Need help with Old Electrum Wallet

[Jadday]

Hi everyone,

After a long period of absence, I decided today to login to my old Electrum Wallet 2.8.3. I can login with the password and do see all transactions. But, I cannot connect to any server. It will keep on "Synchronizing". I thought I would update the Electrum Wallet but I don't have the seed anymore. My question is there any specific server that I can connect to so I can make a transfer from current version (2.8.3)? Any suggenstion?

Thanks

[hosseinimr93]

Any version of Electrum is able to read wallets created by older versions. So do not worry. Go to Electrum official website and download the latest version (Don't forget to verify the signature). You can use the new version to open your wallet.

Warning:
Download Electrum only from its official website and ignore any pop-up that asks you to update Electrum.

[jackg]

Can you backup your seed and then install a new version of electrum. I'm not sure which panel it is in exactly but you can just go through file and across (it's probably the wallet menu) and click to reveal the seed once you put your password in.

IF YOU DO MANAGE TO CONNECT TO A SERVER, DO NOT SEND YOUR FUNDS ANYWHERE. There is a vulnerability in the old electrum that allows for a phishing message to be displayed and gets you to install a fake version.

Instead download the current version of electrum from electrum.org or use a search engine and click the first NON AD link you come across.

[hosseinimr93]

.......I'm not sure which panel it is in exactly but you can just go through file and across (it's probably the wallet menu) and click to reveal the seed once you put your password in.

Yes, That's same as the current version.
The seed can be found in wallet > seed.

I just found the following post made by HI-TEC99 in 2017.

[Jadday]

Thanks guys, I did an upgrade to version 4.0.2 on the same pc and now I'm connected to the wallet.

@jackg I can't make a backup of the seed. It's under wallet but it's "greyed". I've read somewhere that it's because I'm using the "2fa".

[hosseinimr93]

I can't make a backup of the seed. It's under wallet but it's "greyed". I've read somewhere that it's because I'm using the "2fa".

There are two possibilities.
The first one is what you mentioned.
The second one is that you are using an imported wallet (A wallet created by importing private keys).

If you want to have a wallet which you know its seed phrase, I recommend you to create a new wallet and move all your fund to that.

[Finestream]

Thanks guys, I did an upgrade to version 4.0.2 on the same pc and now I'm connected to the wallet.

Good to hear that, but in my case it's different, I don't need the seed anymore when I updated my electrum wallet.
When the wallet is update to its latest version, it only requires me to log in with my password, so I'm a bit curious why you need the seed when you are just updating the wallet in the same device.

@jackg I can't make a backup of the seed. It's under wallet but it's "greyed". I've read somewhere that it's because I'm using the "2fa".

This one I don't know that you can make a 2FA on Electrum wallet, can you show us how you do it?

I try to look at my seed in my wallet but it's not greyed out.

[hosseinimr93]

This one I don't know that you can make a 2FA on Electrum wallet, can you show us how you do it?

You need to select "wallet with two-factor authentication" when creating a new wallet. (Look at the following image.)

[Jadday]

@hosseinimr93 I will definitaly use your advice and create a new wallet and save the seed this time.

@Finestream To tell you the truth, I don't remember how I created it. It was like 2-3 years ago and in version 2.8.3. But @hosseinimr93 just refreshed my mind now.

[freedomgo]

This one I don't know that you can make a 2FA on Electrum wallet, can you show us how you do it?

You need to select "wallet with two-factor authentication" when creating a new wallet. (Look at the following image.)

I would also try this one, my electrum wallet was based on standard wallet only. I didn't see there's a more secured feature in electrum wallet, most of my web wallets are in 2FA, so I am gonna explore this one. Thank you for sharing this hosseinimr93 .

by the way, What are the pros and cons, if I loss the "2FA" code, can I still access my wallet?

@hosseinimr93 I will definitaly use your advice and create a new wallet and save the seed this time.

@Finestream To tell you the truth, I don't remember how I created it. It was like 2-3 years ago and in version 2.8.3. But @hosseinimr93 just refreshed my mind now.

I'm glad problem is solve, I also want to ask from people who knows here. I am not new to electrum but I haven't explored it a lot.

[JeromeTash]

I would also try this one, my electrum wallet was based on standard wallet only. I didn't see there's a more secured feature in electrum wallet, most of my web wallets are in 2FA, so I am gonna explore this one. Thank you for sharing this hosseinimr93 .

Just a heads up, If you enable 2FA on electrum, you will be charged  certain fee. Check here for more details; https://api.trustedcoin.com/#/electrum-help
Personally I don't see any need for 2FA on electrum as long as the seed phrase back up, private keys and the Password or Pin are only known to you.

by the way, What are the pros and cons, if I loss the "2FA" code, can I still access my wallet?

I have already talked about the con which is the fee you are charged.
If you lose your 2FA code or phone, just make sure you have your seed phrase backed up. All you have to do is recover the wallet using the seed phrase and then disable the 2FA

[freedomgo]

I would also try this one, my electrum wallet was based on standard wallet only. I didn't see there's a more secured feature in electrum wallet, most of my web wallets are in 2FA, so I am gonna explore this one. Thank you for sharing this hosseinimr93 .

Just a heads up, If you enable 2FA on electrum, you will be charged  certain fee. Check here for more details; https://api.trustedcoin.com/#/electrum-help
Personally I don't see any need for 2FA on electrum as long as the seed phrase back up, private keys and the Password or Pin are only known to you.

When one user asked, I was also curious as I have the same interest and I don't know about 2FA in electrum wallet, I don't want to complicate things on my end especially on accessing my accounts. I saw the fee, not much compared to the security I will get so I can just take it, but then maybe I will try with another wallet and see if it's convenient to use.

fee from the link shared.

Pay every 20 transactions:   0.00005 BTC/tx        0.001 BTC total
Pay every 100 transactions:   0.000025 BTC/tx        0.0025 BTC total

by the way, What are the pros and cons, if I loss the "2FA" code, can I still access my wallet?

I have already talked about the con which is the fee you are charged.
If you lose your 2FA code or phone, just make sure you have your seed phrase backed up. All you have to do is recover the wallet using the seed phrase and then disable the 2FA

Very clear answer, this is all I want to know.

[HCP]

by the way, What are the pros and cons, if I loss the "2FA" code, can I still access my wallet?

Another possible "con"... is that a [2fa] wallet is a special type of 2-of-3 "multisig" wallet... It is created from 3 (master) private keys... One stored in your wallet, One controlled by TrustedCoin and One that is "hidden" but able to be retrieved by using your seed mnemonic (along with the first key) and using the "disable 2fa" option during wallet restore.

While 2fa means that you have some extra piece of mind, as it requires 2fa signoff of any transactions being sent out, it does mean that your addresses are all "P2SH" addresses and not derived from a single key.

This can mean:
- You cannot sign messages from any of these addresses
- You generally cannot (easily) claim any fork coins from these addresses
- You cannot export your "keys" and import into another wallet
- You are effectively "locked" into Electrum

And then there are the already mentioned extra fees for using the 2fa service.

I would advise that you think carefully about how you want to use your wallet now and in the future before committing to using a 2fa wallet...

[nc50lc]

by the way, What are the pros and cons, if I loss the "2FA" code, can I still access my wallet
-snip-

There's no pros when you lost your 2FA code/device  
If it's the pros and cons of using 2FA, then I'll add another that wasn't mentioned here:
Since it's a 2/3 multisig address, your transactions will be larger in size which will make your overall transaction fee (mining fee) higher than a non-multisig Electrum wallet.

For example:
"1in-2out" (1 input, 2 outputs) TXs created by a Legacy Electrum wallet will have an average of 220vB in size.
An average legacy multisig Electrum wallet's 1in-2out transaction would be 370vB; 210vB for SegWit multisig.
While it's 150vB in average for native SegWit.
The difference isn't much for 1sat/B tx fee rate or for a 1-input transaction,
but if you need to pay 50sat/B+ or have to use more inputs, the difference will be consequential.

TL;DL: That said, at least create a SegWit Multisig wallet instead of the legacy one to save transaction fees.
But just like regular SegWit addresses, some services and exchanges still don't support them.