@edgar ... this is cryptoland ... even if that HDD is totally fubar there are ways to recover the keys My suggestion is to turn off that computer and pull the hdd out (don't stress it any more). Then take the time to fully access the situation and possible solutions. Lot's of googling ... hell you might just be holding onto a very secure way to store and protect private keys.
also the tech help here is A+ // i think our collective brains can get edgar his coins
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@everybody
looking at this from another angle:
1. this is bad luck for ed but an opportunity for the community to access their own UN storage security (mine shiiite too) but at least 3 digital copies and 1 paper copy for any serious stash.
dumpprivkey
<< learn how to use the console (on an offline machine)
2. this is an opportunity for UN company to create a data recovery 'UN enterprise' that specializes in very difficult HDD recovery services ... this is going to be a very BIG niche in cryptoland ... example recovery of private keys from a smashed HDD ... say it was compressed by a garbage truck ... and it holds 500BTC. If I am the owner said HDD I'd be more than happy to pay many kg of UN to recover the BTC.