...

The Windows firewall is allowing Bitcoin...there were several..I assume from the multiple downloads....Bitcoin has been running for over 7 hours and still only one connection and zero blocks...???  tearing my hair out!  Sorry I'm such an idiot...dot matrix printers were high tech when I was in high school so I didn't take computers too seriously...Fine Arts major at University..you get the picture

glad to hear that and btw you just told us what you did wrong there... pls disable the proxy option completely if you're not connecting through such a service to internet

?  I am connecting through the internet

ack, i meant this Don't change that option in the client, disable like it was in the first place, if you don't use a proxy to connect to Internet.

proxy?

This whole computer thing might be dangerous for you. I am reminded of an experience attempting to train a computer operator who was hired because she was a friend of the boss. The person clearly had never seen a spreadsheet before, and was quite incorrigible to comprehend new information.

look clearly I don't know much about this and I think I've been pretty clear about that...I simply asked for help...you don't have to give it if you don't want...insults are unnecessary and reveal more about the giver than the receiver.

pls calm down ppl, deepceleron  obviously thinked out loud but wanted to help you from the start like i did, pls forgive him.

How's the connection issues going ? And sorry, forgot to link on what a proxy server (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server) is. On a normal connection to internet that option is not used but is there to enable anybody be more anonymous when he desires ;)

In the Bitcoin options, these are the best options for you:

☐ Start Bitcoin on system startup
☑ Minimize to the tray instead of the taskbar
☑ Map port using UPNP
☐ Minimize to the tray on close
☐ Connect through socks4 proxy

After verifying and pressing "OK", close and restart Bitcoin.

If it still doesn't connect, one other file might be causing problems, addr.dat in the user directory could be corrupted. That is the file that contains a list of other Bitcoin computers on the Internet. Closing Bitcoin, deleting this file, and restarting Bitcoin could solve such a problem.

Thanks Paraipan and Deepceleron...that last bit of advice seems to have done the trick..the connections and blocks are going up and up...hopefully my wallet will fill soon...I truly appreciate your assistance...I'm sorry for being "snappy"..I was as frustrated as I'm sure you were getting with me...crossing fingers this is the fix...again, sincerest thanks...

so everything was going swimingly...then the computer shut down...I rebooted and now I'm back to the same old blkindex error...?  wth?  I tried searching for it by the %app.data% and it's not found...shoot me!!!

so I found the files I needed to delete (blkindex and the other one) and the app is back up...unfortunately it has to starf from zero again...ugh...any ideas on why the computer would just turn itself off like that...and revert to past settings..restore deleted files, etc.?

glad to hear you fixed it, now this is another different question...
you can the link in my signature to tip me and will gladly give you more assistance ;)

you bet...as soon as I get into my wallet..my computer overheated...it's been running all weekend..so just before I reached all the blocks it shut down...I nearly stroked out...hopefully keeping it powered down all last night and today I'll finally get them all downloaded this evening..stay tuned...

tonight I thought I was finally going to make it...got up to 144K and then crash...had to restart windows...and have to start over with the blocks but am wondering if that isn't what's causing the crash?  Thoughts?  GD this is frustrating...if I ever get access again I'm transferring those mfing coins to another wallet and never using Bitcoin.crap again...

Just a note, if your computer is spontaneously crashing or rebooting, then you likely have a hardware problem. I wouldn't store my money on such a system until it is fixed.

If the computer is fine until you run the CPU hard for a while (such as processing downloaded Bitcoin blocks), it could be a hardware fault as simple as a bad CPU fan. Download and run a burn-in stress test like OCCT (http://www.ocbase.com/perestroika_en/index.php?Download) on your computer overnight. The power supply test in this program will work your system hard, and likely crash it if there is a problem.

Agreed, sounds like something is wrong with your computer.  Could be as simple as blowing out the dust and cleaning any filters, dust is great at trapping heat. 

As they said, if your computer is crashing then you have serious problems not related to bitcoin that you need to fix.

thanks all for the advice..pretty sure it's overheating...cleaning the fan and getting a cooling pad...