How to restore wallet from backup?

Hey all,

So I reformatted my computer without sending my coins to Mt. Gox. D'oh.

BUTTTTT...I have a system backup from a week ago. Great, right?

Well...I restored the folder C:\\Program Files(X86)\Bitcoin , but it doesn't have the 25 odd coins that I had in my wallet...? What? Am I missing something? If I restore the entire folder Bitcoin from the program files folder, shouldn't it still have all my bitcoins in it?

What am I missing? :/

For most users, this is the following locations:
C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Application data\Bitcoin (XP)

C:\Users\YourUserName\Appdata\Roaming\Bitcoin (Vista and 7)

That's where your wallet is stored.

Edit:

Go to Start -> Run (or press WinKey+R) and run this:
explorer %APPDATA%\Bitcoin

Update: It seems like it lost all the previous addresses it had? Is that stored somewhere else?

{edit: seems like the guy above me ansewred that quesiton lol}

Okay, so I restored my wallet.dat to where it was located in

C:\Users\My Name\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin

I've downloaded the latest bitcoin client, but it still can't seem to find any of my previous receiving addresses? How do I make my bitcoin client use my old wallet.dat file?

Are your coins showing up?

Not so much...

Does the new bitcoin client that I just DLed overwrite my old wallet.dat file?

I have no idea how a System Restore works and what it does/does not save. Nor do I know if it'll overwrite a previous wallet.dat.

Have you downloaded the whole blockchain yet?

No, I haven't. I'm just checking previous receiving addresses portion of the client and it comes up with nothing. Sad

If i recall correctly, when I restored my wallet it showed the addresses, but did not update the balance until it progressed through the chain.

My first thought is your 25btc got swept up during the format.

Woot! Figured it out! Basically, windows wasn't letting me restore directly to Appdata.

I need to restore to a temp location first, then overwrite the Bitcoin folder in C:\Users\Me\AppData\Roaming with the folder I restored. Woohooo!

Got an address for me to tip to? You may as well get some of these rescued coins! Thanks for helping.

Quote from: ensign_lee on September 09, 2011, 02:42:01 AM

1AeW7QK59HvEJwiyMztFH1ubWPSLLKx5ym Grin

btc sent your way! ^^

Quote from: ensign_lee on September 09, 2011, 02:45:45 AM

btc sent your way! ^^

You doubled my net worth. My poor 5770...

Anyway, thanks much!

Side Note: This has been my first 'peer' related Bitcoin transaction. Feels weird seeing commerce happen 'just like that'.

Awesome.

Congrats. Careful of scams. I *just* lost 52 btc that way.... ><