Recovered wallet.dat files

[someone2]

I have recovered about 20 old wallet.dat files from a hard drive, some are bitcoin wallets, some are altcoin wallets (don't remember which is which, and which altcoins...) some are encrypted, some might be corrupted.

So what are my options to recover them? install every client and try to import every wallet with each client?

[1715695037]

1715695037

[Newar]

It used to be possible to import Bitcoin wallet.dats at blockchain.info. The rest - don't know.

[unamis76]

You can use a tool like pywallet to "scan" for addresses and private keys inside the wallet. That way you'll know to which coin they belong to

[someone2]

hmm, no Luck pywallet always tells me to quit bitcoin:

C:\New>D:\Python27\python.exe C:\New\pywallet.py --datadir C:\\New --dumpwallet
ERROR:root:Couldn't open wallet.dat/main. Try quitting Bitcoin and running this
again.


but there is no Bitcoin installed on this PC.

[EcuaMobi]

hmm, no Luck pywallet always tells me to quit bitcoin:

C:\New>D:\Python27\python.exe C:\New\pywallet.py --datadir C:\\New --dumpwallet
ERROR:root:Couldn't open wallet.dat/main. Try quitting Bitcoin and running this
again.


but there is no Bitcoin installed on this PC.

Try copying wallet.dat to the same folder as pywallet. Or at least the same drive.

[LuckyBtc]

It used to be possible to import Bitcoin wallet.dats at blockchain.info. The rest - don't know.

You can still import wallet.dats at Blockchain.

I have recovered about 20 old wallet.dat files from a hard drive, some are bitcoin wallets, some are altcoin wallets (don't remember which is which, and which altcoins...) some are encrypted, some might be corrupted.

So what are my options to recover them? install every client and try to import every wallet with each client?

Try importing wallet.dat on BC you might find the bitcoin wallet.dat
https://blockchain.info/wallet/import-wallet

[unamis76]

hmm, no Luck pywallet always tells me to quit bitcoin:

C:\New>D:\Python27\python.exe C:\New\pywallet.py --datadir C:\\New --dumpwallet
ERROR:root:Couldn't open wallet.dat/main. Try quitting Bitcoin and running this
again.


but there is no Bitcoin installed on this PC.

Pretty strange, do you have your wallet on the default folder? That's where pywallet scans for files. Create a Bitcoin folder on %appdata% and put the wallet.dat there.

[someone2]

 Create a Bitcoin folder on %appdata% and put the wallet.dat there.

Did exactly this and Pywallet could scan 3 of my wallets, (all empty bitcoin wallets ...) So the rest would be corrupted? Is there any documentation about the wallet.dat file format, or do I have to read the code to understand it?

[Hfleer]

Pywallet should work for Bitcoin but not for the others, also you can only extract things if unencrypted or you know the PW.

[shorena]

 Create a Bitcoin folder on %appdata% and put the wallet.dat there.

Did exactly this and Pywallet could scan 3 of my wallets, (all empty bitcoin wallets ...) So the rest would be corrupted? Is there any documentation about the wallet.dat file format, or do I have to read the code to understand it?

You should check them for CLAM[1], maybe the wallet had something left when they were distributed.


[1] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=623147.0

[Hfleer]

 Create a Bitcoin folder on %appdata% and put the wallet.dat there.

Did exactly this and Pywallet could scan 3 of my wallets, (all empty bitcoin wallets ...) So the rest would be corrupted? Is there any documentation about the wallet.dat file format, or do I have to read the code to understand it?

You should check them for CLAM[1], maybe the wallet had something left when they were distributed.


[1] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=623147.0

Yes, but I think he is far away from the point of even accesing them in the first place.

[Webnet]

you can use python tools to extract the addresses

[desertfox470]

If the wallet is encrypted with a password and you do not know the password it is pretty much worthless to try and import it now. You will need to wait until computers are able to crack passwords at a crazy rate. It can take you years just to figure out a 8 letter passcode.

[kowwip]

It used to be possible to import Bitcoin wallet.dats at blockchain.info. The rest - don't know.

You can still import wallet.dats at Blockchain.

I have recovered about 20 old wallet.dat files from a hard drive, some are bitcoin wallets, some are altcoin wallets (don't remember which is which, and which altcoins...) some are encrypted, some might be corrupted.

So what are my options to recover them? install every client and try to import every wallet with each client?

Try importing wallet.dat on BC you might find the bitcoin wallet.dat
https://blockchain.info/wallet/import-wallet

Thanks for your direction ! This is the first time I know about this.

[godidi]

It used to be possible to import Bitcoin wallet.dats at blockchain.info. The rest - don't know.

You can still import wallet.dats at Blockchain.

I have recovered about 20 old wallet.dat files from a hard drive, some are bitcoin wallets, some are altcoin wallets (don't remember which is which, and which altcoins...) some are encrypted, some might be corrupted.

So what are my options to recover them? install every client and try to import every wallet with each client?

Try importing wallet.dat on BC you might find the bitcoin wallet.dat
https://blockchain.info/wallet/import-wallet

Thanks for your direction ! This is the first time I know about this.

Oh ! I am too. I am newbie about crypto currency so I just know a little about Bitcoin wallet even I still have not yet known how to use it well. This is the first time I know this. Thanks for great information !