My Wallet is empty after my windows session is reset

[bitty55]

Hello all,
I am running in trouble with my Wallet , i bought Bitcoin from

https://bitcoin.org/en/buy
 
One thing sure none stole anything from my Wallet , but my Windows session was reset (like start a new profile), now my Wallet is empty whenever i open "Bitcoin.com.exe" it show me "creating a new wallet" ??
i still have my old wallet number and i still have the transaction information when i bought the bitcoin  , but not sure how to get the put the old wallet number back into the wallet ?

i know it's a novice question but i hope i can get some advice on how to deal with this issue ? 

Thank you in advance

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[1715158132]

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[ranochigo]

You need the wallet.dat to recover the wallet. Did you copy it out before you reset your Window session, which I assume that means the data during your 'session' is deleted?

[bitty55]

You need the wallet.dat to recover the wallet. Did you copy it out before you reset your Window session, which I assume that means the data during your 'session' is deleted?

Hi ranochigo ,
where can i find this wallet.dat ? and if i do find it on old session how to restore it ?

[BitMaxz]

Check the list of data directory of bitcoin core wallet from here https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Data_directory

Under that folder, you should see the wallet.dat.


Can you clarify this "Bitcoin.com.exe" is that the name of the wallet you currently used?

[bitty55]

Check the list of data directory of bitcoin core wallet from here https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Data_directory

Under that folder, you should see the wallet.dat.


Can you clarify this "Bitcoin.com.exe" is that the name of the wallet you currently used?

i search the whole C: drive for wallet.dat and doesn't exist , i looked to backup from last week and no directory called Bitcoin under APPDATA ? or file called wallet.dat ?

i download my wallet from

https://wallet.bitcoin.com/

 and after i decompress the zip it gave me the program called "Bitcoin.com.exe" is the one who shows me my wallet

Any idea ?

[shinohai]

Sadly you have downloaded a wallet from Roger Ver's fake Bitcoin scam site it appears.

The actual Bitcoin core wallet is available at: https://bitcoincore.org/en/download/

SFYL

[bitty55]

Sadly you have downloaded a wallet from Roger Ver's fake Bitcoin scam site it appears.

The actual Bitcoin core wallet is available at: https://bitcoincore.org/en/download/

SFYL

What ?   

[LoyceV]

i download my wallet from
https://wallet.bitcoin.com/

This link: How to restore the wallet shows:

12 - Word recovery phrases

i still have my old wallet number and i still have the transaction information when i bought the bitcoin

What do you mean by "wallet number"? Any chance you wrote down those 12 words?

my Windows session was reset (like start a new profile)

If all else fails, you may be able to find back your wallet using data recovery software.

[bitty55]

Hi LoyceV

12 - Word recovery phrases

I have not create that yet, the problem happened just after i purchased my Bitcoin
 

What do you mean by "wallet number"? Any chance you wrote down those 12 words?

I mean this number : 1KcVWLkT2N8wUBJRmBSG3YuFv98fvibG2P
and no i have not done that yet

so this website is not legitimate, it has HTTPS and google adverse it ? where to report this scam ?

https://wallet.bitcoin.com


What confuse me is that i have all the folder + files from my previous session and nothing was delete , i understand that i have not backup it yet but why my wallet has changed and my bitcoins are no longer here? they must be some sort of location (like: temporary files, windows registry key, APPDATA file....) where the software was reading my old wallet ?

Thank you for your patience with my novice questions

[LoyceV]

I have not create that yet, the problem happened just after i purchased my Bitcoin

Too little too late, but for any future wallets: you should always make a backup before funding it.
 

I mean this number : 1KcVWLkT2N8wUBJRmBSG3YuFv98fvibG2P

There goes 0.00290000 BTC / 112.46 USD

so this website is not legitimate, it has HTTPS and google adverse it ? where to report this scam ?

https://wallet.bitcoin.com

HTTPS doesn't necessarily mean a website is legit. Bitcoin.com is owned by someone who used it to sell his own Forkcoin ("Bitcoin Cash") by pretending to be selling the real Bitcoin. In your case, you bought real Bitcoin though.

What confuse me is that i have all the folder + files from my previous session and nothing was delete , i understand that i have not backup it yet but why my wallet has changed and my bitcoins are no longer here? they must be some sort of location (like: temporary files, windows registry key, APPDATA file....) where the software was reading my old wallet ?

I've never tried that wallet (and don't use Windows), so I can't tell you where it is. I'm not sure what a "session reset" does: maybe it restores only certain (registry) files?

[NotATether]

Please clarify what you mean by "Windows session is reset". Did you click on the "Reset this PC" button on Windows 10? If that's the case then which option did you select after that - "Keep my files" or "Remove everything"?  

If you clicked on "Keep my files", there should be a C:\Windows.old folder present with everything in your AppData folder (FYI: it also saves files located at the C:\ProgramData folder), so check if your bitcoin wallet.dat is inside C:\Windows.old\Users\yourusername\AppData\Roaming\<whatever the program's name or vendor is> .

What confuse me is that i have all the folder + files from my previous session and nothing was delete , i understand that i have not backup it yet but why my wallet has changed and my bitcoins are no longer here? they must be some sort of location (like: temporary files, windows registry key, APPDATA file....) where the software was reading my old wallet ?

As I have explained above, when you reset Windows, it moved your settings from your AppData folder to the Windows.old folder. They are not "lost". Since there's nothing left in AppData, all of your programs think they're starting again for the first time.

In particular, your wallet file was moved there so it created a new, completely different wallet and made you different addresses.

so this website is not legitimate, it has HTTPS and google adverse it ? where to report this scam ?

https://wallet.bitcoin.com

No you weren't scammed. That's Bitcoin.com's wallet software (but because of various historical events that happened in the past some people call it that - it's not relevant to your problem though. What is relevant is that it's not a "fake wallet that will steal your money" kind of scam).

[bitty55]

Hi NotATether ,

Please clarify what you mean by "Windows session is reset". Did you click on the "Reset this PC" button on Windows 10? If that's the case then which option did you select after that - "Keep my files" or "Remove everything"? 

Here what happened , i do have two account in my computer, the admin account and normal user account (less privileges), in normal daily use i log into the normal user account (not Admin), this account stopped working (corrupted , i can't login anymore), so i have created an new user account and copied the files from the other "corrupted account" , this is what i mean but rest my session , i did not re-install Windows or anything else,

As I have explained above, when you reset Windows, it moved your settings from your AppData folder to the Windows.old folder. They are not "lost". Since there's nothing left in AppData, all of your programs think they're starting again for the first time.

Yes i understand and that's what i thought is going to fix my problem , however like i said i couldn't find "wellet.dat" anywhere , and not even find it for the new wallet? what made me think that "wallet.dat" is created only after i do "backup the wallet" and this raised an other question, if i have not backup the data yet i should lost my wallet as soon as i close the wallet ? but it's not the case i used the wallet for days without backup it and the wallet number did not change , so the program must be reading the information in some location that i am not sure yet  .... i hope this clarify it ?

No you weren't scammed. That's Bitcoin.com's wallet software (but because of various historical events that happened in the past some people call it that - it's not relevant to your problem though. What is relevant is that it's not a "fake wallet that will steal your money" kind of scam).

   Thank you for clarifications

[LoyceV]

this account stopped working (corrupted , i can't login anymore), so i have created an new user account and copied the files from the other "corrupted account"

Do you still have the other account (the one that stopped working)?

[bitty55]

yes i do, but i can't login

[LoyceV]

yes i do, but i can't login

So you need to fix the login problem, or figure out where this wallet stores it's data. It may not be lost after all.

[BitMaxz]

It seems that the wallet file from Bitcoin.com is "wallet.data" not the same as wallet.dat can you try to look for this "wallet.data".

Once you find it use this https://wallet.bitcoin.com/decrypt/ after decrypt and have all private keys I suggest you switch to Electrum wallet and import the private key and make a new wallet then transfer all of your BTC from your old wallet to new.


Reading the whole thread seems that you don't have a chance to recover your wallet. You don't even have the 12 words seed backup which is very important as the backup wallet phrase.

If you can't still solve this issue I suggest you try to contact support.
Use this email.

Code:

wallet@bitcoin.com

[bitty55]

Thank you All,
i tried all search wallet, wallet.dat, wallet.data, wallet.* o couldn't find anything, seems it's gone or this software has a different way to store bitcoins ..... 
i will try to email to the support , by the way i chatted earlier with someone from the support and it seems that wallet.dat or wallet.data is only created once the backup is done.... which is not my case


 

[NotATether]

Hi NotATether ,

Please clarify what you mean by "Windows session is reset". Did you click on the "Reset this PC" button on Windows 10? If that's the case then which option did you select after that - "Keep my files" or "Remove everything"? 

Here what happened , i do have two account in my computer, the admin account and normal user account (less privileges), in normal daily use i log into the normal user account (not Admin), this account stopped working (corrupted , i can't login anymore), so i have created an new user account and copied the files from the other "corrupted account" , this is what i mean but rest my session , i did not re-install Windows or anything else,

When you copied the files to the new user account, did you also copy the hidden "AppData" folder that's in the same folder as others like Documents, Downloads and Pictures? I highly suspect your wallet file is there.

As I have explained above, when you reset Windows, it moved your settings from your AppData folder to the Windows.old folder. They are not "lost". Since there's nothing left in AppData, all of your programs think they're starting again for the first time.

Yes i understand and that's what i thought is going to fix my problem , however like i said i couldn't find "wellet.dat" anywhere , and not even find it for the new wallet? what made me think that "wallet.dat" is created only after i do "backup the wallet" and this raised an other question, if i have not backup the data yet i should lost my wallet as soon as i close the wallet ? but it's not the case i used the wallet for days without backup it and the wallet number did not change , so the program must be reading the information in some location that i am not sure yet  .... i hope this clarify it ?

Bitcoin.com wallet does not use wallet.dat, it uses its own wallet file.

For reference, I believe this is the bitcoin.com.exe you are referring to right?



I'll run it later and see what hidden folders and registry entries it creates.

[nc50lc]

Try to check if the previous user's local appdata folder is still in C:\Users\(Windows Username of previous user) (set to display hidden folders)
If still there, copy "bitcoin.com" folder from C:\Users\(Windows Username of previous user)\AppData\Local\bitcoin.com to the same directory of the current username
like C:\Users\(Windows Username of new user)\AppData\Local\bitcoin.com.
Then launch the app.

I'm not sure if the "session" will be restored but if it does, make sure to make a backup of either the seed phrase and/or the encrypted wallet this time.

[bitty55]

Hello Guys and thanks for all the suggestion i did a test and i come up with a conclusion as well hopefully it will be useful for someone.....

My test:

will restoring the " C:\Users\(Windows Username of new user)\AppData\Local\bitcoin.com" restore the wallet ==> probably  yes after i started the software first time it created the folder called "bitcoin.com" under the APPDATA ,\AppData\Local\bitcoin.com then i copied it somewhere else and delete it from "\AppData\Local\" and started it for a second time , the software created again the folder "bitcoin.com", each time i saved the wallet address , now after i replaced the new created "bitcoin.com" folder  with the old saved one , the wallet address went back to the old address.....will this restore the bitcoins ? i don't know ? i already lost my bitcoins and i don't want to do a test with real bitcoins 

Unfortunately for me i couldn't find the folder "bitcoin.com" or even APPDATA  i even tried recovery file tools....==> bitcoins gone for sure (could be the reason behind this session crash )
the second "Unfortunately " for me i do have a backup software that saves APPDATA  but guess what .... it saves "\Roaming" folder where "normal app" do save there current data .... so no backup for "\AppData\Local\" ...... 

Conclusion , i don't feel very bad after i read the story of "Stefan Thomas" below link for reference but i admit it was a mistake, it will serve me as lesson for the future..... :

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/technology/bitcoin-passwords-wallets-fortunes.html

An other thing i will never use their software or any wallet based on software as it seems so vulnerable to small incidents , i will use probably PayPal where the cryptocurrency is directly saved into the account or a hardware secure wallet if it offers  recover warranty in case of damages or password lost or....

Have a great day and stay safe ....