Incredibly silly questions by a newbie (regarding Bitcoin-Qt)

[Loozik]

Hello,

I have just downloaded Bitcoin-Qt and have a few questions. It would be extreemely kind of you if you could tell me:

1. where I can find the private key? I found the 34 character address (for receiving the money), but can't find the private key corresponding with this address (for sending the money). Will I find this key after I click:
a) File-Backup Wallet
b) Encrypt Wallet
c) Export?

2. should the whole Bitcoin-Qt application be placed in an TrueCrypt encrypted drive or just the wallet.dat file should be placed in this encrypted drive?

3. is there a manual of Bitcoin-Qt for non-geeks available?

Thank you

[1715291853]

1715291853

[1715291853]

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[1715291853]

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[1715291853]

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[1715291853]

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[snaps77]

I'd like to know this too.  I'd to run this from a flash drive if possible.

[ZoolooMaster]

Hello,

I have just downloaded Bitcoin-Qt and have a few questions. It would be extreemely kind of you if you could tell me:

1. where I can find the private key? I found the 34 character address (for receiving the money), but can't find the private key corresponding with this address (for sending the money). Will I find this key after I click:
a) File-Backup Wallet
b) Encrypt Wallet
c) Export?

2. should the whole Bitcoin-Qt application be placed in an TrueCrypt encrypted drive or just the wallet.dat file should be placed in this encrypted drive?

3. is there a manual of Bitcoin-Qt for non-geeks available?

Thank you

Go to the bitcoin wiki at: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Main_Page It has most of the necessary information to answer your questions. I'm not sure that there is any simple user-friendly way to access your private key through Bitcoin-Qt.
This can be done with Armory though. If you decide to install Armory on a computer (or OS) that remains offline you can run it in Offline mode, and will be able to print out your private key.
-If you haven't already, use the built-in encryption in Bitcoin-Qt to encrypt your wallet. If you want you can put the Wallet.dat file in a Truecrypt volume. This is the only file that matters. 
Remember that in theory these steps may be rendered void if your computer is infected.

[New_Frontier]

Not to make things more complicated but I've found that http://blockchain.info/ is a really great site for wallet management, sending coins, receiving coins, and most of all it's SUPER secure and does auto backups via E-mail.  Really an awesome site!
 

[DannyHamilton]

- snip -
1. where I can find the private key? I found the 34 character address (for receiving the money), but can't find the private key corresponding with this address (for sending the money).
- snip -

Under the "Help" menu, choose "Debug Window".

Then choose "Console".

Type:

Code:

dumpprivkey 1yourBitCoinAddressHere
[/quote]

Where "1yourBitCoinAddressHere" is the 34 character bitcoin address from your wallet that for which you want the Private Key.

[otter]

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

This is a good tutorial on securing your wallet.

[DannyHamilton]

- snip -
a) File-Backup Wallet

This will just make a copy of the wallet.dat file in a location you specify.

b) Encrypt Wallet

This will encrypt the private keys that are in your wallet.dat with the supplied password.  Any function that requires a private key (such as spending bitcoins) will require you to re-enter the password.

2. should the whole Bitcoin-Qt application be placed in an TrueCrypt encrypted drive or just the wallet.dat file should be placed in this encrypted drive?

That depends on what you are trying to accomplish.  Are you trying to hide the fact that you are running a bitcoin wallet, or are you just trying to hide your bitcoin addresses?

3. is there a manual of Bitcoin-Qt for non-geeks available?

Not that I'm aware of, but you'll find many answers by searching these forums and are welcome to ask questions here as well.

[Loozik]

- snip -
1. where I can find the private key? I found the 34 character address (for receiving the money), but can't find the private key corresponding with this address (for sending the money).
- snip -

Under the "Help" menu, choose "Debug Window".

Then choose "Console".

Type:

Code:

dumpprivkey 1yourBitCoinAddressHere
[/quote]

Where "1yourBitCoinAddressHere" is the 34 character bitcoin address from your wallet that for which you want the Private Key.

Thank you so much. This is the method of obtaining the private key I wanted

I wrote ''dumpprivkey 1DF............(my adress here)...................'' and I got this message in Console ''Private key for address 1DF...............(my adress here).................. is not known (code -4)''

what should I do about this?

Thanks

[Loozik]

2. should the whole Bitcoin-Qt application be placed in an TrueCrypt encrypted drive or just the wallet.dat file should be placed in this encrypted drive?

That depends on what you are trying to accomplish.  Are you trying to hide the fact that you are running a bitcoin wallet, or are you just trying to hide your bitcoin addresses?

I only want to hide the addresses.

Thanks

[Loozik]

I wrote ''dumpprivkey 1DF............(my adress here)...................'' and I got this message in Console ''Private key for address 1DF...............(my adress here).................. is not known (code -4)''

what should I do about this?

Thanks

My bad. I should've used a ''walletpassphrase'' command first because my wallet was already encrypted.

Thanks Dr WHO for your help 

[Loozik]

I have another silly questions based on a hypothetical situation

1. I have a print-out of my address and a print-out of the corresponding private key in my hand.

2. I also have a USB stick with a wallet.dat file in my pocket (encrypted).

3. I loose my current computer with Bitcoin-Qt (HDD's catastrophic failure or something).

4. I buy a new computer, and install Bitcoin-Qt on it.

Question:

Can I simply use the new Bitcoin-Qt instance on a new computer and simply type in the old address and the old private key from the print-outs?

or

Must I use the old wallet.dat file (swap the wallet.dat in the directory of the new Bitcoin-Qt)?

Thanks

[Winterfrost]

I have another silly questions based on a hypothetical situation

1. I have a print-out of my address and a print-out of the corresponding private key in my hand.

2. I also have a USB stick with a wallet.dat file in my pocket (encrypted).

3. I loose my current computer with Bitcoin-Qt (HDD's catastrophic failure or something).

4. I buy a new computer, and install Bitcoin-Qt on it.

Question:

Can I simply use the new Bitcoin-Qt instance on a new computer and simply type in the old address and the old private key from the print-outs?

or

Must I use the old wallet.dat file (swap the wallet.dat in the directory of the new Bitcoin-Qt)?

Thanks

You can use the "importprivkey" command to add your address to a fresh installation. You can also just put your backup wallet.dat into a new installation.

[Loozik]

You can use the "importprivkey" command to add your address to a fresh installation. You can also just put your backup wallet.dat into a new installation.

Fantastic, thank you very much.

[DannyHamilton]

2. should the whole Bitcoin-Qt application be placed in an TrueCrypt encrypted drive or just the wallet.dat file should be placed in this encrypted drive?

That depends on what you are trying to accomplish.  Are you trying to hide the fact that you are running a bitcoin wallet, or are you just trying to hide your bitcoin addresses?

I only want to hide the addresses.

Thanks

In this case, only the wallet.dat needs to be in the TrueCrypt

[Loozik]

In this case, only the wallet.dat needs to be in the TrueCrypt

Here https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Securing_your_wallet#Windows it says ''Use the third-party disk image encryption program of your choice to create and mount an encrypted disk image of at least 5GB in size. This procedure stores the entire block chain database with the wallet.dat file so the required size of the encrypted disk image required may grow in the future.''

1. It is my understanding that the space required for wallet.dat file would be substantially smaller than 5GB, am I correct? What size would you recommend for wallet.dat only?

2. What space would you recommend for the whole of Bitcoin-Qt? Although I have been using the application for a few hours the data size is now 8GB (probably due to historical block chain data) - this would mean the info on the wiki is outdated?

Thanks

[DannyHamilton]

In this case, only the wallet.dat needs to be in the TrueCrypt

Here https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Securing_your_wallet#Windows it says ''Use the third-party disk image encryption program of your choice to create and mount an encrypted disk image of at least 5GB in size. This procedure stores the entire block chain database with the wallet.dat file so the required size of the encrypted disk image required may grow in the future.''

1. It is my understanding that the space required for wallet.dat file would be substantially smaller than 5GB, am I correct? What size would you recommend for wallet.dat only?

I tend not to have a lot of addresses in my wallet.  In general it appears that mine is measured in kilobytes.  As such I'd think 100 megabytes would be plenty for most people.

2. What space would you recommend for the whole of Bitcoin-Qt? Although I have been using the application for a few hours the data size is now 8GB (probably due to historical block chain data) - this would mean the info on the wiki is outdated?

Yes, and the blockchain continues to grow indefinetly.  There is a lot of talk that it will start growing by about 1 megabyte every 10 minutes pretty soon.  That would work out to somewhere around 52 Gigabytes per year.

[Loozik]

Thank you very much.

Regards