Write Disk Error for Blockchain: Need Coins ASAP. Please help the n00b! :)

[DigiPiggie]

Hello everyone!

Obviously I am green to BitCoin, so I am grateful that you are taking your time to lend me your expertise.

My new laptop was dropped and the motherboard was destroyed, so  I am using an older laptop with 3GB of RAM, an Intel Centrino Duo processor and a 60gb hard drive. I am running Windows 10 and using the BitCoin core wallet v0.13.0.

Yesterday, my girlfriend sent me funds via BitCoin ATM to my wallet. I went to File>Receiving Addresses, and generated an address for her labeled 'Funds from Claire'.

My problem: the sync is at a slow crawl at best, at a rate I would assume may take months. I left it running overnight only to wake up to a Disk Write error: my hard drive is completely full, with 2 years 8 weeks worth of processing left.

Explained in step-by-step terms for the noob, what can I do to gain access to the $260 in BTC that was sent to my generated Receiving Address in this wallet? I noticed there is an export function in .csv format from the Receiving Addresses screen. Can I export it and import it into an online wallet? If so,how? And what is a good wallet to use? Maybe another light-weight wallet I could use and import this .csv file into to gain access to the funds for transfer to another friend?

I really need access to these coins as soon as possible. Thanks for helping the greenhorn!

[1715582731]

1715582731

[1715582731]

1715582731

[DannyHamilton]

Option 1.

Upgrade to version 0.13.0 of Bitcoin Core and turn on pruning.  This will shrink the amount of blockchain you are storing to a more manageable level.

Option 2.

Use dumpprivkey.

Import the private key into an SPV wallet that does not require you to store the entire blockchain.

[achow101]

Yeah, I don't think your computer is powerful enough to run Bitcoin Core and sync in a reasonable amount of time.

I recommend that you use a different, lightweight wallet such as Electrum. You will need to export the private key for your address and sweep the Bitcoin into an Electrum wallet.

First, you will probably want to do this with your computer offline so that you aren't constantly downloading blocks. Next, start up Bitcoin Core. Go the Help > Debug Window and click on the Console tab. In the box at the bottom, type

Code:

dumpprivkey <address>

where <address> is the address that you received Bitcoin at. Hit enter. You should see a string in black appear with begins with a '5','K', or 'L'. This is your private key. DO NOT SHARE THIS WITH ANYONE. ANYONE WHO HAS IT CAN SPEND YOUR BITCOIN. Copy that string. Now stop Bitcoin Core and go back online.

Next go to Electrum. Make a new Electrum wallet and follow the instructions for making a new wallet. Once the wallet is up, go to Wallet > Private Keys > Sweep and enter your private key into the text box. Click Sweep and all of your funds will go into Electrum now. You can and should use Electrum now as your wallet.

Now to free up the space on your computer. You can uninstall Bitcoin Core. Then go to %appdata%/Bitcoin. Find the wallet.dat file . It contains the private key you just exported. You should hold onto that just in case. Put it in a safe location. Once you have secured the wallet.dat, you can just delete that entire folder and it will delete the blockchain and free up space.

[DigiPiggie]

Excellent advice with the Electrum!

I have,however, come across an entirely new problem.

I do not remember my wallet passphrase.

I just sat here trying walletpassphrasechange <assumed pw> <new pw> over twenty times, and I cannot remember what I set it as.

Is there any way to recover this? If not, have I lost all of that money??

[achow101]

Excellent advice with the Electrum!

I have,however, come across an entirely new problem.

I do not remember my wallet passphrase.

I just sat here trying walletpassphrasechange <assumed pw> <new pw> over twenty times, and I cannot remember what I set it as.

Is there any way to recover this? If not, have I lost all of that money??

If you do not know your passphrase, then nothing can be done, the bitcoin is lost.