need new wallet

[kevinnem]

Hello all, I am in the middle of "recovering" some old bitcoin I have on a old computer, (this might be called bitcoin original, my terms might be wrong, but I think it is an "old version" and on one of the guides I was reading brought up a very good point. --- I need a new place to put the coins.  I have an old ".dat" file

I was hoping you guys could point me in the right direction.

I also had very little litecoin as well, if that could be "housed " in the same system that would be convenient, but that is not something I need.

I would prefer something that is basically "local only" , where I can keep track of my address, or some files, to ensure I never lose my bitcoin, I don't really want any online websites I have to go through to get to my coins, if that is possible, because something as simple as the website going down might mean my coins are lost, or if that third party gets hacked or something.

Easy is better then hard.

Any guidance is very very much appreciated, trying to get this all sorted this weekend.

[LoyceV]

You've opened similar topics in 2013 and in 2019.
Do you mind sharing what you've tried so far? If this address is still yours I'd say buy a hardware wallet for long term storage.

trying to get this all sorted this weekend.

Don't rush things now, make sure you know and fully understand what you're doing before doing anything.

Just in case: make another backup of your wallet.dat on another USB stick before doing anything else.

[o_e_l_e_o]

I also had very little litecoin as well, if that could be "housed " in the same system that would be convenient, but that is not something I need.

Most multi-coin software wallets are closed source, and by their very nature of being multi-coin, are more vulnerable to attacks and bugs than a bitcoin only wallet. I would store the two things separately for your own safety.

I would prefer something that is basically "local only" , where I can keep track of my address, or some files, to ensure I never lose my bitcoin, I don't really want any online websites I have to go through to get to my coins, if that is possible, because something as simple as the website going down might mean my coins are lost, or if that third party gets hacked or something.

Your options, then, are either a piece of software you install on your computer, or a hardware wallet as Loyce has suggested. If you download a piece of software and install it on your every day computer which is connected to the internet, then your security isn't very good. You would want to install it instead on a second computer, which has a clean install of Linux on it and is permanently air gapped (i.e. will never again connect to the internet). However, setting this up and then using it correctly is not particularly easy. Since you also say that "Easy is better than hard", then I would second the recommendation for a reputable hardware wallet. You'll find plenty of threads on the hardware wallet board (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=261.0) talking about various makes and models. It will cost a small amount of money, but generally they are very easy to use and very secure if used properly.

As a bonus, most hardware wallets will also support Litecoin.

[kevinnem]

You've opened similar topics in 2013 and in 2019.
Do you mind sharing what you've tried so far? If this address is still yours I'd say buy a hardware wallet for long term storage.

trying to get this all sorted this weekend.

Don't rush things now, make sure you know and fully understand what you're doing before doing anything.

Just in case: make another backup of your wallet.dat on another USB stick before doing anything else.

thanks for reaching out .. yes, I am still in control of that address, I think. I looked at the 2019 thread I started, and that is where I got the "guide" from .. and as I started reading through it, It mentioned that I need somewhat to move the coins to , IE like a new current address - and that is probably true. that is why I was asking , I made it that far, and realized, that even if I have access to the old address/data or what ever I need, I am really not prepared on what to do at that point.

I so far have found a few wallet.dat files on the old ( air gapped ) computer. There is a BTC program on it, seems to "run" , but when I go to open it, it appears to open "off the screen" and even trying to "cascade windows" doesn't seem to bring it back. might try hooking up second monitor.

I would be happy I think putting the needed information to access accounts on USB sticks, and using that as the method of storage. Maybe. I don't even know what that data is .


The over arching goal is to take the BTC that was "moth balled" in my basement on a old computer that might not boot up again, on an old set of RAID drives ( that are already saying they are in "degraded" state) and making it a "current , accessible account. Something that I am not worried will just "stop working".

Does that make sense?

With respect, again, thank you for your help.

[o_e_l_e_o]

I think the first thing you should on that airgapped computer is to copy all your wallet.dat files to a new hard drive or USB stick, preferably more than 1 for the sake of redundancy (make sure to never plug these in to any computer with an internet connection!) in case your hard drives fail in the near future and you lose everything.

Once you've done that, then the next step will be to ascertain exactly which addresses are in your wallets and confirm that you have the private keys for those addresses. If you can open the wallet.dat file(s) using Bitcoin Core, then that's probably the easiest way to do this. If not, then you could try using a program like pywallet to explore your wallet files. You would then need to transfer all the address (not the private keys) over to an online device to check your balances and figure out exactly how many coins you own.

After all this, the decision is up to you. If you have managed to successfully recover your private keys from your wallet.dat files, then simply backing up those wallet.dat files in multiple secure places might be enough. Alternatively, you could set up a new airgapped wallet or buy a hardware wallet and transfer all your coins over to it. The latter option would have the benefit of providing you with what is known as a hierarchical deterministic wallet, which provides for you a 12 or 24 word phrase which you can write down to create a non-digital back up of your private keys.

[LoyceV]

I looked at the 2019 thread I started, and that is where I got the "guide" from .. and as I started reading through it, It mentioned that I need somewhat to move the coins to , IE like a new current address - and that is probably true. that is why I was asking , I made it that far, and realized, that even if I have access to the old address/data or what ever I need, I am really not prepared on what to do at that point.

My advice, especially since you've been at this for 8 years: recover your wallet.dat and/or private keys first. Once you have them secure (offline, airgapped, curtains closed, the usual paranoid precautions), create enough backups to make sure you won't lose them again.
Then, see from there how to continue. If you can recover your wallet, there's no rush to buy for instance a hardware wallet. If you can't recover your wallet, there's no use in arranging a new wallet already.

I so far have found a few wallet.dat files on the old ( air gapped ) computer. There is a BTC program on it, seems to "run" , but when I go to open it, it appears to open "off the screen" and even trying to "cascade windows" doesn't seem to bring it back. might try hooking up second monitor.

Programs being "off the screen" sounds like a problem with your computer, not just the wallet. Copy the wallet to USB, and continue on a new (clean) computer.

I don't even know what that data is .

How did you get into Bitcoin in 2013, if you have no idea what you did?
It looks like you turned $250 into $100,000. If you can recover your coins, that means your failures to recover your coins in 2013 and 2019 have paid off big time

[kevinnem]

I looked at the 2019 thread I started, and that is where I got the "guide" from .. and as I started reading through it, It mentioned that I need somewhat to move the coins to , IE like a new current address - and that is probably true. that is why I was asking , I made it that far, and realized, that even if I have access to the old address/data or what ever I need, I am really not prepared on what to do at that point.

My advice, especially since you've been at this for 8 years: recover your wallet.dat and/or private keys first. Once you have them secure (offline, airgapped, curtains closed, the usual paranoid precautions), create enough backups to make sure you won't lose them again.
Then, see from there how to continue. If you can recover your wallet, there's no rush to buy for instance a hardware wallet. If you can't recover your wallet, there's no use in arranging a new wallet already.

I so far have found a few wallet.dat files on the old ( air gapped ) computer. There is a BTC program on it, seems to "run" , but when I go to open it, it appears to open "off the screen" and even trying to "cascade windows" doesn't seem to bring it back. might try hooking up second monitor.

Programs being "off the screen" sounds like a problem with your computer, not just the wallet. Copy the wallet to USB, and continue on a new (clean) computer.

I don't even know what that data is .

How did you get into Bitcoin in 2013, if you have no idea what you did?
It looks like you turned $250 into $100,000. If you can recover your coins, that means your failures to recover your coins in 2013 and 2019 have paid off big time

Thanks for the replay, and advice

Yea, I admit, I have been " at this for 8 years" , but really haven't touched the technology in 7 - life has a way of making time fly by. I DO seem to have the wallet.dat files, I found 4 of them on the computer, 3 are the same size, one is bigger. I have now backed them all up a few times. I earnestly do apologize for the noob questions, really trying my best here. I used to understand a lot of this stuff, but I haven't touched it in so long. I have been really busy starting a company, getting married, building family members, losing family members, it seems these days I blink, and a month goes by.

I was correct that the previously installed bitcoin program , called "qt" was opening on another screen (that wasn't hooked up), it is now opening , and I can see it , there is a "overview" "send" "receive"  "transactions" and "addresses" nothing really jumps out at me as an address or some thing of importance. The program is showing the recorded the 2 bitcoins. "transactions" show some account number not sure if they help. Now that I have access to this program, I have export the wallet from there as well.

there is a "received with" address starting with 1QC I don't think this really helps though.

So, some progress, any thoughts for next steps?

[LoyceV]

The program is showing the recorded the 2 bitcoins. "transactions" show some account number not sure if they help. Now that I have access to this program, I have export the wallet from there as well.

Any chance there's a password on the wallet? And if so: do you remember it?

there is a "received with" address starting with 1QC I don't think this really helps though.

If it's this address: that's the one you're looking for.

So, some progress, any thoughts for next steps?

Next step is this:

I would prefer something that is basically "local only" , where I can keep track of my address, or some files, to ensure I never lose my bitcoin

Considering your current experience with wallets, a hardware wallet is most probably the easiest and safest for you. Get for instance a Trezor One at Trezor.io. Don't trust me on this, do your own research to ensure you're ordering from the official website. Or wait for Black Friday for the annual sale if you're not in a rush.
Even with a hardware wallet, it's good to understand what you're doing and how to keep your 24 backup words secure. So read up a bit while waiting for the delivery. And always check the entire Bitcoin address before sending anything. Don't trust copy/paste.

If you have everything, you'll need to transfer your 2 Bitcoin to your new hardware wallet. The easiest is to install a new version of Bitcoin Core, open the old wallet, wait quite a while to synchronize the blockchain, and transfer the funds to your new address. That exposes your private key to an online computer, and if there's malware, you risk everything.
The safest (but less easy) is to export private keys offline, create the transaction from a read-only online Electrum wallet wallet, sign it offline, and broadcast it online. But that's a lot more complicated, and probably not recommended for you. So basically it depends on how you want to proceed.

[BitMaxz]

Be careful don't do this first

If you mean "Bitcoin Qt" when you said "qt", that means you use outdated application. I would recommend you to download newest version at https://bitcoincore.org/en/download/.

I heard that someone before that his old wallet file or wallet.dat become corrupted after upgraded it from oldest Bitcoin-qt to newest bitcoin core.
If you don't want it to happen to you then make sure to make a backup of your wallet file first or much better dump them all into private keys while waiting in your hardware wallet. You can just sweep them once you set up your hardware wallet.

there is a "received with" address starting with 1QC I don't think this really helps though.

So, some progress, any thoughts for next steps?

If you see the received address then you can check it if it still has a BTC balance you can use some explorer like https://blockchair.com and paste the address that starts with 1QC then submit it should show the transaction history and the current balance.

[HCP]

The obvious solution would be the simplest.

1. Back your wallet.dat files (which you already appear to have done)
2. Install the latest version of Bitcoin Core from: https://bitcoincore.org/en/download/
3. Load copies of backups of the wallet.dat files into the latest Bitcoin Core. DO NOT use the originals!
4. Let Bitcoin Core fully sync and then see what the results are

Once fully synced, Bitcoin Core should show you the accurate balance of each wallet. From there you can then make some decisions regarding what you want to do with the coins that you have available.


Do you know if the wallet.dat files are password protected? If they're not, then the above may not be the "safest" way forward... as if the computer is compromised, and someone gets the unencrypted wallet.dat, they could take all your coins.

If the wallet.dat files are encrypted, then that helps mitigate the risk of the wallet.dat files being exposed.