And some of us work 12 hour shifts... So some patience would be appreciated.

Which folder did the search say pywallet.py was in?

The last step is to open up the browser to see the web interface for PyWallet... this is as simple as it gets.

You can load up a copy of your corrupted wallet file and attempt to "dump" it out... or you can attempt to "dump" just the private keys...


If that doesn't work, you'll be down to the very last resort... which is the process that this guy used: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1404609.msg14257235#msg14257235

It involves getting a small USB stick (preferably 1GB)... wipe it clean (delete everything off it, format it etc) and putting just your "corrupted" wallet.dat on it. Then you have to manually run the pywallet command from the commandline to get it to scan your corrupted wallet.dat and try and recover private keys.

Assuming you had a 1GB USB stick and it was showing on windows as D: and you "extracted" PyWallet to "C:\PyWallet" (when running the PWI_0.0.3.exe):
Step 1. you would put (a copy) of your corrupted wallet.dat on the USB stick
Step 2. Start -> Run, Type cmd and press enter
Step 3. cd \PyWallet
Step 4. pywallet.py --recover --recov_device=D: --recov_size=1Gio --recov_outputdir=C:\PyWallet


If your USB stick is larger, change 1Gio to what Gigabytes it is... 8GB = 8Gio, 16GB = 16Gio... if you use a stick larger than 1GB, be prepared to wait a LONG time while pywallet scans it.

After that finishes, it should have created a "recovered_wallet_DATESTAMP.dat" that you can attempt to load in Bitcoin Core... or use PyWallet to dump the keys

Step 1. Click Here: https://github.com/downloads/jackjack-jj/pywallet/PWI_0.0.3.exe

Step 2. Run the downloaded .exe file

Step 3. Extract the files. It is a "WinRAR autoextractor"... essentially a fancy "ZIP" file... that doesn't require you to have WinRAR or 7Zip or anything installed. Unfortunately, it also appears to be in French... basically, choose a directory where you want to extract the files to using the "Dossier de destination" (aka "Destination Folder") textbox... you can click the button to "Parcourir" (aka "Browse") to select the one you want using windows explorer. Then click the "Installer" button (aka "Install")... NOTE: "Annuler" = "Cancel".

Step 4. Run through the installation process, it will install some necessary utils and python stuff... so as the instructions say, click all the "Yes/Next/I Agree/Ok" buttons to install everything.

Step 5. Goto to the directory, that you selected in Step 3.

Step 6. run "pywallet.bat" (you can simply double click on it)... it'll open up a window and you'll see it "start up a server"... after you see the line: "Starting factory <twisted.web.server.Site instance..." move to the next step.

Step 7. Open the URL: http://localhost:8989/ in your webbrowser
Do I need the last step for recovering corrupt wallet files and if so what is it for?. What is the next step as I understand that I don't need all packages for what I need. Thanks.


What you are attempting to do (recover your wallet.dat using pywallet), is not really a "beginner" level exercise. The learning curve is going to be pretty steep. It is a bit like someone who has "limited jet engine knowledge"... attempting to disassemble and repair a jet engine.

Pywallet has a thread here with download and install instructions: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=34028.0

Maybe you could try following this guide by achow from a few years ago... https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1288078.msg13238007#msg13238007

Double click it and follow the installation wizard. to make sure you have installed it open up a cmd and type "python" you should see a prompt come up saying what version of python you are running

I have problem with qt wallet. After my PC crash I manage to recover my wallet.dat
then I reinstall qt-wallet and copy wallet.dat to appfolder. When I run qt wallet, it gives error "Wallet.dat corrupt...."
I then googling how to recover correct wallet, and found there's an python application called pywallet can do the job.
the problem is I am very non-techie noobie and completely know nothing about python.
Anyone can refer me to any tutorial for dummy about this pywallet?

Thank you in advance.

did you lose your coins and no longer see them in the wallet? some of the bitcoin based altcoin wallets create backups of the wallet file each time they are launched look in the data folder for a backups folder if you have that then you could try using one of the .dat files in there

also, many people have had success with the pywallet tool for recovering the wallet private keys from a corrupt .dat so you could try that:
https://github.com/jackjack-jj/pywallet

1. Click shift+r and then type "cmd.exe".
2. Locate the bitcoin-qt.exe file and copy the path at the top (where explorer shows the path, click that and you'll get text - you may need to double click).
3. run "cd "+[path you just copied]
4. *optional run "dir | grep bitcoin-qt.exe" (just check that it is there and you're in the right place)
5. run "bitcoin-qt.exe -salvagewallet" and it should run the salvage wallet command.

EDIT: just to check, when you ran the option above, you didn't select the bitcoin-qt.exe file before trying to open the console window did you? It has to run just in the main part of that folder, not in a specific path.

Alternative Method:
Open notepad++/notepad.exe and type "bitcoin-qt.exe -salvagewallet" and save that file as "bitcoin-qt.bat" n the same place as the bitcoin-qt.exe application. (ensure you change the type from ".txt" to "All Files").
Then just select this file in explorer and hit enter.

Cheers, ended up doing it by adding to the shortcut in properties.

Go to the location of your bitcoin-qt file -> Shift+Right click -> Open command window here -> bitcoin-qt -salvagewallet