(Not) Hacked and can not recover (solved)

[mobile4ever]

The BTC address was changed in my wallet yesterday. It came after a failed transaction in an exchange.


There was just a little money in there, that is not the worrry. The worry is that I have uninstalled and deleted the Bitcoin program twice. I even restored the computer back about four days before this event.


Guess what happens? Both new downloads of the Bitcoin program produced the same Bitcoin address.


It is the same address that it was changed to when the money was stolen. I can not download a different address.


This is a Vista laptop, so if anyone knows how I can get the guy out of my computer and get my own BTC address, please let me know.

[Photon939]

Take a step back for a moment, I have no idea what you're trying to say.

It would be good to list a sequence of events that lead you to this problem so people can help understand and possibly correct your problem.

[jwzguy]

The file that holds your bitcoin addresses does not get removed when you remove the software. This is for your own protection.

Redownloading the software won't change the address because it's still reading from the same file: wallet.dat.

Why do you think you were "hacked" ? Have you turned on wallet encryption?

[mobile4ever]

Take a step back for a moment, I have no idea what you're trying to say.

It would be good to list a sequence of events that lead you to this problem so people can help understand and possibly correct your problem.

The address in my wallet was changed. I did not change it. Then...


That is when I deleted the Bitcoin software, and downloaded new bitcoin software again from the link at (http://bitcoin.org/) all I got was the same address.... two times.


I deleted Bitcoin completely off my computer and downloaded the Bitcoin client twice and still ended up with the wrong address inside the wallet.

[allthingsluxury]

Wow I feel for you. Hopefully it all ends happily for you and it gets sorted out.

[mobile4ever]

Wow I feel for you. Hopefully it all ends happily for you and it gets sorted out.

Thanks, not much was lost.

[mobile4ever]

The file that holds your bitcoin addresses does not get removed when you remove the software. This is for your own protection.

Redownloading the software won't change the address because it's still reading from the same file: wallet.dat.

Why do you think you were "hacked" ? Have you turned on wallet encryption?

The address was changed. I did not change it.

I removed the whole bitcoin folder twice. If what you are saying is true, how did the address get changed?

[greyhawk]

I don't understand the problem. This is standard behaviour. Your bitcoin adress will change after a successful transactions. Go look in your adress book. The old one should be in there.

If the bitcoin client can't see your coins due to the de- and installation, start bitcoint-qt again with the -rescan option. Your coins should then be in there again.


EDIT: Wait, you completely deleted your bitcoin folder? The program folder or the one in the user directory? Because if it's the later, you just shot yourself in the foot real bad.

[mobile4ever]

I don't understand the problem. This is standard behaviour. Your bitcoin adress will change after a successful transactions. Go look in your adress book. The old one should be in there.

If the bitcoin client can't see your coins due to the de- and installation, start bitcoint-qt again with the -rescan option. Your coins should then be in there again.


EDIT: Wait, you completely deleted your bitcoin folder? The program folder or the one in the user directory? Because if it's the later, you just shot yourself in the foot real bad.

No I didnt. There was nothing or little in the wallet to begin with. Yes, I deleted the whole Bitcoin folder (programs/Bitcoin) two times. The same unwanted address somehow gets downloaded when I get the Bitcoin program off the web (brand new).

How in the haybale am I supposed to use the wallet (especially to receive money) if  the address is changing all the time? Why does the other computer not change its BTC address and it has plenty of transactions on it?

[markus_d]

If there is nothing in your account simply stop the client copy the old wallet.dat in the bitcoin folder
and start it back up.
It will rescan and you have your coins back.

Please don't tell you do not have a backup.
Because this is ESSENTIAL when using bitcoin!

And the wallet.dat will always give you the same bitcoin address.
Because this is what the wallet.dat does/is.

[greyhawk]

Oh, you're good then. That wallet.dat should  still be sitting pretty in your user directory. Do the -rescan thing.


The old adresses will still work. I don't know why your other PC doesn't change them. Mine does it all the time and all the old ones still work fine.

[mobile4ever]

And the wallet.dat will always give you the same bitcoin address.
Because this is what the wallet.dat does/is.

How do I get the original address back? Who changed it to begin with?

[mobile4ever]

Oh, you're good then. That wallet.dat should  still be sitting pretty in your user directory. Do the -rescan thing.


The old adresses will still work. I don't know why your other PC doesn't change them. Mine does it all the time and all the old ones still work fine.

How do you know what address to tell people to send your Bitcoins to?

I deleted the whole Bitcoin folder. Nothing is left of the program... zip.

I download a new bitcoin program and the same bitcoin address that the computer had as before is still there. It is also wrong.

[FreeMoney]

And the wallet.dat will always give you the same bitcoin address.
Because this is what the wallet.dat does/is.

How do I get the original address back? Who changed it to begin with?

You still 'have' it, it just displays a new one, usually after it is used, behavior might depend on the version, that might be why you had different experiences. It's simply to encourage you to not reuse addresses for privacy sake.

Not seeing your money and not seeing that address are not related. If you are all caught up on blocks you need to rescan like someone mentioned.

[FreeMoney]

Oh, you're good then. That wallet.dat should  still be sitting pretty in your user directory. Do the -rescan thing.


The old adresses will still work. I don't know why your other PC doesn't change them. Mine does it all the time and all the old ones still work fine.

How do you know what address to tell people to send your Bitcoins to?

I deleted the whole Bitcoin folder. Nothing is left of the program... zip.

I download a new bitcoin program and the same address that the computer had as before is still there.

You deleted the program but not the data because that is in a different place. It would be like deleting notepad, redownloading it and being shocked that you can still read mydiary.txt.

[jwzguy]

You were not hacked. You did not lose anything yet. The new address is just a new address. You still have the old one.

So calm down...and STOP trying to delete things until you understand what's going on.

[mobile4ever]

Oh, you're good then. That wallet.dat should  still be sitting pretty in your user directory. Do the -rescan thing.


The old adresses will still work. I don't know why your other PC doesn't change them. Mine does it all the time and all the old ones still work fine.

How do you know what address to tell people to send your Bitcoins to?

I deleted the whole Bitcoin folder. Nothing is left of the program... zip.

I download a new bitcoin program and the same address that the computer had as before is still there.

You deleted the program but not the data because that is in a different place. It would be like deleting notepad, redownloading it and being shocked that you can still read mydiary.txt.

Where is that other file located? This is for Vista. I read this:

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Securing_your_wallet#Making_a_new_wallet


and it says the file is at:

Windows: %APPDATA%\Bitcoin\


I deleted that whole folder → \Bitcoin\

[greyhawk]

Oh, you're good then. That wallet.dat should  still be sitting pretty in your user directory. Do the -rescan thing.


The old adresses will still work. I don't know why your other PC doesn't change them. Mine does it all the time and all the old ones still work fine.

How do you know what address to tell people to send your Bitcoins to?

I deleted the whole Bitcoin folder. Nothing is left of the program... zip.

I download a new bitcoin program and the same address that the computer had as before is still there.

You deleted the program but not the data because that is in a different place. It would be like deleting notepad, redownloading it and being shocked that you can still read mydiary.txt.

Where is that other file located? This is for Vista. I read this:

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Securing_your_wallet#Making_a_new_wallet


and it says the file is at:

Windows: %APPDATA%\Bitcoin\


I deleted that whole folder → \Bitcoin\

There are 2 bitcoin folders. There is one Programs\Bitcoin, which you said you deleted. The other is at \Users\[your Username]\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin, which you hopefully did not delete.

[Fjordbit]

You Bitcoin wallet is not under Program Files/Bitcoin. You can delete that as many times as you want and you will not delete your wallet. I will tell you where your wallet is, but first calm down and listen to the others.

Your bitcoin client changes your address pretty frequently (at least once a month). I think it's a dumb feature, because it seems to cause more confusion like this, but you are not hacked. All your addresses sit in the same wallet and your coins should all be there. If you have verified that you have actually lost coins (the balance has gone down), then you should do something about your wallet. First thing to do would be to post your old address here (you can find it under the Receive Coins tab in you client) and maybe someone can look a little more into it.

Then you can shut down you client software and go to
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Bitcoin
and RENAME your wallet.dat to wallet.bad.date

Restart your client and you will get a new address.

[mobile4ever]

You were not hacked. You did not lose anything yet. The new address is just a new address. You still have the old one.

So calm down...and STOP trying to delete things until you understand what's going on.

I already did delete things..

Which is why I am mystified that I can not get a new bitcoin address.


This:


https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Securing_your_wallet#Making_a_new_wallet


says

Depending on your OS, the wallet file will be located at:

        Windows: %APPDATA%\Bitcoin\

That folder has been deleted twice.

and the same bitcoin address gets downloaded  -  twice.


Let me explain a little better.
My original address is "Fred". I open up the program today and the address is "Bob".
I notice that "Bob" is wrong. Because I had little or no money in "Fred"... I just delete
all ( the whole thing ) of "Bob".

But,

when I redownload the bitcoin program, "Bob" is there again. I did it twice, taking Bitcoin
totally off the computer, and "Bob" pops up both times.