Importing an old v0.3.0 wallet.dat - is my plan sound?

[ChapInRed]

Hello all,

I have found an old Windows disk backup, on which there is the 0.3.0 version of the bitcoin client which I played around with for maybe a day or two in 2010. The wallet.dat and associated %appdata% files are all there. I’ve made a few off-line copies of everything.

I have some knowledge of GnuPG and Linux (Debian mainly) but I have not used Bitcoin since 2010 so trying to get up to speed with things.

In case there is anything of value in the wallet, I want to be careful. Here is my plan – what do you think?:

1. Download latest Ubuntu ISO using a Linux laptop I have rarely used. Check SHA256 on the ISO.
2. Disconnect all drives from my usual PC (Ryzen 3).
3. Use the ISO to install Ubuntu on a SSD on the PC
4. Install current version of Bitcoin Core using Ubuntu’s own software installation tool.
5. Wait for Bitcoin Core to sync to the blockchain.
6. Import the old wallet.dat, rescan and hope for riches!?

If the old wallet contains anything of value, what should I do next? I gather a cold wallet like Ledger would be sensible, including carefully stored handwritten keyword backups.

Thanks for reading.

[1714504114]

1714504114

[LoyceV]

1. Download latest Ubuntu ISO using a Linux laptop I have rarely used. Check SHA256 on the ISO.
2. Disconnect all drives from my usual PC (Ryzen 3).
3. Use the ISO to install Ubuntu on a SSD on the PC
4. Install current version of Bitcoin Core using Ubuntu’s own software installation tool.
5. Wait for Bitcoin Core to sync to the blockchain.

I'd add a step: 5.1. GO OFFLINE. Unplug your internet, there's no need to turn it into a hot wallet.

6. Import the old wallet.dat, rescan and hope for riches!?

You may run into some compatibility issues with such an old wallet, but since you have enough backups, you'll see when it happens.

f the old wallet contains anything of value, what should I do next? I gather a cold wallet like Ledger would be sensible, including carefully stored handwritten keyword backups.

Ideally, sign offline and broadcast your transaction from another system after throughly checking everything. But don't order a jet yet, wait for your riches first

[nc50lc]

In case there is anything of value in the wallet, I want to be careful. Here is my plan – what do you think?:

Before starting step 5, make sure that Bitcoin Core isn't configured to prune your blockchain.
It may have been set during the GUI's initial setup or its settings.

Otherwise, it'll have to start all over again after loading the old wallet file.

2. Disconnect all drives from my usual PC (Ryzen 3).

Make sure that the drive that you'll use has enough space to store the whole Bitcoin blockchain and other data (500GB+).

[ABCbits]

1. Download latest Ubuntu ISO using a Linux laptop I have rarely used. Check SHA256 on the ISO.

Since you already know about GnuPG, consider checking signature for the ISO file. Ubuntu website provide tutorial about it, see https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/how-to-verify-ubuntu.

5. Wait for Bitcoin Core to sync to the blockchain.

FYI, current Bitcoin blockchain size is about 507 GB. So sync could take some time, especially if you have slow internet or using HDD.

[keychainX]

Hello all,

I have found an old Windows disk backup, on which there is the 0.3.0 version of the bitcoin client which I played around with for maybe a day or two in 2010. The wallet.dat and associated %appdata% files are all there. I’ve made a few off-line copies of everything.

I have some knowledge of GnuPG and Linux (Debian mainly) but I have not used Bitcoin since 2010 so trying to get up to speed with things.

In case there is anything of value in the wallet, I want to be careful. Here is my plan – what do you think?:

1. Download latest Ubuntu ISO using a Linux laptop I have rarely used. Check SHA256 on the ISO.
2. Disconnect all drives from my usual PC (Ryzen 3).
3. Use the ISO to install Ubuntu on a SSD on the PC
4. Install current version of Bitcoin Core using Ubuntu’s own software installation tool.
5. Wait for Bitcoin Core to sync to the blockchain.
6. Import the old wallet.dat, rescan and hope for riches!?

If the old wallet contains anything of value, what should I do next? I gather a cold wallet like Ledger would be sensible, including carefully stored handwritten keyword backups.

Thanks for reading.

None of the above, the quickest way is to download pywallet and you can export the addresses/private keys. then import them to Electrum.

https://github.com/jackjack-jj/pywallet
Pywallet Github

https://electrum.org/#home
Electrum download

Good luck
/KX

[LoyceV]

the quickest way

The quickest way is far from the safest way.

[ChapInRed]

Thanks for all the advice. I've ordered a larger drive as I only had a couple of small SSDs handy.

Will report back once I have any news or queries.

[SamReomo]

Thanks for all the advice. I've ordered a larger drive as I only had a couple of small SSDs handy.

Will report back once I have any news or queries.

Will you report back even if you successfully found 1000 BTC in the wallet? I would be really nice to hear such thing and would be a new example set in the world of Bitcoin. However, curiosity aside, you should first follow the steps that @nc50lc @LoyceV has suggested you. And, do anything with care because it's something really of priority and should be given as much time as possible.

I wish you best of luck with your operations, and it will be really amazing if we can hear some good news from you. If in the process you get stuck or face errors than in that case you will get the best advice through the reputed members of this forum. Keep reporting the progress as that will be helpful for you, and it might be helpful for others as well.

A few simple suggestions that might be helpful for you. If you successfully managed to import the wallet and it somehow contains many bitcoins in it than in that case you should prefer to transfer your bitcoins to a hardware wallet. If that's not possible then you should try to be in offline mode as that will be very helpful for the security of the coins. You should also consider to create some new backups of the imported wallet as that would be a good step for the safety purposes.

[ChapInRed]

Yes I'll report either way! I only ran it for a few days on a budget PC so I'll be amazed and pleased to have anything!

I think I decided it was a waste of time and electricity and went back to running distributed.net client instead. 

If there's anything my new Ubuntu install with bitcoin-core will remain offline after downloading the blockchain. I'll back up everything to a few USB drives and buy a safe and Ledger device if it's worthwhile!

[ChapInRed]

Hello all, an update:

I installed Ubuntu on a new SSD in my desktop PC, then installed Bitcoin Core, downloaded the blockhain.

Unplugged the LAN cable (no wifi card).

Made a new wallet (TestWallet) which created the wallet subfolder in the .config

Copied old 2010 %appdata%\bitcoin folder (wallet.dat and all others) to a new subfolder at same level as TestWallet on Ubuntu. Added the new wallet which I presume was then validated against the downloaded blockhain, took a while.

Code:

Balances
Available: xxx.0 [zeroes] BTC
Pending:     0.0 [zeroes] BTC
Total:     xxx.0 [zeroes] BTC

This is good news, right? I've ordered a Ledger Nano.

[nc50lc]

Copied old 2010 %appdata%\bitcoin folder (wallet.dat and all others) to a new subfolder at same level as TestWallet on Ubuntu. Added the new wallet which I presume was then validated against the downloaded blockhain, took a while.

The steps are quite outdated, precisely, the commonly used steps when Bitcoin Core only supported single wallet.dat file.
Now, all you have to do is to restore or load the wallet.dat file without creating a wallet to be replaced.

You can restore it using the command: restorewallet "wallet_name" "path_to_old_wallet.dat"
Or load it using: loadwallet "path_to_old_wallet.dat"
The former will create a new wallet file and directory with the hd/keys based from the old wallet.dat file.
The latter will directly load the old wallet file; both are available in the GUI's "File" menu.

This is good news, right? I've ordered a Ledger Nano.

Yes, as long as rescan is done after the wallet.dat file is replaced, that's good news.
Otherwise, its just your old wallet.dat file's past scanned balances.

Another rescan will make sure that it has been validated with your blockchain.

[LoyceV]

I installed Ubuntu on a new SSD in my desktop PC, then installed Bitcoin Core, downloaded the blockhain.
~
This is good news, right? I've ordered a Ledger Nano.

Looks like you found your riches, good for you!
Now don't go online again with that disk installed. Once your hardware wallet arrives, and after you've made a few safe backups of the word phrases, create and sign your transaction offline, and broadcast the transaction from another system.
After that (don't risk it before securely moving your Bitcoin), don't forget to take a look at Bitcoin Forks. At current values, for 105 coins you're looking at $15k-ish in Forks.

Note: I wasn't around in 2010, but chances are your old wallet has no spare addresses. That means, if you send a small transaction as a test, the change probably goes to a new and freshly created address. That also means all your other backups won't have access to those funds anymore. I'm not exactly sure how this will play out, but you should check it before doing it.

[ChapInRed]

I installed Ubuntu on a new SSD in my desktop PC, then installed Bitcoin Core, downloaded the blockhain.
~
This is good news, right? I've ordered a Ledger Nano.

Looks like you found your riches, good for you!
Now don't go online again with that disk installed. Once your hardware wallet arrives, and after you've made a few safe backups of the word phrases, create and sign your transaction offline, and broadcast the transaction from another system.

OK, I need to get my head around creating, signing and broadcasting. I only ever received one transaction in 2010 which was just a matter of giving someone my public address.

After that (don't risk it before securely moving your Bitcoin), don't forget to take a look at Bitcoin Forks). At current values, for 105 coins you're looking at $15k-ish in Forks.

Yes I was dimly aware of forking - so not enough for the jet! But basically free money so I'm not complaining.

Note: I wasn't around in 2010, but chances are your old wallet has no spare addresses. That means, if you send a small transaction as a test, the change probably goes to a new and freshly created address. That also means all your other backups won't have access to those funds anymore. I'm not exactly sure how this will play out, but you should check it before doing it.

Right, will have to get my head around all that at some point then.

Thanks for your help!

[ChapInRed]

Copied old 2010 %appdata%\bitcoin folder (wallet.dat and all others) to a new subfolder at same level as TestWallet on Ubuntu. Added the new wallet which I presume was then validated against the downloaded blockhain, took a while.

The steps are quite outdated, precisely, the commonly used steps when Bitcoin Core only supported single wallet.dat file.
Now, all you have to do is to restore or load the wallet.dat file without creating a wallet to be replaced.

You can restore it using the command: restorewallet "wallet_name" "path_to_old_wallet.dat"
Or load it using: loadwallet "path_to_old_wallet.dat"
The former will create a new wallet file and directory with the hd/keys based from the old wallet.dat file.
The latter will directly load the old wallet file; both are available in the GUI's "File" menu.

This is good news, right? I've ordered a Ledger Nano.

Yes, as long as rescan is done after the wallet.dat file is replaced, that's good news.
Otherwise, its just your old wallet.dat file's past scanned balances.

Another rescan will make sure that it has been validated with your blockchain.

OK, in the Bitcoin Core console I rescanned my wallet imported as described above (call it 2010-first) - no change.

Then I used the 'recover wallet' option in the GUI on another backup copy of the original wallet.dat, which led to another wallet being created in Bitcoin Core which I called 2010-second. Rescanned this in the console, result was again no different.

[ChapInRed]

Hang on LoyceV, are you saying I have xxx BTC actually for real? And then derived amounts from forkcoins in addition to that?

My first reading of your reply was that the xxx BTC had been 'diluted' by the forking, but I would be happy to have misread that...

[Cricktor]

Hello all, an update:
<snip>

Code:

Balances
Available:   x.0 [zeroes] BTC
Pending:     0.0 [zeroes] BTC
Total:       x.0 [zeroes] BTC

This is good news, right? I've ordered a Ledger Nano.

While it's interesting to read such a nice success story, you should be more discrete with showing off your stash. Consider to edit your disclosed wallet amount, though the cats are already out of the bag.

I once had to recover an old Bitcoin Core wallet from 2014 which I nearly lost due to a dying harddisk (I wasn't very backup savvy back then). But I knew that there were far less coins in it. Anyway, so sats deserve to be lost. Once my harddrive showed signs of failure and surface read errors, I quickly saved a ddrescue image of it and saved it for later recovery. For reasons that I won't disclose, this recovery started years later (I don't complain...).
Contrary to your experience I had more trouble to load my wallet.dat in more recent versions of Bitcoin Core. My route was to gradually update my Bitcoin Core step by step starting from the Bitcoin Gui version which I last ran in 2014 to more recent ones until I arrived to the then current version a few years ago. My path was probably more tedious than yours, maybe not necessary at all, but in the end me too arrived at a current wallet file version which I was able to transfer to a HD wallet with mnemonic recovery words as backup.

Be carefull with your coins and don't talk about it! You might want to read the PDF at https://smartcustody.com

Hang on LoyceV, are you saying I have x BTC actually for real? And then derived amounts from forkcoins in addition to that?

My first reading of your reply was that the x BTC had been 'diluted' by the forking, but I would be happy to have misread that...

Yepp, you have the fork coins in addition to your BTC, but make sure to first move away your real BTC before you use your old private keys to claim the fork coins. I have done that, too.

[LoyceV]

Hang on LoyceV, are you saying I have 105 BTC actually for real?

I'm not saying that, you said it.

And then derived amounts from forkcoins in addition to that?

Yes. But again: don't even think about Forks as long as your Bitcoins are in those addresses. Don't risk your Bitcoin for crummies in Forks.

My first reading of your reply was that the 105 BTC had been 'diluted' by the forking, but I would be happy to have misread that...

You misread it, that's not how Forks work.

While it's interesting to read such a nice success story, you should be more discrete with showing off your stash.

As long as OP is anonymous, that doesn't matter. But: he can expect PMs from scammers, and shouldn't trust anything send by PM. See this example.

Be carefull with your coins and don't talk about it!

Don't share this information in your local bar

You should also figure out the tax implications, which will depend on where you live. Pay whatever tax is due, and enjoy the rest of your money. That way, you can also answer the questions your bank is going to ask you.

[nc50lc]

-snip-

OK, in the Bitcoin Core console I rescanned my wallet imported as described above (call it 2010-first) - no change.

Then I used the 'recover wallet' option in the GUI on another backup copy of the original wallet.dat, which led to another wallet being created in Bitcoin Core which I called 2010-second. Rescanned this in the console, result was again no different.

Then it's now 100% certain that the displayed balance is correct.

Creating a signed raw transaction in the GUI while offline is quite simple:

• Go to send tab, enter the recipient address and amount.
• Next to the "Transaction fee", click "Choose...", then switch to "Custom:".
• Set a desirable transaction fee rate in BTC/kvB (shown as "per kilobyte"),
  Since estimation wont be available, you'll have to check the priority fee rate at mempool.space or other mempool monitoring website (of course using a separate online device).
  For example, according to the said site, today's "good" fee rate is at "83 sat/vB" which is equals to "0.00083000 BTC/kvB".
• After setting the fee rate, click "Send" and it'll be signed and broadcasted to your own mempool.
• Go to "Transactions" tab and find the transaction, right-click on it and select "Copy raw transaction".
• Transfer that raw transaction to an online PC and broadcast using an online synced Bitcoin Core via sendrawtransaction command or any push/broadcast txn service of your choice (less private).

[ChapInRed]

Well.

Bit of an emotional rollercoaster here.

Thanks again for all advice! Sorry for confusion re forks, spent best part of a day unspending all the purchases I had made in my head.

Will ignore PMs, none so far. I am a noob but I can learn.

Will get tax advisor! (words I thought I'd never say).

Going to do some more, careful backups. Back later!

[ChapInRed]

Hello all,

While I await the Ledger Nano, thinking ahead...

My plan is to transfer BTC from my offline Bitcoin Core to a Ledger wallet, using the method outlined by nc50lc above involving a new online Bitcoin Core, to broadcast my offline transactions.

I have a Raspberry Pi 4 with 8gb ram which could do this, using a fresh Ubuntu install. Can I copy the blockchain files (not wallet!) from my offline installation of Bitcoin core to save me some time? That way it would only have a few days worth of blockhain to update.

Would I be wise to run this over Tor or is that overcomplicating it?

Is there any point in doing an upgradewallet with my original wallet in the offline Bitcoin Core?

Finally, once Ledger set up, is there any risk/implications in transferring a test amount (like 1 to 10 mBTC) so I can get the hang of things?

Thanks again all.