I'm an idiot and I've lost everything...

[AbeTheCat]

So last october I bought some bitcoins for the first time (0.7) and left them in my Electrum wallet.

I completely forgotten about them due to getting a new computer and all sorts only with the recent media hype I checked my Electrum to see if they were still there and realised I can't send them as I've forgotten my password.

I also have no record of my Seed so restoring isn't really an option.

My password was something basic IIRC, like Molly88 or Queen99 so is there any brute force app that can try and guess this? If not does that mean the BTC is gone for good?

Thanks

[1714122471]

1714122471

[1714122471]

1714122471

[torusJKL]

This thread is about brute forcing the bitcoin core client but it should be possible change it in order to be used with electrum:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=170694.0

[shorena]

Dont bother with the ruby scripts, they are slow.

use this -> https://github.com/gurnec/btcrecover/blob/master/TUTORIAL.md#btcrecover-tutorial

if you need help let me know, maybe I can assist.

[jackg]

So last october I bought some bitcoins for the first time (0.7) and left them in my Electrum wallet.

I completely forgotten about them due to getting a new computer and all sorts only with the recent media hype I checked my Electrum to see if they were still there and realised I can't send them as I've forgotten my password.

I also have no record of my Seed so restoring isn't really an option.

My password was something basic IIRC, like Molly88 or Queen99 so is there any brute force app that can try and guess this? If not does that mean the BTC is gone for good?

Thanks

Have you tried search engines and Github. You should check Github.com to see if there is anything that can help you. All of the programs are open source so be careful when downloading. You can view the source files before downloading so you may be able to check for viruses. Try to find something in a programming lanugage you can understand or find the easiest to analyse quickly.

Ignore this now. Seems someone has found what you may be looking for while i was typing.

[AbeTheCat]

Thanks @Shorena, I keep getting...

Last login: Sat Nov  7 22:09:31 on ttys000
MacBook-Pro:~ Liam$ /Users/Liam/Downloads/btcrecover-master/btcrecover.py ; exit;
btcrecover.py: error: argument --tokenlist or --passwordlist is required (or file btcrecover-tokens-auto.txt must be present)
logout

[shorena]

Thanks @Shorena, I keep getting...

Last login: Sat Nov  7 22:09:31 on ttys000
MacBook-Pro:~ Liam$ /Users/Liam/Downloads/btcrecover-master/btcrecover.py ; exit;
btcrecover.py: error: argument --tokenlist or --passwordlist is required (or file btcrecover-tokens-auto.txt must be present)
logout

You need to create a token file[1] E.g. if you know the password is a first name from Harry Potter followed by 2 numbers you would create a file like:

Code:

Bathsheda Ludo Bathilda Katie Harry Cuthbert Phineascurrent Regulus Sirius Amelia Susan Terry Lavender Millicent Charity Frank
+ %2d$

The names are all on the same line so only one gets used per try.


[1] https://github.com/gurnec/btcrecover/blob/master/TUTORIAL.md#the-token-file

[AbeTheCat]

Thanks for the prompt reply @shorena, I get that and I have done, only i'm receiving "no such file" when its in the same directory and unzipped? :S

Screenshot of directory...

http://s23.postimg.org/wc6p0xqkb/Screen_Shot_2015_11_07_at_10_41_49_PM.png

[shorena]

What exactly are you entering? The below example works fine for me.

Code:

>python btcrecover.py --wallet example_wallet_file.dat --token tokens_4_example.txt

[AbeTheCat]

http://s29.postimg.org/5qf35xr6f/Screen_Shot_2015_11_08_at_11_14_41_AM.png

I've tried typing it as you suggested, dragging and dropping the file into the terminal window also, no luck :S

[AbeTheCat]

Ahh thanks@nerioseole, I now get this - which i guess 'done' means it didn't find anything?

btcrecover.py: warning: can't find PyCrypto, using aespython instead
Counting passwords ...
Done                                                                         

[shorena]

Ahh thanks@nerioseole, I now get this - which i guess 'done' means it didn't find anything?

btcrecover.py: warning: can't find PyCrypto, using aespython instead
Counting passwords ...
Done                                                                          

That does not look right.

this is what it looks like to me when it finds the password:

Code:

>python btcrecover.py --wallet wallet_abc123def_.dat --token tokens_abc123def_.txt
Using 4 worker threads
34 of 130 [###########---------------------------------] 0:00:01, ETA:  0:00:05
Password found: 'abc123def'

and this when not:

Code:

>python btcrecover.py --wallet wallet_abc123def_.dat --token tokens_abc123def_.txt
Using 4 worker threads
130 of 130 [########################################################] 0:00:06,
Password search exhausted

The wallet file user above is from bitcoin core, but the output is the same for other wallet files as well.

Edit:

Yes electrum looks the same (well its faster...):

Code:

>python btcrecover.py --wallet wallet_abc123def_electrum.dat --token tokens_abc123def_hard.txt
Using 4 worker threads
25215 of 676000 [#-------------------------------------] 0:00:00, ETA:  0:00:03
Password found: 'abc123def'

Code:

>python btcrecover.py --wallet wallet_abc123def_electrum.dat --token tokens_abc123def_hard.txt
Using 4 worker threads
676 of 676 [########################################################] 0:00:00,
Password search exhausted

[shorena]

I never used this program, but just did, and agree with you... I got this

Code:

python btcrecover.py --wallet /Users/XXX/.electrum/wallets/mywallet --token recover.txt
btcrecover.py: warning: can't find PyCrypto, using aespython instead
Using 2 worker threads
0 of 1 [---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------] 0:00:00, ETA:  --:--:--
Password found: 

I am on Mac also - like he is.

and this when not successful:

Code:

python btcrecover.py --wallet /Users/XXX/.electrum/wallets/mywallet --token recover.txt
btcrecover.py: warning: can't find PyCrypto, using aespython instead
Using 2 worker threads
1 of 1 [#############################################################################################################################################################################] 0:00:00, 
Password search exhausted

... oh well - newbies... follow the instructions the next time!

Its a bit complicated, so it might be difficult to follow the instructions. I know I had trouble getting the GPU to work properly and I wouldnt consider myself a newbie.

I assume you removed your password in the above because you ran it against the wallet file you normally use.

I usually just use empty wallets for testing and copy them into the same folder as the python script and the token file.

@AbeTheCat If you want I can give it a try. Mail is shor3na@gmail.com, PGP key has the fingerprint 4E32 814C 98C2 B12E C473 228B 940A 17DB BD6B 68E2 if you want to encrypt the data with PGP. You can also use other common tools for encryption (zip, rar, etc.) with a password and send the password via PM. I will be out for a hours soon though, so I will not be able to get to it right away. Consider it a last resort option though, its always better to do it yourself.

[jackg]

At least you didn't loose 7500 BTC like this guy:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/27/hard-drive-bitcoin-landfill-site

Probably Easy to find for more than £2 million in a small landfill site.

[AbeTheCat]

Thanks for all your input everyone I appreciate it.

Yes I'm a complete newbie to it all @nerioseole and in hindsight should have paid more attention to what I was doing when setting up electrum though I agree something should be put in place to improve the user experience and prevent others like myself from cocking up - it's so easy to skip past things when you're eager and before you know it you're in the proverbial...

I may take you up on the offer if I cant suss it tongiht @shorena, thankyou

Liam

[AbeTheCat]

Weird thing happened tonight, I've been thinking hard and I tried an old password - I clicked the seed button on electrum in the bottom right hand corner then entered what I believed could be the password and electrum didnt say incorrect password like it usually does, instead it shown me the below window...

http://s18.postimg.org/mnflqty2x/Screen_Shot_2015_11_11_at_8_48_38_PM.png

Does this mean my password is close? If I try to change my password however it says the password is wrong, so why does it let me see the above?

[ThomasV]

Weird thing happened tonight, I've been thinking hard and I tried an old password - I clicked the seed button on electrum in the bottom right hand corner then entered what I believed could be the password and electrum didnt say incorrect password like it usually does, instead it shown me the below window...



Does this mean my password is close? If I try to change my password however it says the password is wrong, so why does it let me see the above?

that's a bug in an old version of Electrum; in some occasions, instead of saying 'incorrect password', it displayed an empty seed phrase.
it does not mean that your password is close. all it means is that you are running an outdated version.

[AbeTheCat]

Booo, so it doesn't mean im getting close?

[torusJKL]

Booo, so it doesn't mean im getting close?

Unfortunately Electrum can't know if you are getting close.
In order to do that it would need to know the password in clear text before you enter it (e.g. by saving it to your drive).
That would be a security issue.