Empty wallet on new laptop

[morganc]

I have an old laptop which contains a wallet with 10 BTC.

I’ve purchased a new laptop, installed Bitcoin qt and copied across the wallet.dat file.

After waiting many hours , I’ve synchronized with the blockchain, but wallet balance shown is 0.

Any ideas?

[nc50lc]

You may have copied the wrong wallet.dat.
Where did you copied the walllet.dat from; and where did you pasted the wallet.dat to the new laptop?

If you want to make sure, you can make a backup manually and open it in the new laptop (Don't do this if your blockchain is pruned).
In the old laptop, use "File->Backup wallet" while the wallet with 10BTC is open, then transfer the 'walletname.dat' to the new laptop's "wallets" folder of Bitcoin data directory.
Open it using the menu "File->Open wallet", wait for Bitcoin Core to scan for balances.

[Lucius]

@morganc, whatever you do with those 10 BTC, never accept any advice you get on PM or via an email posted publicly on your profile - the world is full of scammers who would be very happy to help you stay without those 10 BTC.


@ETFbitcoin, I remember the OP mentioned earlier that his wallet was from 2011, and if we assume he didn’t move the coins to the new wallet, it’s a little weird that after syncing he still has 0 on balance. The only logical explanation has already been mentioned by @nc50lc - or maybe there is some problem with the old wallet -> latest version of Bitcoin Core?

- In early 2011, a friend introduced me to Bitcoin and got me to setup a wallet and then transferred 10 coins into it.
- Until recently I thought I had lost the file, but by chance a few days ago, I found it on an old USB stick.
- I then installed the Bitcoin Core / Qt software that was on the USB stick and copied the wallet.dat file into the folder
- over the last couple of weeks (using an old laptop), it has synched and confirmed that there are 10 bitcoins in there ... wow ... yippeee !

However, we can see the key difference here, the first time it was weeks, now the OP claims that it is only a matter of a few hours - maybe you are right after all.


As a suggestion in case the transfer wallet.dat still gives 0 balance, there is always the option to dump private keys and import to another wallet - but since it is 10 BTC, I advise maximum caution.

[morganc]

How far is the synchronization process? If the date of "last block time" is definitely before 10 BTC is sent to your Bitcoin address/wallet, it might be the reason.

Last block time is September 26th 17:59

[morganc]

You may have copied the wrong wallet.dat.
Where did you copied the walllet.dat from; and where did you pasted the wallet.dat to the new laptop?

If you want to make sure, you can make a backup manually and open it in the new laptop (Don't do this if your blockchain is pruned).
In the old laptop, use "File->Backup wallet" while the wallet with 10BTC is open, then transfer the 'walletname.dat' to the new laptop's "wallets" folder of Bitcoin data directory.
Open it using the menu "File->Open wallet", wait for Bitcoin Core to scan for balances.

You are a life saver ... this worked ... thanks very much!!!

Are there any steps I need to take, before transferring the coins out to an exchange?

The old laptop is running:
Bitcoin Core v0.15.1
Qt version 5.7.1

Whereas the new laptop is running:
Bitcoin Core v0.21.1
Qt version 5.9.8

[LoyceV]

Are there any steps I need to take, before transferring the coins out to an exchange?

The obvious: make sure the exchange is trusted, your account secure, and check every character of the deposit address before sending anything.

You may want to read up on Forkcoins after securing your Bitcoin. And if you're keeping Bitcoin, you may want to find a more secure storage solution than keeping half a million bucks on Bitcoin Core.

[nc50lc]

-snip-

Are there any steps I need to take, before transferring the coins out to an exchange?

Aside from the above about using only trusted Exchanges,
make sure to read the Exchange's TOS, FAQs and other articles because most of them have a strict requirements when it comes with large deposits amounts.
you may be required to pass a stricter KYC after depositing even half of your Bitcoins; DYOR.

Congrats BTW, so your previous claim that you've bitcoins from 2011 is true and you've successfully bruteforced the password (link).

[morganc]

Yep, I tried for a number of weeks (many hours of effort), different combinations/rules, but couldn't crack it.

Then I put it away and came back to it a few weeks ago and started fresh and cracked it in less than 10 mins ... I was missing 1 character!