If my computer fell in to a pile of burning $$'s? Wallet issue.

[wingding]

Say I experience following scenario:

1. I have made an address in my Bitcoin wallet and received some btc on it.
2. I make a backup and save it on a usb-stick.
3. I receive a new amount of btc - same address.
4. My computer falls out of window, 6th floor, into a fire (of worthless $ bills by the way..)
5. I get a new computer, install a new wallet.

Then what? Do I replace the .dat file that came with the new wallet with the one on my stick? Will I still have the btc's i received in the last transaction, before the mishap with the computer???

[christop]

Yes to both of your questions. Your wallet.dat file contains private keys that authorize you to spend money that is associated with those keys.

One little catch is that the Bitcoin-qt client sends change to a hidden address every time you send money from that wallet. The wallet contains 100 addresses by default and picks a different address for each sending transaction, so you would have to make a new backup of the wallet.dat file at least every 100 times you send money. If you only receive money you don't have to worry about making more backups.

[wingding]

Yes to both of your questions. Your wallet.dat file contains private keys that authorize you to spend money that is associated with those keys.

Thanks for a clearyfying answer. It was like I presumed/hoped. However, is the .dat file produced by the backup encrypted with the same phrase as the wallet is?

[coqui33]

Yes. Your money is in "the cloud", not on your hard drive nor on your flashdrive. To spend your money (to send it to someone else's address) you must import your money's privkey into software that can send the money. Your wallet is merely a handy place to store your privkeys. So, yes you can import the wallet from the flashdrive into any sending program capable of importing wallets. And most programs can do this, even those on smartphones, tablets, desktops, or websites like blockchain.info.

In fact, if you know your privkeys (and you really should), you can import them directly even without the wallet on the flashdrive.

[wingding]

In fact, if you know your privkeys (and you really should), you can import them directly even without the wallet on the flashdrive.

How can I find the priv keys?

[coqui33]

How can I find the priv keys?

Your wallet software should have a way of exporting, printing, or even displaying each address's private key as a qr code. Look around the menus, especially looking for "advanced" or "console command" options. What software are you using?

This is so important that a bitcoin sub-culture has arisen to discuss carving privkeys into a piece of steel, printing them on paper and storing them in a safe-deposit box, or even engraving them inside a finger-ring. Personally, I think these methods are overkill. The important thing is to know them and keep them secret.