Restoring an old 'wallet.dat' file

[Evilish]

Hi all,
I am trying to restore this old 'wallet.dat' file that I found under an old backup and when I try to import it in Bitcoin QT (Windows) it keeps failing with this error:



Strangely enough the file is saved under the name 'bitcoin.dat' which I think I might have renamed it to label it properly.

The file is from 2012-2013 if that's of any help. And the file size is "80.0 KB (81,920 bytes)". Does anyone know how I can restore it?

I also have a backup for an old Multibit wallet, file extension ".wallet" (Sized 137 bytes (137 bytes)). Which wallet can I use to restore it? I tried Googling a bit and none of the results I found were helpful.

I am like 99% sure I already sweeped these a few years back and just want to make sure I am not leaving anything behind.

Would appreciate any help on this.

[DireWolfM14]

Are you running a full node, or are you just running QT pruned?  I think you need to be connected a full, unpruned node or download the whole blockchain yourself.  The error message is telling you that your node is pruned to a block more recent than the one to which the wallet was most recently synchronized. 

[ranochigo]

Strangely enough the file is saved under the name 'bitcoin.dat' which I think I might have renamed it to label it properly.

The file is from 2012-2013 if that's of any help. And the file size is "80.0 KB (81,920 bytes)". Does anyone know how I can restore it?

Download the blockchain again. That's the only way you'll be sure that you get all the funds within the wallet.

If you're sure your last transaction was made about 2012-2013, you can synchronize till the blocks in that timeframe. It should show you the relevant transactions during that period of time.

I also have a backup for an old Multibit wallet, file extension ".wallet" (Sized 137 bytes (137 bytes)). Which wallet can I use to restore it? I tried Googling a bit and none of the results I found were helpful.

I am like 99% sure I already sweeped these a few years back and just want to make sure I am not leaving anything behind.

Would appreciate any help on this.

Seems like a Multibit Classic wallet file. If you've exported an unencrypted backup, you can restore it by opening it with a text editor/notepad and the private keys should be organized neatly with the corresponding addresses.

[NeuroticFish]

I also have a backup for an old Multibit wallet, file extension ".wallet" (Sized 137 bytes (137 bytes)). Which wallet can I use to restore it? I tried Googling a bit and none of the results I found were helpful.

If it's unencrypted, you'll have pairs <private_key> <export date> and the privaste keys can be easily imported to Electrum (but make sure you download it from electrum.org and you verify the signature before install/run!)

If it's encrypted, you'll have more work to do.
Take a look at this post: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5304446.msg55964982#msg55964982
If you are in luck, the installer link works (for me it just did, for Windows). Then you could use it to import the encrypted .wallet and export it unencrypted so you can use the private key in another wallet.
That post also shows what to do if you cannot or don't want to install old Multibit.

[ranochigo]

For wallet.dat file, if you don't want to download 300GB+ of blockchain again, you could use tools such as pywallet to extract the private key and import it to lightweight wallet (such as Electrum).

I think dumpwallet would suffice, doesn't need to be synchronized and shows all the keys.

OP, if you choose to not synchronize but can put up with importing loads of addresses, you can go to Windows>Console and type in the following.

Code:

dumpwallet Directory/wallet.txt

Replacing the directory with whichever directory you'd like.