Coins sent to MtGox > 12 hrs ago, no confirms on bitexplorer + computer is dead

[Adam]

I was having some issues with my windows computer which had a couple of bitcoins on it.  I sent them in to Mt. Gox last night, and it looks like it went through because it was deducted from my account.  I then tried to start fixing the computer, but things are worse than ever right now and I can't boot into anything.  Nothing has shown up in my Mt. Gox account yet and the transfer didn't register on bitexplorer so I'm worried it never went through, and worse yet 24 hours will pass soon so the address they went to might be no good.

I think maybe because I restarted soon after sending it never entered the block (but I'm not positive on how this works).  I saved my wallet.dat folder, installed bitcoin on another computer and put it in there.  It doesn't show any balance or any transactions so I'm not sure if it's even recognizing it.

So I guess I have three questions: 

How do I restore a wallet on a new computer?  I just put it in the bitcoin directory, not sure if that is correct or not.

When I do restore it, will it keep my transaction history and hopefully confirm my transaction which hasn't gone through yet?

Finally, what happens to coins sent to a Mt. Gox address after 24 hours assuming I don't get things figured out before then?

[1715581524]

1715581524

[1715581524]

1715581524

[1715581524]

1715581524

[casascius]

To restore a wallet on a new computer, install and run the Bitcoin software, and quit out of it after the first run.  Make sure it is fully quit and not sitting in your app tool tray.

Then go to the Bitcoin directory in Application Data (the one that contains .dat files) and just delete all files (assuming this is not one containing your real live wallet data!).  Then drop a copy of your wallet.dat into the folder, and rerun the Bitcoin client.  It should download the block chain and hopefully all should be well.  Meanwhile, a copy of the wallet.dat with your coins should be safely saved on a USB flash drive.

If your MtGox address is 24 hours old, just generate a new one.  If the transaction never went out, and doesn't appear after wallet restoration, and all your coins are there, you probably have nothing to worry about.

[Adam]

Ahh, there the transactions are.  Fear alleviated, thanks.