Sent bitcoins to wallet before it finished syncing....

[djak24k]

LOL I know there are so many posts with the same title.
Sorry, but I'm tired of searching. I keep coming up on some of the same shit and would like to try something different.

This has been somewhat of a mini nightmare...and a humbling learning experience. I was curious about bitcoins, and wanted to learn. So...
After registering on several exchanges, getting them all the information that is necessary for them to sell me bitcoins (videos of me holding my license...blah blah blah) Finally I found one that would work for me. The others wouldn't let me type in my whole credit card, which is how I would be buying bitcoin in the first place, or some other whacky shit goin on.
So I guess my first, yet least important question would be what exchange can I buy bitcoins from and send/receive without a fee, or, at least the cheapest?

I found coin.mx... My goal was to get bitcoins, just bitcoins. But instead of buying bitcoins, I see I have to deposit cash then buy bitcoins.  So Cool, I'll just deposit cash. And found out I couldn't deposit just a couple dollars... So fine, I deposited more. but oh wait if you deposit 50 we'll give you an extra $5! So I did that. Lol. This whole time I've been playing with bitcoin core, and *can't wait* to see my coins from coin.mx to my new wallet!! .... I mean, I thought that they would go directly to my bitcoin core from there.... but I realized it was up to me to get them to my bitcoin core wallet. it looks like if I withdraw/send the coins I have to pay a fee, but if I use send/request I won't have to. Wrong. Finally once I realized I was gonna have to pay a fee and that there was no other way around it, I stopped trying to send all of them, only the max amount I could with that fee. Yes, I surrendered to the 0.001 transaction fee. And that was the first successful send transaction out of 7.
And then I panicked. Where the fuck is my money?! I Know it might take a while for the confirmations and all, but I realized something was wrong when I noticed my wallet said "out of sync". Ahhh so I find out bitcoin core has to sync to the blockchain. I was completely oblivious to this.......... I'm realizing how little I can know about something. Humbling, because usually when I study something new for about a week I think I "got it". Nope, this is not the case for crypto currency. It's not that I haven't done my research, it's that there is so much research available and I skimped over some of the basics. So please bare with me.

To speed this process up I downloaded bootstrap.dat from https://bitcoin.org/en/download... it said to put it in the program directory so I put it in c:\program files\bitcoin... restarted my wallet and it was still the same. after a google search I realize it should be in C:\Users\sony\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin...So I do that and it's still behind. I've got like 5 blocks in the bottom of my screen and am a year and 36 weeks behind. Is it in the wrong folder? I've tried \blocks \chainstate and \database and still, I don't see a difference. Also worth noting I didn't really pay a whole lotta attention to how far behind I was BEFORE I downloaded the bootstrap.dat. So.. maybe it worked? But it seems that if I move it around to an irrelevant folder nothing changes....... So I'd assume its not working like it should.
So I've tried using loadblock=/~/bootstrap.dat in the cmd, no luck... And I've followed a few other suggestions and still, no help. What am I doing wrong? Bitcoin core 0.9.3.0 by the way, Windows 7 64bit. Also, should I download a newer bootstrap.dat? I see there's a few others and maybe mine's obsolete. But first I would have to know where to put it, cuz I've never restarted the app and saw where it said "loading bootstrap.dat" or any indication it was loading anything different.


And I see that 1 year and 34 Weeks behind isn't that bad.... But, I'd like my coins now, I wanna play with them, send them around, practice learning this thing. So.... I've found how to use bitcoin core's command to tell me the private key of the address. And I know I should probably read more into addresses and keys, but I think I could probably open a new wallet elsewhere (preferably a desktop wallet) and with the key and the address I'd be able to receive my money. Would this be possible? I've signed up on blockchain and see I could do it there under import/export but am afraid I'd mess something up. Also, I'd rather be using a desktop wallet. preferably, bitcoin core!!! I tried armory and a few others but just felt like bitcoin core was safer and easier to use, and I like the gui compared to the others I've tried.


What can I do?

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[Newar]

[...]

What can I do?

Wait. Or you could give the latest release candidate a go. It has headers first, so syncing will be quicker. https://bitcoin.org/bin/0.10.0/test/


As for your first question, a lot depends where you are. For example in Europe SEPA transfers a free, so you'd save on that fee. For credit card I'm only aware of Circle (haven't used them though).

[djak24k]

Shit. I got impatient. So after reading more about wallets and bitcoin in general, decided to go with GreenAddress, just so I could play with my btc until the bitcoin core finished downloading. I thought the reviews I read were good. So I got my private key from the bitcoin core command prompt and went to sweep that key in GreenAddress...cool cool, until I see there's a .001 fee...and im like, shit, I've already lost a few dollars, lol, quick!!, I gotta get this key to a wallet that doesn't charge me, before greenaddress receives it (I read greenaddress was slow transferring). So I load up my blockchain wallet... and go to the Import/Export section and import the private key...they said something about whether I want to import or sweep, I'm pretty sure I clicked sweep and an error occured then I hit import and it looked like it was gonna go through. I watched, hoping it'd go to Blockchain.
I mean shit, It's my money. I understand there has to be fees when doing certain things. But all I'm trying to do it get a handle on the money I already own!! Ah shit.
Blockchain wallet got it...
but didnt keep it.
Smfh....
In my blockchain wallet balance it shows me there's been 2 transactions. It looks like 1 is from me sweeping/importing the key, and another is sending. Sending it? Where? I guess to greenaddress. ?? I never sent it there, I was trying to import it from bitcoin core before it ever got to greenaddress. But if it's been sent, Im sure there was a fee for that too.
I've lost about 5 dollars since I started this... the same 5 dollars I wasnt going to spend had they not told me if I spent 50 I'd get 55....What's worse is I realize I dont WANNA use green address..... After reading more reviews about it it sounds like its shit. I already dont like it. It's like I'm losing money every time I open my wallet.

Newar, I live in the US. and thanks for letting me about Circle...I'll check them out. in the mean time I'm gonna run this new bitcoin and see whats up with that

[Newar]

[...] Sending it? Where? I guess to greenaddress. ?? [...]

You can use a block explorer like blocktrail.com or btc.blockr.io to see where txs go. Just enter your address in the search box. Then compare the addresses you know (Greenaddress, blockchain.info)

[djak24k]

Isnt that the same as what blockchain.info is?
It looks like an output was created at -50.20 when I tried to import it to blockchain... and it shows I have the current 50.12 now in greenaddress.


I got 34 weeks left....and I'm wondering if there's a way I can pick this bitcoin core wallet up and put it on a different drive...by just copy & paste. to get it off my c drive. Without restarting the download all over....ughhh....

And im wondering how I'm gonna get my coins out of green address without paying a fee. maybe importing in bitcoin core once it's connected. Or maybe In blockchain, there I can set the fee default to "Frugal" - A Miners fee will not be included unless absolutely essential. Transactions will be significantly slower to confirm. But Im not sure if GreenAddress is gonna charge when the transaction is made? I wouldn't be surprised it seems like it would.

[Newar]

Isnt that the same as what blockchain.info is?

Yes, but bc.i can be a bit buggy some times.

I got 34 weeks left....

Is that with the latest release candidate?

and I'm wondering if there's a way I can pick this bitcoin core wallet up and put it on a different drive...by just copy & paste. to get it off my c drive. Without restarting the download all over....ughhh....

You can. Just point it at the desired drive/folder: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Data_directory

And im wondering how I'm gonna get my coins out of green address without paying a fee. maybe importing in bitcoin core once it's connected. Or maybe In blockchain, there I can set the fee default to "Frugal" - A Miners fee will not be included unless absolutely essential. Transactions will be significantly slower to confirm. But Im not sure if GreenAddress is gonna charge when the transaction is made? I wouldn't be surprised it seems like it would.

If you can get the private key from GreenAddress (don't know, never used them), just import it elsewhere.

Again, wait. The "older" your inputs are the cheaper they get to send. Recommended reading: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Transaction_fees

[medUSA]

I read your whole story. It is kind of amusing, not in a bad way

You are absolutely right. The amount of hoops a newbie user has to jump through is staggering, and the learning curve is steep. Your situation would improve a lot if only you chose the right kind of wallet. If you have chosen Electrum, or any other light client, as your first wallet instead of bitcoin core, you would have a much better first time experience.

This is a nice story for all other newbies out there.

[djak24k]

I do remember the private key, so I should be able to "import" that into bitcoin core and it should then be in that wallet free of charge, correct? Well that Sounds good until reading this:
Before reading this page, users should note that messing with ECDSA private keys is very dangerous and can result in losing bitcoins, even long after the import. It is recommended that outside of self-generated vanity addresses, users should never import (or export) private keys.
I'm not even sure what the entirety means but there are several warnings of importing with BitCoin core.

What if I did a request for payment from bitcoin core -> greenaddress, would there be a fee for that?

I am having problems copying my bitcoin core over to my external hard drive though. Thank God it's still on my C:\ right now. I followed that link and copied and pasted the roaming\bitcoin directory to my hd and loaded that on a different laptop and it was out of sync by a couple years. More searching and I came across a way with using mlink dos command and I've tried a couple variations of that and still no luck. And it takes sooo damn long to copy and paste this to my slow 5400 rpm external.

[ranochigo]

...
What if I did a request for payment from bitcoin core -> greenaddress, would there be a fee for that?

I am having problems copying my bitcoin core over to my external hard drive though. Thank God it's still on my C:\ right now. I followed that link and copied and pasted the roaming\bitcoin directory to my hd and loaded that on a different laptop and it was out of sync by a couple years. More searching and I came across a way with using mlink dos command and I've tried a couple variations of that and still no luck. And it takes sooo damn long to copy and paste this to my slow 5400 rpm external.

AFAIK, there is no way to directly send a payment request onchain. The wallet would just generate a QR code or address, you have to manually key in or scan the private key. This process is free-of-charge.

Do try to backup your wallet first before messing with the data directory, you may accidentally delete it. Have you set your data directory to the place where the data directory is?

[djak24k]

Have you set your data directory to the place where the data directory is?

Yeah, I tried that. and it didn't work. It was loading a couple years behind.
So this is my current situation. This is what I did. I copied the C:\Users\sony\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin to a folder on my external harddrive named "Bitcoin". I did this overnight so it wouldn't be interrupted. I copied and pasted the folder "bitcoin-0.10.0rc4-win64" from my desktop to the Bitcoin folder on my external. This is just the new 0.10.0rc4 bitcoin client, presumably a beta release or something.
Loaded the external on a different laptop.
I tried opening bitcoin-qt.exe from the "bitcoin-0.10.0rc4-win64/bin" folder and when it loaded it was a couple years behind.
Sent a shortcut of bitcoin-qt.exe to desktop and put -datadir="H:/Bitcoin"... and its taking a loooong time to load blocks. I'll post when it does.

[djak24k]

Now it's loaded and is synced. When it loaded it was only ~9 hours behind. it worked.
Thank you guys for all your help!

I've got a lot to learn.
I'm wondering if the private key I want to import is a self generated vanity address.... because ive read "It is recommended that outside of self-generated vanity addresses, users should never import (or export) private keys." Then it seems I've read the opposite, that no one should be using self generated vanity addresses anyway, especially for import?
This has helped me understand why the wiki articles says it's so dangerous:
http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/29948/why-doc-says-importing-private-keys-is-so-dangerous

With that being said...can anyone give me advice? My key was generated by coin.mx, was sent to bitcoin before it synced, dumped the key there then swept by greenaddress wallet and blockchain wallet (at the same time) and stayed at greenaddress.

But I see importing has its downsides, as if I ever want to spend from that key even just a portion, I'll end up spending all of it.

So maybe I should be using electrum. Lol. I download armory and didn't like the GUI...I'm a bit more familiar with bitcoin core now. Electrum looks like it might be nice but I like the security of bitcoin core. Another I might like is mSigna.

[Newar]

[...]
With that being said...can anyone give me advice? My key was generated by coin.mx, was sent to bitcoin before it synced, dumped the key there then swept by greenaddress wallet and blockchain wallet (at the same time) and stayed at greenaddress.

The last one is the one that currently matters. If you trust greenaddress that they generated it with a proper random number generator, then importing that key won't do any harm. Even more so if you will spend from it soon.

Don't reuse the others or any receiving address. Address re-use is considered by some to be a bit of a privacy issue.

But I see importing has its downsides, as if I ever want to spend from that key even just a portion, I'll end up spending all of it.

If you use Bitcoin Core to spend from it, it will look like it spends all of it, but actually the "change" goes to a new address (hidden from your view) in Bitcoin Core. So your balance shown in Bitcoin Core will be as expected, but if you look at your address on a block explorer it will be emtpy.

That is also where some of the confusion about importing comes from. There were cases where people imported a private key from a paper wallet, spent from it and then deleted the wallet.dat file. Since Bitcoin Core sends change to a new address each time those bitcoins in the change address where lost. In the meanwhile there are now other solutions to spend from paper wallets such as Mycelium (Android, iOS) and others, which sent the "change" back to the paper wallet address.

Keeping the above in mind (Bitcoin Core generating addresses in the background), it is recommended that you back up your wallet.dat every 70 transactions or so. That is an advantage of hierarchical deterministic wallets like Electrum or Armory that you only have to do a backup once.

[activebiz]

bitcoin core might take days to sync depending on ur network. it better for new users to use a safe lightweight wallet like electrum or armory

[djak24k]

Activebiz, ive got it downloaded and synced. However it does take a while to load from my slow 5400rpm external hd
Newar, interesting news about bitcoin core. Im sure I could find that new address the change is sent to, but would that address have a new key generated for itself as well?
what about electrum and armory, how do they handle saving change and imports?

[Newar]

Newar, interesting news about bitcoin core. Im sure I could find that new address the change is sent to, but would that address have a new key generated for itself as well?
what about electrum and armory, how do they handle saving change and imports?

Glad to hear you stuck to your initial plan and got it working. Bitcoin Core can be for Newbies, if they take the time to realise what they are getting into. It's manageable, IMO.


Actually, in Bitcoin Core if you enable Coin Control (an advanced user feature) you can set a custom change address. And yes, you can see the changea ddress, just look at the tx on a blockexplorer site. Every address will have a corresponding private key. Bitcoin wallets take care of that.

I haven't used Electrum, but like Armory it's an HD wallet, so I would imagine change goes to a new address too (like Armory).

In general, I wouldn't get too hung up on a certain address. Better consider them as consumables, not meaning you should throw away the private key, though!

[tss]

glad you're learning the whole thing. 
you can always use a lite client which doesn't have to download the whole blockchain.