If someone gets hold of my wallet and also learns my seed and passcode, can I do anything to stop my wallet being drained?
pray... |
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When you tried restoring your wallet from seed did you click the options button on the window where you enter your seed? Have you tried checking the checkbox marked BIP39 seed in the window that opens when you click the options button? This is what that window looks like in electrum version 2.7.10.
electrum doesn't generate bip39 seeds. this option is for using seeds from other wallets. |
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electrum has a command line interface that you can use for automation. type `electrum help` in a terminal window to see what options are available.
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EDIT: this is not an isolated case. Every seed generated by this offline device is not not valid to be redeemed on PCs.
share a seed for an empty wallet then. so we can take a look ourselves. btw 2.7.18 is an older version. we are currently at 2.8.3. there have been many bug fixes since 2.7.18 so you should upgrade. |
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yeah I have no problem doing that but when I try to transfer the funds out of the old wallet it still asks me for the old password. so my funds are stuck in that wallet even though I have the seed for it
When you use file> new/restore you are creating a new wallet. Use file > open to open that wallet. Stop using your old wallet that has the password. In your restored wallet look under "used" on the addresses tab to see if there are familiar addresses. If you are not seeing familiar addresses then you haven't successfully restored your wallet. In that case make sure the seed you have contains words from the electrum dictionary: https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/blob/master/lib/wordlist/english.txtI also suggest restoring with the latest version of electrum. 2.8.3 is the latest. You should download it form electrum.org and install it. It may be hard to do that on TAILS so install it on the OS you have on your hard drive. Also note that in 2.8.3 you have to press ctrl+a to bring the addresses tab into view. |
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If there's a new version out you do get a message in the status bar at the bottom of the electrum window. This feature has been present for many many versions now so I can only assume that you have a really outdated version of electrum installed.
I don't see this message when using the Standalone Executable in the bottom bar at all. Where exactly is it shown at? Sorry my bad. It used to show near the balance. Maybe it was removed in recent versions or maybe it's only used for critical updates. |
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If there's a new version out you do get a message in the status bar at the bottom of the electrum window. This feature has been present for many many versions now so I can only assume that you have a really outdated version of electrum installed.
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Thanks. Installing the Windows Installer download did the trick. I now have an Electrum wallet that doesn't disappear when I close it down and is installed as a program on my computer. FYI, when you install the Standalone Executable the wallet isn't saved anywhere in the Electrum [Roaming] folder other than a 2, or 4KB reference file (not executable), nor is the Electrum program saved in the program files. With the Windows Installer, it is.
The wallet file is not supposed to be executable. It's just a text file containing json. And the standalone executable is just that. It does not install any shortcuts and it doesn't install itself in program files. It does non of that because it is a standalone executable not an installation program. God! |
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1) When clicking on the original Electrum-2.8.2 downloaded (Standalone Executable) file to install the Electrum wallet, I encounter a screen saying: "This file is encrypted. Enter your password or choose another file." (see djmcg's screenshot above).
9) Conclusion: The installation process simply modifies the original downloaded installation .exe file. This file has to be clicked on to activate the wallet and the Install Wizard. I have never experienced this with any other wallet installation - there has always been a separate wallet access icon created on the Desktop.
P.S. the smiley at what should be point eight is unintentional. It seems to have been generated by the number and bracket symbol used in my post and I can't get rid of it!
You downloaded the standalone executable and you are surprised that it is a standalone executable?! If you want a desktop icon created then download and run the windows installer version not the standalone executable. And FYI the wallets are stored separately from the executable binary. They are stored in your roaming folder so electrum will always pick it up when you run it. That roaming folder doesn't get deleted when you uninstall electrum either. The risk of monetary loss is too great for that to be done. |
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But if I need this info to create a wallet on a market place and don't have accesss to anything else than a phone, what do I do?
any market place asking for your private keys is a scam. your private keys are supposed to stay private. you just need a receiving address from your wallet to receive bitcoin. that is what you make public. address begin with '1' or '3'. |
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Newer versions of Electrum still support restoring the old seed format so you should be able to just restore from the seed. There shouldn't be a need to download an old version. Be sure to double check the seed for accuracy. Also, you should verify that Electrum is fully synced or the balance may not sure properly.
How do I verify electrum is fully synced? Look at the bottom right corner of the window. There should be a green orb icon. If it is red then it's not synced. click on the icon to change the electrum server you are connected to. You can also access this window via tools > network. Also bring the addresses tab into view with ctrl+a. See if there are any familiar addresses listed there. If there aren't any familiar addresses then verify that the seed you have is the correct one. It should only contain words from this list here (lines 24-1649): https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/blob/1.8/lib/mnemonic.pyPerhaps you have mispelt some word from the above list so check the spelling too. The seed should consist of 12 words. That's how many words you have right? There is no need to downgrade to 1.8. You won't be able to spend your bitcoins using that version anyway. |
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coinbase probably hasn't sent the bitcoins yet which is why they say it is pending.
bitcoin transactions are slow so if you are getting a heart attack over something minor like this then you are not going to enjoy your bitcoin experience at all. try to calm down.
oh and you don't have to keep electrum or your computer running just to receive bitcoin. you can shut it down and come back later and the coins will be there (assuming coinbase has sent them by then).
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So, is an electrum server always a full Bitcoin node?
No, it is not. It all depends on how it is configured. Specifically the limit of spent transactions that are kept track of and pruning settings. According to the documentation: Electrum server uses leveldb to store transactions. You can choose how many spent transactions per address you want to store on the server. The default is 100, but there are also servers with 1000 or even 10000. Few addresses have more than 10000 transactions. A limit this high can be considered equivalent to a "full" server. An electrum server also runs bitcoin core and that is full node software. |
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There is a checksum in there so the odds of mistyping an address and having it be valid is very low.
So would it bounce back to me? The transaction will not go through if the btc address doesnt exist and btc stay in your wallet so there's no question of bouncing it back. However if the address exist and you send btc mistakenly to that address, you will never get back it. This is wrong. BTC addresses don't have to exist before you can use them. There is no central registry that keeps track of which addresses "exist" and which don't. They don't have to be broadcast to the world before you can use them. Nothing of this sort of thing happens. Addresses are just numbers and we encode them in base58check to prevent typos. Whatever software you use will only check whether the checksum is valid or not. It won't, and can't, make sure that somebody somewhere has access to the corresponding private key. I assume when DomainMagnate says the address " doesn't exist" he means that the checksum doesn't match and therefore the address is " invalid". Then again he is a sig ad spammer, so he might just be making up nonsense and hoping that it sounds like a "quality post" so he can get paid. I had to clarify because it's a common misconception. People then build on that and wonder whether their wallet has to be online for them to receive bitcoin. Whether they'll lose money if they are not online. You see what I'm talking about? |
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So would it bounce back to me? The transaction will not go through if the btc address doesnt exist and btc stay in your wallet so there's no question of bouncing it back. However if the address exist and you send btc mistakenly to that address, you will never get back it. This is wrong. BTC addresses don't have to exist before you can use them. There is no central registry that keeps track of which addresses "exist" and which don't. They don't have to be broadcast to the world before you can use them. Nothing of this sort of thing happens. Addresses are just numbers and we encode them in base58check to prevent typos. Whatever software you use will only check whether the checksum is valid or not. It won't, and can't, make sure that somebody somewhere has access to the corresponding private key. |
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I have installed and use Electrum. I have installed it on an external ssd and I have created a wallet (with a custom name) saved on the same ssd. Meaning that the program itself + my wallet are usually off line.
I put some BC in the wallet and now I wonder about backing up my wallet/money.
a) I plan to copy the wallet file to some dvd rom. Do I understand it correctly that in case of calamity I could reinstall Electrum, just open the wallet file and have money and transactions history back? (At least up to the date of the backup?)
b) I hear about "paper backup". I have already kept my seed words on a sheet of paper. Is that it? Is that the "paper backup"? Does that mean that in case of calamity I could reinstall Electrum, insert the words and have everything back?
Electrum is a deterministic wallet which means that all address specific private keys are derived from a single seed. Backup the seed either on paper or in soft copy form i.e. the wallet file and you will have access to all transactions that ever take place. So your one time wallet file backup is good for life. What a one time backup does not give is your transaction and address labels. So if those are important for you should back up the wallet file periodically as well or export the labels to a file and backup that file. |
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yes electrum servers use self-signed certs. these are the servers that give electrum blockchain data not the website where you download electrum from.
btw you did download electrum from electrum.org right? if you did that then it's ok. i ask because there are malware copies floating around so you have to make sure you download it from the official site.
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Yes, he's stop using the drive to decide what the best option may be. As far as the erase method he used, he remembers setting it to 'wipe' the drive. He said he set it to the least number of passes.
Oh this is not looking good. I just saw the post by Hi-Tec99. If your friend used a secure erase software then there is nothing that can be done. I am not sure if there is much hope, If he cannot recover these coins. Do they just remain locked in the blockchain forever?
Yep they are inaccessible forever and what happens is that everyone else's coins become more valuable for it. You asked about the cost of professional data recovery. There was an AMA on reddit from a guy in that business and he said prices start at $300. If your friend hadn't gone overboard and used the secure wipe software it would have been a viable option. But he did so it isn't I'm afraid. |
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