This really sucks

[tyler]

So today i was messing around with installing linux and accidently killed the partition windows was on. This might seem like a good thing, but my wallet.dat was on my windows partition with like 500 BTC in it. I have since learned my lesson and my wallet is backed up.

What happens to these coins? will they just sit in limbo for all eternity?

Does this make the overall value of the coins worth more?

Does this pose a problem? what if, after all the coins are generated, people lose their wallets over time, and eventually theres only like 10 bitcoins left that are actually transferable?

[BrightAnarchist]

What happens to these coins? will they just sit in limbo for all eternity?

Yes.

Does this make the overall value of the coins worth more?

Yes, it is deflationary.

Does this pose a problem? what if, after all the coins are generated, people lose their wallets over time, and eventually theres only like 10 bitcoins left that are actually transferable?

Eventually the Sun will burn out and everyone on earth will die. So yes, but with 8 decimals of divisibility Bitcoins should last a long time. And even beyond that, the code can always be forked, modified, etc so that issues are fixed, or new and better currencies are spawned. That's the beauty of open source.

[grondilu]

Sorry for your loss 

Always backup your wallet.  One on a distant server, and one on a portable storage device.  Encrypt both.

Doesn't really matter for the bitcoin system.  It's just as if you did throw an once of gold in the ocean.

BTW, maybe your wallet is not lost.  Search for data recovery tools.

[BrightAnarchist]

One final thing I thought of -- you should look into undelete software immediately (before you start writing to that area of the disk). You might be able to recover the files. I used to use Active Undelete back in the day on my old windows box, it saved me a few times.

[asdf]

Does this pose a problem? what if, after all the coins are generated, people lose their wallets over time, and eventually theres only like 10 bitcoins left that are actually transferable?

Eventually the Sun will burn out and everyone on earth will die. So yes, but with 8 decimals of divisibility Bitcoins should last a long time. And even beyond that, the code can always be forked, modified, etc so that issues are fixed, or new and better currencies are spawned. That's the beauty of open source.

All that is needed is a patch to allow for increased precision of transaction amounts. Bitcoins can be divided forever, loosing coins is not a problem at all, except for the person who loses them :-(

[fergalish]

You know, maybe it's time the code *was* patched to increase the divisibility of BTC anyway.  Firstly, it might not be so long before a bitcent is worth more than a fiat cent (or whatever your smallest fiat denomination is).  In any case, I think nobody's gonna start spamming the block chain with 1 bitcent transactions (too expensive now), and so smaller transaction fees could start to be processed and the network could start to mature.

[ShadowOfHarbringer]

So today i was messing around with installing linux and accidently killed the partition windows was on.

how happen did you delete your wallet mate
simply renewing windows or formatting drive didnt do that
what actually you were trying to do .

Formatting a drive does **not** remove any data.
The data is still there, but in an unorganized fashion.

Any undelete software (example: GetDataBack NTFS) can recover the files. It also works perfectly well on encrypted Truecrypt volumes (checked myself).

Also, one need to be careful when selling a hard drive, because any data, that hasn't been securely erased or filled with zeros, can be easily resurrected.

[grondilu]

Formatting a drive does **not** remove any data.
The data is still there, but in an unorganized fashion.

Any undelete software (example: GetDataBack NTFS) can recover the files. It also works perfectly well on encrypted Truecrypt volumes (checked myself).

Also, one need to be careful when selling a hard drive, because any data, that hasn't been securely erased or filled with zeros, can be easily resurrected.

I red somewhere that the only 100% sure way to erase data on a disk is to expose it to a 1,200°C temperature.

[ShadowOfHarbringer]

Formatting a drive does **not** remove any data.
The data is still there, but in an unorganized fashion.

Any undelete software (example: GetDataBack NTFS) can recover the files. It also works perfectly well on encrypted Truecrypt volumes (checked myself).

Also, one need to be careful when selling a hard drive, because any data, that hasn't been securely erased or filled with zeros, can be easily resurrected.

I red somewhere that the only 100% sure way to erase data on a disk is to expose it to a 1,200°C temperature.

Well FBI / CIA may be able to read the data after you zero-fill it once or twice.

To absolutely securely erase the data, you need to do at least several passes, each writing random data on the drive. There is a specialized software avaiable for this, however You can just use this command several times:

Code:

dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/device

on Linux. Just boot up an Ubuntu LiveCD. Replace "/dev/device" with the disk you want to erase (eg. /dev/sda or /dev/sdb).
Of course make sure first if you are cleaning the right disk - any data will be irreversibly lost: You have been warned.