Help! 3 BTC Stuck in MultiBit Wallet

[GoatGuy]

Hello all

I recently sent 3 BTC to my MultiBit wallet. I figured I'd change the password since I didn't change it in three months so I went ahead and did it, but after I tried to re-enter the password after opening it, it was wrong. I somehow managed to type the wrong password twice, identically and now I can't seem to remember what is was.

Before you guys have a go at me for how stupid I was to do that (it was really stupid), I checked my MultiBit folder and I found some possible backups in the "multibit-data" folder. Here's a screenshot

http://i60.tinypic.com/2gvlweh.png
http://i59.tinypic.com/24dhc2q.png

These backups must've been done around two months ago, meaning I had my old password then. If I simply copy the multibit.wallet file over my current one would it work? Or if I have access to the private key backups could I just import them into a new client and bypass the whole password process?

Any and all help is appreciated

[Magic Of Nigeria]

Try importing any of that into blockchain and see how things work out.

[shorena]

Try importing any of that into blockchain and see how things work out.

 

-snip-
These backups must've been done around two months ago, meaning I had my old password then. If I simply copy the multibit.wallet file over my current one would it work? Or if I have access to the private key backups could I just import them into a new client and bypass the whole password process?

Any and all help is appreciated

Make a backup of your current wallet file just in case and try one of the older wallet files. This should work.

See here for reference: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=305896.0

[btchris]

If I simply copy the multibit.wallet file over my current one would it work?

I agree with the other posters here that this should work, assuming you back up anything before overwriting it. I'm concerned that in the screenshot you provided, there was a noticeable change in file sizes between the backup files. As long as you get back all of the addresses/keys you need, this seems the easiest & safest option.

Or if I have access to the private key backups could I just import them into a new client and bypass the whole password process?

The private key backups (at least the ones that MultiBit creates automatically) are encrypted with the same password(s) as the wallet files...

If restoring a wallet file doesn't work, you can try to look for password typos with this: btcrecover (full disclosure: I wrote that...), quick start is here.

Good luck...

[GoatGuy]

Thanks everyone, I managed to get my 3 BTC back 

For future reference, all I did was install MultiBit on a seperate PC, copy/paste the backed-up multibit.wallet file over the new one created by the new MultiBit installation. I then hit the "Reset the Blockchain" button and within minutes the wallet was up to date and I had access to my 3 BTC again

[prof7bit]

copy/paste the backed-up multibit.wallet file over the new one created by the new MultiBit installation

Multibit also has a file->open menu where you can just open any wallet file directly, no matter where it is located without having to rename or move it around.

[InwardContour]

You can simply open a backup of your wallet (that you had backed up when you had your previous password) and enter your old password.

It should be noted that keeping these old backups is very bad security