Backing Up Your Bitcoin Precautions

[viking02]

I use electrum and its great and easy to send/receive bitcoin.  There might be a chance I will be resetting my laptop and doing a clean reinstall install of my laptop.  its windows 7.  I believe as long as i have that electrum phrase... then i would be able to recover the bitcoin i currently have?  Thus whether its my computer that gets a clean reinstallation, or new computer or use someone else's computer... that would never be an issue?


So basically I would need the long electrum phrase and my electrum password and that is all?  So basically i would install electrum on laptop after the clean reinstall then put the 20 word phrase and then the electrum password and that is all?  Or is it a long process?


The other thing I thought about was wouldn't it be a better idea to send the bitcoins to blockchain in the meantime?  Thus send the bitcoin to blockchain and keep the bitcoin there.  Then once i get my computer clean reinstall, then send the bitcoin to my new electrum wallet?  Would it be actually recommended to use the same electrum wallet if doing a clean reinstall of laptop?


The reason why i ask is this because i'm going to have my laptop looked at for another issue and if something happens to my laptop in the repair, then i want to make sure my bitcoins are safe. 


Whats the best recommendation for my situation?  Send the bitcoin to blockchain from electrum until i get my computer fixed... or just don't bother with it since i have that electrum phrase and password and thus with that, i wouldn't have any issues.  However i would like to take precaution is why i considered sending the bitcoin to either blockchain or a gambling site in the meantime.  I have a blockchain account but never stored any bitcoin there but i assume its very easy to send/receive from it.

[achow101]

I use electrum and its great and easy to send/receive bitcoin.  There might be a chance I will be resetting my laptop and doing a clean reinstall install of my laptop.  its windows 7.  I believe as long as i have that electrum phrase... then i would be able to recover the bitcoin i currently have?  Thus whether its my computer that gets a clean reinstallation, or new computer or use someone else's computer... that would never be an issue?


So basically I would need the long electrum phrase and my electrum password and that is all?  So basically i would install electrum on laptop after the clean reinstall then put the 20 word phrase and then the electrum password and that is all?  Or is it a long process?

Yes, you only need the seed phrase. I don't think you need the password, but hold onto that anyways.

The other thing I thought about was wouldn't it be a better idea to send the bitcoins to blockchain in the meantime?  Thus send the bitcoin to blockchain and keep the bitcoin there.  Then once i get my computer clean reinstall, then send the bitcoin to my new electrum wallet?  Would it be actually recommended to use the same electrum wallet if doing a clean reinstall of laptop?

You could do that if you want to spend your Bitcoin while the computer is in for repairs. However, blockchain.info has a lot of problems, and I don't really recommend them. But there aren't really many other better alternatives then them.

[Mickeyb]

If I was you, and if you don't need bitcoins during the reparation, I would just delete my wallet from the computer and save my Electrum phrase and password. After, when your computer comes back from the reparation I would download new wallet and import my phrase. Don't leave your wallet on your machine while sending it to the repair shop. You never know.

Of course if you need your bitcoins during a repair, than you will maybe be obliged to send them to some online service.

[viking02]

Hi.  You are telling me its not safe if i send laptop to repair shop then they see my electrum wallet?  Thus they could get my bitcoins if they wanted to?

[achow101]

Hi.  You are telling me its not safe if i send laptop to repair shop then they see my electrum wallet?  Thus they could get my bitcoins if they wanted to?

It is probably safe if you have a password on the wallet. But they would be able to see how much you have. If you don't have a password on the wallet or if you have unencrypted backups, they could steal the bitcoin.

[notlist3d]

Hi.  You are telling me its not safe if i send laptop to repair shop then they see my electrum wallet?  Thus they could get my bitcoins if they wanted to?

Assuming you have it set up right they should need the password.  But if you have BtC on a compuer I would remove it from computer to a backup either on paper, or usb.  Make sure it works check before getting rid of it on computer going in for repair.

Also a lot of us on this forum likely do our own repair.  If it's in warranty period yes get the laptop fixed.  But if it is out of warranty I highly suggest looking at laptop sales before going to a repair shop.   Some times you are honestly better off buying new.  And that is sad with electronics but true in some cases.

[Gronthaing]

Also a lot of us on this forum likely do our own repair.  If it's in warranty period yes get the laptop fixed.  But if it is out of warranty I highly suggest looking at laptop sales before going to a repair shop.   Some times you are honestly better off buying new.  And that is sad with electronics but true in some cases.

True. But if the laptop is out of the warranty period he can take out the hard drive and send in the rest only. Assuming the hard drive isn't part of the problem and repairing is cheaper than buying new. Don't know if that is accepted in every shop. But that is safer not only because of the bitcoins but other personal information he may have there.

[Mickeyb]

Hi.  You are telling me its not safe if i send laptop to repair shop then they see my electrum wallet?  Thus they could get my bitcoins if they wanted to?

I am telling you that I would never do it like that. Who the hell knows what they can do, even if you have password protected your wallet. There are some quite capable people out there that can hack into anything. I am not saying this will happen, but I do say that I would be scared as shit to know that someone out there would even have a chance to try to mess with my password encrypted wallet full of coins.

[fiomcorka]

Electrum seed or wallet files or encrypted private keys are must be protected with strong pass worded zip file in multiple geo locations. There are lot of methods already discussed, we must choose one suitable for us.

[rz20]

I use electrum and its great and easy to send/receive bitcoin.  There might be a chance I will be resetting my laptop and doing a clean reinstall install of my laptop.  its windows 7.  I believe as long as i have that electrum phrase... then i would be able to recover the bitcoin i currently have?  Thus whether its my computer that gets a clean reinstallation, or new computer or use someone else's computer... that would never be an issue?


So basically I would need the long electrum phrase and my electrum password and that is all?  So basically i would install electrum on laptop after the clean reinstall then put the 20 word phrase and then the electrum password and that is all?  Or is it a long process?


The other thing I thought about was wouldn't it be a better idea to send the bitcoins to blockchain in the meantime?  Thus send the bitcoin to blockchain and keep the bitcoin there.  Then once i get my computer clean reinstall, then send the bitcoin to my new electrum wallet?  Would it be actually recommended to use the same electrum wallet if doing a clean reinstall of laptop?


The reason why i ask is this because i'm going to have my laptop looked at for another issue and if something happens to my laptop in the repair, then i want to make sure my bitcoins are safe. 


Whats the best recommendation for my situation?  Send the bitcoin to blockchain from electrum until i get my computer fixed... or just don't bother with it since i have that electrum phrase and password and thus with that, i wouldn't have any issues.  However i would like to take precaution is why i considered sending the bitcoin to either blockchain or a gambling site in the meantime.  I have a blockchain account but never stored any bitcoin there but i assume its very easy to send/receive from it.

yes having the 20 words is enough to recover any wallet with just the electrum wallet. But make sure the seed is working before deleting the keys from your pc.

If you want to see that bitcoins you can try also sending them to a mycelium wallet in your android phone and making a backup of the seed of the mycelium hd wallet.

[viking02]

Here is my issue with my laptop.  The battery doesn't work anymore.  I want to have it replaced by sending it back to them then they replace it.  However if i do this, you want me to take out the hard drive before i do this?  Thus if i do that, then no hard drive would make it safe?


The other thing is this.  Not only do i have bitcoins there... but i have poker programs there as well.  Of course it doesn't have the passwords saved.  Thus i wouldn't want anyone to be using my laptop at all.  However,  if you send a laptop back to these places, isn't it pretty most likely they aren't going to do any hacking etc or those type of things?  The other thing is whats the difference between sending them the laptop vs going to a repair shop and having it looked at?


So basically if you have bitcoins, don't send the laptop back for repair ever?  Has there been cases of this happening?  So best to just send the bitcoins to blockchain or a gambling site and thus keep the bitcoins there?  Then delete the electrum bitcoin program so they wouldn't know you had bitcoin?  However, what about the poker programs i have there.  Surely enough if they see that, they know i play online poker.


Obviously what i prefer to do is for them to ship me a new battery then i have the old battery replaced then I don't ever have to send them my laptop.  My issue with this is i dont know how long the process will take.  I don't want to ship my laptop to them then find out it would take 3 weeks plus to get my laptop back.  And of course there is that security issue.  Such as if a tech checks computer then sees bitcoin and poker accounts, then what is really the best option then.


My other issue is its very complicated to take out the hard drive.  Its basically inside where its tough to even take out the battery.  My battery isn't where i could just take battery out and put it back in.

[Mickeyb]

Then just send your coins to the reputed online wallet. There will be fine there for 3 weeks. About your poker programs, I don't know what to say. You have to take care of your sensitive informations before you send your machine for a reparation, in this way or another. It's just what it is.

I don't think anybody will be messing with your coins or poker programs, but can you be 100% sure in this? I don't think so. There must be a way also to back up your poker programs, I don't know how, I never used them. But what if your computer dies on you, do you just lose your programs and money associated with them? I don't think so! There must be a way.

[favdesu]

all you need are the seed words. I would recommend to store them in keepass ( http://keepass.info/ ) on a USB drive as backup.

[notlist3d]

Here is my issue with my laptop.  The battery doesn't work anymore.  I want to have it replaced by sending it back to them then they replace it.  However if i do this, you want me to take out the hard drive before i do this?  Thus if i do that, then no hard drive would make it safe?

Is it out of warranty on laptop?  If so I would look at buying a battery and putting it in.

Also what type of laptop and model of laptop?  Just so we can see if it's easy or a pain.

[Mickeyb]

Here is my issue with my laptop.  The battery doesn't work anymore.  I want to have it replaced by sending it back to them then they replace it.  However if i do this, you want me to take out the hard drive before i do this?  Thus if i do that, then no hard drive would make it safe?

Is it out of warranty on laptop?  If so I would look at buying a battery and putting it in.

Also what type of laptop and model of laptop?  Just so we can see if it's easy or a pain.

I am pretty sure he has an Apple computer, since he has written above in the last post that his battery is very hard to get out and he can't just simply take it of and put it back on.

[achow101]

Here is my issue with my laptop.  The battery doesn't work anymore.  I want to have it replaced by sending it back to them then they replace it.  However if i do this, you want me to take out the hard drive before i do this?  Thus if i do that, then no hard drive would make it safe?

Is it out of warranty on laptop?  If so I would look at buying a battery and putting it in.

Also what type of laptop and model of laptop?  Just so we can see if it's easy or a pain.

I am pretty sure he has an Apple computer, since he has written above in the last post that his battery is very hard to get out and he can't just simply take it of and put it back on.

A lot of computers nowadays, not just macs, have built in batteries that are almost impossible to remove.

[notlist3d]

Here is my issue with my laptop.  The battery doesn't work anymore.  I want to have it replaced by sending it back to them then they replace it.  However if i do this, you want me to take out the hard drive before i do this?  Thus if i do that, then no hard drive would make it safe?

Is it out of warranty on laptop?  If so I would look at buying a battery and putting it in.

Also what type of laptop and model of laptop?  Just so we can see if it's easy or a pain.

I am pretty sure he has an Apple computer, since he has written above in the last post that his battery is very hard to get out and he can't just simply take it of and put it back on.

A lot of computers nowadays, not just macs, have built in batteries that are almost impossible to remove.

It kinda depends a lot.  There are some that are hard to get open, then the ones that are impossible almost.  I have dealt with hard and messed with one it was a huge pain.

Some are so easy batttery is detachable, but that is shrinking to more business class laptops.   A lot of consumer laptops are more sleek and they don't want the detachable battery.

But if OP lets us know the model we can see how hard it is.

[viking02]

its one of those custom fast laptops.  Its not mac or anything like that.


Actually the laptop is still in warranty at the moment.  I know i could send it to them and then they replace my battery for free of charge.  Issue with this though is i don't know how long they will have my laptop for during this process.  The other alternative is just paying for the battery and thus they won't have my laptop.  Would you say that is best option as i dont want someone to have access to my laptop?  The other thing is didnt someone mentioned if you remove the hard drive, then its safe?  However if u do that, isn't the warranty voided?  I never heard of someone sending back a laptop and taking out the hard drive.


Also its not possible for me to take out the battery.  There are tons of screws to take out and it require screwdriver and theres even directions on how to take the battery out.  Its very complicated...
So wondering what is my best option.  Now if my laptop is out of warranty, i have an easy option since i will just buy the battery.  But since its still in warranty, is it better to just pay for the battery then when i get the battery, go to a computer shop to put in battery for me then i dont have to worry about my computer security such as bitcoin and other things?  Also they are a pretty legit company where my laptop is from... so based on that... there would probably still be technicians that might do something unethical?  Im curious if anyone has heard of anything like this happen such as returning a laptop back to repair whatever the issue is then find out their bitcoin got hacked or program got hacked...