Bitcoin Forum

so i've been absent from the BTC scene for ...years. i have a tiny tiny amount in an old wallet.dat that i'd like to check on, but i always used bitcoinQT in the past. on my current internet connection that's... just not gonna work.

so, what's the simplest way to get to the bitcoin i have in the addresses stored in this old wallet.dat file, without compromising the private keys by importing them to some website or something?

a lite client that doesn't need the whole blockchain, maybe?

thanks guys.

You can use Electrum (imported wallet). From: electrum.org (http://electrum.org) (how to verify (https://bitcoinelectrum.com/how-to-verify-your-electrum-download/))

1st Download the latest Bitcoin Core, install/extract it, then disconnect your internet connection to save data.
Copy paste your wallet.dat in the default wallet directory: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Data_directory (https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Data_directory) inside the "wallets" folder.
Open Bitcoin-qt (*as administrator) click window->console, and type dumpwallet 'wallet1.txt' and a "wallet1.txt" file in the directory of your bitcoin-qt will be created.
Open it and you'll find your private keys;
if the wallet is new(er) version, you'll find an "extended private masterkey" that starts with xprv, you can paste that in Electrum instead of each prv keys.

In Electrum, create a new wallet using "Import Bitcoin addresses or private keys" option (Standard->Use a master key for xprv).
On 1st start, you might be required to open Electrum for a short while to properly display your balance (5-30minutes / 40mb+).

*In Windows, some directories may require administrative access in order to create files.

It is best to keep multiple copies of the file (wallet.dat ) in multiple devices.


It is best to check whether the wallet contains coins.
try >>   listaddressgroupings >> Paste in any Explorer (blockchain.com/) >> If the currencies are worth, continue to the next step.
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Remember: Send coins to a new wallet because anyone with access to this file "wallet1.txt" can access your coins.

thank you both. this is exactly what i was looking for.

ok, i believe i've completed this... electrum is processing it now.

question though - the dump file contained a cunch of items electrom didn't recognize for import, ie:

 "0014*************************************** 0 script=1 # addr=3***********************************"

what are these?

also i checked the balance of all the addresses... my entire BTC balance in this wallet file... was less than a cent. :|

You should only put the private keys from the dump wallet.txt.

Sample of private keys
Compress

Private keys should start with K or L as the sample above.

Don't include the other text the Electrum will result to error put only private keys to import them.

Ah, so your wallet contains P2SH-Segwit addresses, so it must be a "not-so-old" wallet.
That's the Redeem Script of your addresses, Electrum currently can't create a "pairable" watch-only wallet by importing those scripts.

Less than a cent... you can donate it to dabs' Feed Some Children by Dabs (Donate Bitcoins) (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=300631.0) if you want.
He's accepting dust amounts.