Update:

I began checking the private keys with the previous method mentioned utilizing the bitaddress.org function. I do have my old bitcoin address which I checked earlier today. To my surprise I found the private key with that old bitcoin address!

EDIT: I've found a second key with a small amount of BTC. My understanding is that each key is unique and independent of eachother so my sweeping the smaller private key will not affect the previously found key with the other amount of BTC?

To recap my next steps, I would like to verify:

1. Create new Electrum (SEED) wallet using seed method
2. Create new Electrum (RECOVERED) wallet using private key
3. Use Electrum (RECOVERED) wallet to Sweep private key to SEED wallet
4. Click 'Broadcast'
5. Hope SEED wallet shows bitcoins just sent?

Thank you!

I haven't yet checked all 104 keys. I'll begin checking shortly. Just wanted to make sure the general process was correct before checking all the keys.

I used the software in this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=25091.0

Copying the private key directly from the recovery output didn't allow me to proceed to the next step in Electrum.

I used bitaddress.org's software to decompress the private key locally and pasted the uncompressed key into Electrum. Electrum did let me proceed but I received a no input error. Reviewing the bitcoin address at blockchain.info shows 0BTC for several keys attempted. Each private key produces a different bitcoin address.

Any other thoughts on how to proceed?

Thanks for the help!

I have the wallet and keys backed up in several locations.

After importing the keys to Electrum, it will presumably show any bitcoins available (if any)? Would I be able to use Electrum to cash out at coinbase or do I need to import the Bitcoin Core wallet into the synced Bitcoin Core Client and then exchange at coinbase?

Thanks again for the assistance.

Thank you karmakeddon.  Is it safe to just take the private keys and import them during an install of Electrum? Or do I designate the recovered wallet.dat file as the wallet for Electrum to use? The wallet is very old and I read the format changed so I am unsure if this is a concern. When I mined I used to use the Bitcoin Core wallet.

Would importing the private keys into a new wallet some how destroy or invalidate the coins since the addresses are different?

Thank you for your help!

Back in 2011 I mined for a about six weeks. Until my wife couldn't deal with the noise my AMD 6970 was putting out. I didn't back up the wallet and ultimately formatted the drive. Oh well. Bitcoin was less than $30.

The drive got very little use and was retired not too much later. I knew the wallet was on the drive so I just stored it for a possible recovery later. So now I used a tool to recover private keys from the drive. Let it go for a few hours and it managed to find 104 keys. Not sure if anything will amount from these keys but I have no idea what to do now to recover them to a new wallet and cash out.

I have a text file with the private keys and also a recovered wallet.dat file. I disconnected the computer with the wallet from the network right now until I figure out the safest way to proceed.

Could anyone shed some light as to what to do next to:

A. Import the private keys / wallet.dat into a new wallet (I presume this needs to be done) to see if there are any coins.
B. Next steps to convert the Bitcoin to USD and ultimately to my bank account.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!