Opened Bitcoin Core for the first time in years - balance is 0 (still syncing)

[Frukoz]

Hi,

Sorry if this is obvious but I could do with a bit of comforting while I wait a week for Bitcoin Core to Sync.

I have some bitcoin that I purchased from a few years back. I know how many I have and I know on which address they are. I've opened Bitcoin Core for the first time in a long time and it's going to take a while to Sync. However my balance is 0 and there is no history of transactions listed at all despite being everything being up-to-date when I last used the client years ago.

Even though it's still syncing, I would have expected my old balance to show up since the network was up-to-date when I last used the program.

Is it normal to show up as 0 until the sync is complete?

I've also noticed that the two "receiving addresses" that are listed as having being used before have no transactions associated to them.

I'm running v0.9 and still have a couple of years to go. I realise that the update is a lot quicker with a newer version of Bitcoin Core but I just want to play it safe. I have made a few copies of my wallet. Also this computer updated to Windows 10 at some point in case that might have reinstalled bitcoin core or something.

Thanks,

Frukoz

[Lauda]

Even though it's still syncing, I would have expected my old balance to show up since the network was up-to-date when I last used the program.

If you've synchronized past the date that the transactions occurred, you should see them.

Is it normal to show up as 0 until the sync is complete?

No.

I've also noticed that the two "receiving addresses" that are listed as having being used before have no transactions associated to them.

I'm running v0.9 and still have a couple of years to go.

Then again, you are running a very old version of Bitcoin Core. This is not recommended. I highly advise that you upgrade to 0.14.0. This will synchronize faster.
Alternatively, if you need quicker access to your funds PM me. Watch out for scammers and phishing links; I am sure that people will contact you in an attempt to scam you.

[OmegaStarScream]

If you know the addresses, you could try to export the private keys and use them in another wallet If you don't want to wait for sync.

[Velkro]

If you know the addresses, you could try to export the private keys and use them in another wallet If you don't want to wait for sync.

Agree, clients that are fast (SPV wallet) are Electrum and Multibit. You can try this way.
Another way is wait to sync but it can take very long time.

[Frukoz]

Thanks for the replies.

Im in no rush to retrieve the coins, just dumbfounded when I saw balance of 0! Ive updated the software as suggested.   Guess ill be sh**ing myself for the next few days while it syncs.

I think my next step once synced is to run a few of those queries like -rescan.

Then look at extracting private keys.

[Lauda]

Im in no rush to retrieve the coins, just dumbfounded when I saw balance of 0! Ive updated the software as suggested.   Guess ill be sh**ing myself for the next few days while it syncs.

You should increase your dbcache if you have extra RAM. You can do that by setting "dbcache=XXXX" (in MB) in your bitcoin.conf file.

I think my next step once synced is to run a few of those queries like -rescan.

"Few"? Nah. A single rescan should fix it.

Then look at extracting private keys.

If it doesn't, then this is your option if you want to recover it yourself. If you're stuck, as said PM me. I've recovered a fair sum of money for different people on this forum.

[gmaxwell]

I'm running v0.9 and still have a couple of years to go. I realise that the update is a lot quicker with a newer version of Bitcoin Core but I just want to play it safe. I have made a few copies of my wallet. Also this computer updated to

Anything prior to 0.10 will run so slow it might not catch up--  you can keep on with what you're doing but if it gets stuck, don't worry, just upgrade.  To play it maximally safe, make sure you have multiple good backups of the wallet.dat made while Bitcoin is not running.

Cheers.

[taxmanmt5]

Hi,

Sorry if this is obvious but I could do with a bit of comforting while I wait a week for Bitcoin Core to Sync.

I have some bitcoin that I purchased from a few years back. I know how many I have and I know on which address they are. I've opened Bitcoin Core for the first time in a long time and it's going to take a while to Sync. However my balance is 0 and there is no history of transactions listed at all despite being everything being up-to-date when I last used the client years ago.

Even though it's still syncing, I would have expected my old balance to show up since the network was up-to-date when I last used the program.

Is it normal to show up as 0 until the sync is complete?

I've also noticed that the two "receiving addresses" that are listed as having being used before have no transactions associated to them.

I'm running v0.9 and still have a couple of years to go. I realise that the update is a lot quicker with a newer version of Bitcoin Core but I just want to play it safe. I have made a few copies of my wallet. Also this computer updated to Windows 10 at some point in case that might have reinstalled bitcoin core or something.

Thanks,

Frukoz

Older versions were quirky.  Is it the actual core or a software wallet?  Either way I believe you can get the newest version, and import the wallet.dat or import via a key.  As far as displaying a balance, those old GUI's worked odd sometimes.  I remember them showing "no source block" or whatever for half of the sync.  

[virasog]

I would try getting the newest Bitcoin core and during the install put it in a new strange file directory.  If you can do this on another PC great.  Then copy, not move, the wallet data files to the new install directory and see if it will grab them and sync.  Make sure that the install files and directory for the original core is not disturbed at all, as you may have to return to that if unsuccessful.