1 final attempt before giving up on bitcoin for good!

[pinksheep]

I have now spent 2 full weeks trying to make a paper wallet & I'm not much further on than I was on day 1. If I don't make progress today, I'm gonna sell my bitcoin (at a susbstantial loss) & forget about them, rather than leaving them on my computer for somebody to hack. I have tried without success to get bitaddress.org to work offline, so today I am trying brainwallet.org & bitcoinpaperwallet.com, but so far I'm encountering the same problem. When I download bitcoinpaperwallet.com, I am told to extract the ZIP file. How do I do that? Yesterday I tried using 77zip but Kaspersky told me it would cause harm to my PC.

[Mitchell]

Windows can extract ZIP files without external help. If it can't then it isn't a .ZIP file. Get WinRar or 7zip for those.

I, however, am wondering why would you choose to dive into the Bitcoin world if you can't even master a task like opening and extracting a ZIP file. No offence, but you should be able to do something that simple.

[pinksheep]

I'm entering the bitcoin world in the hope of making a few pounds. As I've said before, I have a 1st class honours degree from Oxford University, one of the top 2 in the UK, & I came first in my year in the majority of my subjects, so I don't consider myself stupid!!. But this was just before the advent of everything being computerised.

[pinksheep]

No matter what I do, bitaddress, bitcoinpaperwallet & brainwallet all try to go online when I try to generate wallets offline.

[mprep]

No matter what I do, bitaddress, bitcoinpaperwallet & brainwallet all try to go online when I try to generate wallets offline.

How did you download the website? From a direct download from a third-party websote or saved it for offline browsing through your browser?

[pinksheep]

I saved it for offline browsing through my browser.

[champsak]

I have now spent 2 full weeks trying to make a paper wallet & I'm not much further on than I was on day 1. If I don't make progress today, I'm gonna sell my bitcoin (at a susbstantial loss) & forget about them, rather than leaving them on my computer for somebody to hack. I have tried without success to get bitaddress.org to work offline, so today I am trying brainwallet.org & bitcoinpaperwallet.com, but so far I'm encountering the same problem. When I download bitcoinpaperwallet.com, I am told to extract the ZIP file. How do I do that? Yesterday I tried using 77zip but Kaspersky told me it would cause harm to my PC.

If you're unable to do this. How about encrypting the wallet.dat file using true-crypt? better than nothing.

[mprep]

I saved it for offline browsing through my browser.

Then you should be OK if you're using bitadress or similiar. Have you just tried denying online access and see if it generated the private and public keys?

[pinksheep]

mprep,

It may be something to do with the fact that when I go to save it, it doesn't offer me the option of saving as bitaddress.org.htm, but just as bitaddress.org. I have tried to follow the advice in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=872eSnlKUeg. Another thing, though I'm sure it's not important, in the video he mentions seeing https & a green lock when saving bitaddress. The lock on my screen isn't green, it's black, but that doesn't sound like it's an important detail. In reference to your 2nd post, I have disconnected but nothing happens at all, It still tries to go online.

champsak,
                 i know nothing about true-crypt, that's something I'd have to look into.

Thank you both for your replies.

[mprep]

mprep,

It may be something to do with the fact that when I go to save it, it doesn't offer me the option of saving as bitaddress.org.htm, but just as bitaddress.org. I have tried to follow the advice in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=872eSnlKUeg. Another thing, though I'm sure it's not important, in the video he mentions seeing https & a green lock when saving bitaddress. The lock on my screen isn't green, it's black, but that doesn't sound like it's an important detail. In reference to your 2nd post, I have disconnected but nothing happens at all, It still tries to go online.

champsak,
                 i know nothing about true-crypt, that's something I'd have to look into.

Thank you both for your replies.

What browser are you using to save it for offline browsing?

[pinksheep]

have tried to save it using both firefox and google chrome

[mprep]

have tried to save it using both firefox and google chrome

A primitive question but whatever: Have you tried just adding .html at the end of the name while saving the webpage?

[pinksheep]

I have tried adding htm. but not html. - is there a difference?

[mprep]

I have tried adding htm. but not html. - is there a difference?

I don't think so, but just in case try adding it in, other than that, there are probably much more qualified people who could share their advice, wouldn't they?

[softron]

Bitaddress works fine for me you should save the downloaded page, check save as HTML, check work offline in browser menu and relaunch saved webpage. If u still get problems change ur browser.

[softron]

The problem is from ur browser, which OS and browser version do u use.

[pinksheep]

I'm using Windows 7. I know it's a daft question, but how do I find out which browser version I'm using?

[softron]

Help -- about.  also check work offline on d browser menu. 

[RodeoX]

Perhaps your over thinking this a bit. Why not just move your wallet.dat file to a USB stick and then restart bitcoin-QT? When it restarts it will create a new empty wallet. Use that empty wallet to stay synced with the network. When you want to spend, put your full wallet back and restart qt.
This way your BTC has little exposure to the internet but you are constantly synced. That seems way less risky than downloading a program to help with your bitcoins. There are almost no programs I would trust unless I download the source code and compile it myself.
Lastly, why on Earth would you sell at a loss? That makes no sense whatsoever as you are locking in your losses. Why not put your wallet.dat file in a bank until you have a better plan. The worse that can happen is a loss, which you seem committed to anyway.  It is, IMO, more likely that you will see profits in the future. But it's your money.  And don't sell your coins, spend them. It is a hell of a lot easier and you will get more value for them than a sale for fiat.
Cheers M8

[pinksheep]

went on a site called whatismybrowser.com, it says it's Firefox 27, it also says java is not detected but I;m sure it should be.

Also another daft question from a computer illiterate person, where do i find my browser menu?