slow blockchain!!!

[DannyHamilton]

. . . it has both wallet.dat files, the one that i backed up created on 11/23 and another one that says modified 11/26. . .

This is what I suspected.  Are they both the EXACT SAME filename?  Same capitalization, same spelling, etc?
Bitcoin-Qt is looking for a very specific filename for the wallet.dat file.  The way the 11/26 filename looks... That is probably the wallet.dat that you currently see in Bitcoin-Qt.  It is the filename that Bitcoin-Qt looks for.  If there are ANY differences in the filename of the 11/23 file, then that is your problem, and it will be easy to fix.

Assuming that you see a difference in the filename...
 

• Stop the Bitcoin-Qt program, and wait for it to fully shut down
• Change the name of the 11/26 file to 2012-11-26.wallet.dat
• Change the name of the 11/23 file to exactly what the 11/26 filename used to be
• Start Bitcoin-Qt back up
• Confirm that your bitcoin address is there now

If you don't see any differences in the filename, then do not follow those instructions, we need to continue to figure out what happened before we make any changes.

[pfunk]

database
.lock
_db.001 thru _db.006
addr
blk0001
blkindex
db
debug
wallet
wallet1

i looked in the recycling and they are the same minus wallet1

and on the flash drive there is
wallet
wallet1

i saw your post but both the wallet1 11/23 and wallet 11/26 are in the appdata-->roaming-->bitcoin folder

[pfunk]

should i proceed with what you said if both the wallet1 11/23 and wallet 11/26 are in the appdata-->roaming-->bitcoin folder?

[DannyHamilton]

wallet
wallet1

i saw your post but both the wallet1 11/23 and wallet 11/26 are in the appdata-->roaming-->bitcoin folder

This is what is causing your problem.
The wallet cannot be named wallet1.  If it is then Bitcoin-Qt won't see it.  Even if it is in the directory, Bitcoin-Qt won't care.  It won't even look at a file named wallet1  It will ONLY use a file named wallet.

Stop Bitcoin-Qt
Wait for it to shut down all the way
Change the name of the "wallet" file (the one from 11/26) to OLDwallet
Change the name of the "wallet1" file (the one from 11/23) to wallet
Start Bitcoin-Qt
Check and see if your addresses are there

[pfunk]

i tried what you said and the wallet says "rescanning" for a while now.....

[DannyHamilton]

i tried what you said and the wallet says "rescanning" for a while now.....

That is a good sign.  That means that is loaded up with a different wallet.dat than before.  It has to scan the blockchain that it has downloaded so far so it can determine what coins for the addresses in that wallet are in the downloaded portion of the blockchain.

[pfunk]

So it could take quite a while? 

[DannyHamilton]

So it could take quite a while? 

As long as your wallet.dat file is not damaged, you should be ok.  It may take a while.  Try to be patient at this point.  If after an hour it is still "rescanning" you can try asking for advice here in the forum.  I may not be around at that time, so you may need to get assistance from someone else if the "rescanning" doesn't complete successfully.

[pfunk]

It's kicked me out 4 times now!  I've restarted and it will say scanning for about 5 minutes the  say that it has quit working.

[DannyHamilton]

It's kicked me out 4 times now!  I've restarted and it will say scanning for about 5 minutes the  say that it has quit working.

That's not good.  And unfortunately we've moved beyond my ability to help you.  I'm not sure why Bitcoin-Qt won't load up the wallet that you backed up on 11/23.  There may be something that can be done to get it to work.  If not then there is a tool (pywallet) for dumping out the contents of the wallet so that you can load them into a new wallet, but I'm not familiar with how to use that tool.

Hopefully you will get some assistance from someone with a bit more expertise than me.  As long as you have that wallet.dat, there is a pretty good chance that you'll be able to recover the coins with the right help, so be careful not to lose it.  I assume that right now you have 2 copies (one on the flashdrive and one in %appdata%/roaming/bitcoin).

[Stephen Gornick]

There may be something that can be done to get it to work. 

Looks like it ended well.  From another thread:

thanks everyone for your help, i got coins!!

[DannyHamilton]

Looks like it ended well.  From another thread:

thanks everyone for your help, i got coins!!

Glad to hear.  Thanks for the update.