First, you should tell or describe the file name of any "file signatures from keys" backup that you have.
Usually, wallets/clients are specific with their backup naming scheme, the file name may ring a bell to some oldies here.
It could also indicate that it may not be related to bitcoin at all since the keywords "signature" and "private key" aren't totally exclusive to cryptocurrencies.
I simply numbered them.. Not looking at a file and thinking it's BTC trying to recover it, trying to recover keys I know were once on this drive.
I understand your request is about old wallet.dat files from the era of BitcoinGUI when there were no HD wallets common. Correct?
What exactly is the recovery scenario?
Do you need to scan storage media for fragments of (possibly deleted) wallet.dat files?
Or do you need to repair damaged wallet.dat files?
If you have wallet.dat files: where are those from?
I started my Bitcoin journey somewhere in 2011 and have a wallet.dat file that was created in 2011, but I might not have a backup of the file from 2011 or 2012. This wallet was in use until around 2013 or 2014, then dormant for some years and upgraded to current Bitcoin Core versions somewhere in 2020/2021 and emptied in 2021. That's probably not what you're looking for and I won't give it away anyway.
I might have other, likely unused, wallet.dat files I created, maybe in 2012. But I'm not sure if I haven't touched them with a more recent version of BitcoinGUI or Bitcoin Core when checking if they're really empty or not.
Can't you find what you're looking for in "recoverpy". This Python tool can search for file fragments and private keys on storage media, so in the tool's code there should be hints about data signatures that are scanned.
Old hard drive used to mine, transferred keys to a flash drive and secondary hard drive, flash drive wound up lost, secondary hard drive that it was also stored on wound up being unrecoverable. Hard drive it was mined on was also inoperable when opening up several years later. Was able to get it recovered after trying 3 different facilities. Trying to recover from drive it was mined on and deleted from. Not sure if overwritten or not.
Yes. Have used a few programs so far, may need to repair, not sure yet.
Not sure exactly what you're asking. I'd assume the version or what I was using. This was 2009.
Thanks for the idea on recoverpy, I've tried a couple programs like that, but not that one yet!
If you don't mind checking and are willing to send something empty over, that would be much appreciated.
If you are dealing with an old device or one that has some data, it is best to stop using it and ask a data recovery specialist, create several copies of the file and then you can continue asking questions here.
If the wallet is very old, the wallet file may not be encrypted and you may be able to access the private key by opening that file and search for it, if you can access it you can import it into any SPV wallet.
Already done, images are distributed for safe keeping and in good hands. Thanks for the good advice, though.
Indeed.
Do you mean older version of "Bitcoin Core" (which called as "Bitcoin-Qt" or "Bitcoin) when you say "Pre-Core"? If yes, you could just download the older version and generate a new wallet file using it. You can use these links to obtain the older version,
For other version, you'll need to find it elsewhere or compile it from source code.
Yes just original Bitcoin. Thanks for the guidance.
