Bitcoin won't run

[brockacre]

I downloaded bitcoin, set up my wallet and purchased some bitcoins. Now bitcoin won't run. I get this message "Runaway exception. A fatal error occured. Bitcoin can no longer continue safely and will quit. EXCEPTION: 11DbException Db::open: Invalid argument C:/Program Files (x86)/Bitcoin/bitcoin-qt.exe in Runaway Exception" What does this mean and how do I fix it?

[ericrw14]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=89639.0 try reading this thread, just make sure you backup your wallet.dat

[brockacre]

I'm not only a bitcoin nubbie, I'm also kind of a computer nubbie. A lot of what was discussed in that thread went way over my head. I'm getting the same error notification but mine comes immediately after trying to open bitcoin. In doesn't load ANY blocks. It won't open the bitcoin window where i can access the settings. It just goes immediately to the error notification. This all started after i tried to move bitcoin into an encrypted folder i created with true crypt. For some reason i could not drag and drop bitcoin into this folder. It would just move it to Documents, which is where i had the folder located. But not INTO the folder. At one point i tried copying it which had the same results so i ended up with two copies if bitcoin. I deleted one of the copies. After that, nothing worked.

[RodeoX]

Don't panic. I have also had this error. As stated above:
STEP 1. BACK UP your wallet.dat file. put it on a USB stick and then begin your recovery efforts.  If you are using vista/win7 then you should find it by typing  " %apdata% " in the run box near the start button. There you will find the bitcoin folder. (sorry if you already know this).

The tricky part is that this is an issue normally associated with Ubuntu Linux. I don't know as much about windows, but if you are backed up you could just try reinstalling. I am also assuming that your wallet file is not currently encrypted. Encryption complicates things. You might even consider renaming your wallet file instead of encrypting it.  Just change the name back when you need it, and don't tell anyone.

[brockacre]

Ok. I did back up my wallet before I had this problem. I backed just the wallet up on a USB flash drive and I backed up the entire bitcoin data to an SD card. The problem is when i try to open bitcoin from the backed up files, it just opens a wordpad window. Im not really sure how to reinstall. I tried to download bitcoin again and went through the set up wizard but i keep having the same problem.

[scintill]

Im not really sure how to reinstall.

Try this: use the "Uninstall Bitcoin" icon in your Start menu. Or go to "Add or Remove Programs" in the Control Panel, find Bitcoin in the list and double-click it.  Then run the installer again (may have to download it again if you can't find it.)

[Foxpup]

It sounds like your copy of the blockchain is corrupt. Reinstalling Bitcoin won't fix it, as a new Bitcoin installation will look for and attempt to load the blockchain from any previous installation to save you from having to download it again, crashing unceremoniously if the files are corrupt. To fix the problem, it is necessary to delete the blockchain and download it again. Delete everything in %APPDATA%\Bitcoin except wallet.dat, addr.dat, and bitcoin.conf (the latter two files are not critical, however, and you've already backed up your wallet.dat), then restart Bitcoin. It will not crash, and will start redownloading the blockchain from scratch. Your transactions should show up immediately, but will be unconfirmed until the blockchain is synchronised.

Now, if you want to take another shot at moving your Bitcoin directory again, go into Options, and make sure "Detach databases at shutdown" is checked. This option is disabled by default because it makes Bitcoin take several minutes to close, but you cannot move or copy the blockchain unless this option is turned on and you wait for Bitcoin to completely finish after closing it. This is almost certainly what caused your files to be corrupted in the first place.

[brockacre]

Im worried that i will lose my bitcoins if i uninstall. I know that i have backed up my wallet but i have never been able to open the backed up files. Even before the problem started.

[brockacre]

Ok. I deleted all files in the bitcoin data except the wallet and addr. Ididnt see the third you talked about. I attempted to restart bitcoin and got the same error notifcation.

[Foxpup]

Ok. I deleted all files in the bitcoin data except the wallet and addr. Ididnt see the third you talked about. I attempted to restart bitcoin and got the same error notifcation.

addr.dat may be corrupt as well. Delete it. It contains IP address of peers you've recently connected to. Deleting this file will make it take much longer to connect to the network the first time you run Bitcoin, but is otherwise harmless. If it still crashes after deleting addr.dat (which is unlikely), then your wallet.dat is corrupt, in which case it's a good thing you have a backup from before the whole mess started.

[brockacre]

Ok. Now I'm feeling like an idiot. I deleted the files which moved them to the recycling bin. Then I emptied my recycling bin. I went to restart bitcoin and at the same time that the error notice came up, the files reappeared in the bitcoin folder. I deleted again and they reappeared again. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

[tiberiandusk]

I got this error when my hard drive was failing and it corrupted my wallet.

[brockacre]

How do I know if my hard drive is failing and what can I do about it? Can I save the bitcoins in my wallet?

[Foxpup]

Ok. Now I'm feeling like an idiot. I deleted the files which moved them to the recycling bin. Then I emptied my recycling bin. I went to restart bitcoin and at the same time that the error notice came up, the files reappeared in the bitcoin folder. I deleted again and they reappeared again. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Bitcoin will recreate these files if they don't exist at startup. These new files are guaranteed to not be corrupted, which is why deleting these files (usually) fixes any problems. If Bitcoin is still crashing with nothing in its directory other than wallet.dat, then your wallet.dat file is certainly corrupt. Back up your corrupt wallet.dat file (but do not overwrite your previous wallet.dat backup(s)) in case it is necessary to repair it (though that's a long shot), then copy your good backup (the one you made before the problem started) into your Bitcoin directory, and restart Bitcoin.

How do I know if my hard drive is failing and what can I do about it? Can I save the bitcoins in my wallet?

First, copy all your backed up wallet.dat files to a different hard drive or flash drive. As long as you do that, your bitcoins will be safe (unless all your wallet.dat files are already corrupted).

[brockacre]

Ok. Good developments. Deleted files, this time WITH the addr.dat included. (I was confused by the files "reappearing" that i forgot to delete the addr.dat). Wallet is synchronizing with the network right now. I have two questions: How did it become corrupted and how do I prevent it in the future? Also, why was I never able to open my backed up wallets? It makes me less than confident that they are actually backed up and my bitcoins are at risk of loss if my computer (or main wallet) does crash.

[scintill]

Also, why was I never able to open my backed up wallets? It makes me less than confident that they are actually backed up and my bitcoins are at risk of loss if my computer (or main wallet) does crash.

You mentioned that wordpad would open.  I think this is because Windows was set up to open .dat files with wordpad.  The wallet files are not readable by wordpad, only by Bitcoin programs.

Wallet security/reliability is a problem that still hasn't been solved very well, at least by the original client.  You can look at some other clients that do things like backing your wallet up to paper, or basing your wallet off of a passphrase you remember (so there's nothing to have to back up.)

[brockacre]

So does that mean that my wallet was not(is not) actually backed up or is windows just not reading it properly? And how do I get a different client? Im not even entirely sure what the client is exactly if it is something different than my wallet and supporting files.

[Foxpup]

Ok. Good developments. Deleted files, this time WITH the addr.dat included. (I was confused by the files "reappearing" that i forgot to delete the addr.dat). Wallet is synchronizing with the network right now. I have two questions: How did it become corrupted and how do I prevent it in the future? Also, why was I never able to open my backed up wallets? It makes me less than confident that they are actually backed up and my bitcoins are at risk of loss if my computer (or main wallet) does crash.

Wallet files are not meant to be opened like normal files, and Bitcoin currently has no way to load a wallet.dat file from an arbitrary location. Bitcoin will simply load whichever wallet.dat file happens to be present in its data directory, creating an empty wallet if one does not already exist. You can verify that your wallet is correctly backed up by installing Bitcoin on another computer (or another user account on the same computer) and copying the backup file there, then running Bitcoin and seeing if the displayed balance is correct. Note that you should not attempt to send money or create new addresses from your backup wallet unless your original wallet is lost, as doing so will cause the backup wallet to generate keys which are not present in the original wallet, which will eventually lead to transactions from one wallet not appearing in the other, resulting in incorrect balances being displayed, and it's a huge pain to try to sort out the resulting mess. So don't do that.

From the fact that addr.dat was corrupted as well as your blockchain, it seems you tried to move your Bitcoin directory while Bitcoin was still running (possibly in the background). That won't work at all. Also, the blockchain will be corrupted if you move it to a different directory when the "Detach databases at shutdown" option is turned off. Turning this option on then shutting down Bitcoin will allow you to move the blockchain without corrupting it, however Bitcoin will take several minutes to properly shut down, due to the massive size of the files involved. This option is off by default, and allows Bitcoin to close without having to save huge files, but this has the side effect that the blockchain will be corrupted by moving it.

[brockacre]

So if wallet.dat cannot be opened from an arbitrary location but only from the bitcoin data directory, in order to restore a backed up wallet in the event of a computer crash, I would need to reinstall bitcoin, transfer the back up wallet.dat file into the data directory (delete automatically generated blank wallet?), and then start bitcoin?

Is there any benefit to using multiple wallets and if so how?

[John (John K.)]

So if wallet.dat cannot be opened from an arbitrary location but only from the bitcoin data directory, in order to restore a backed up wallet in the event of a computer crash, I would need to reinstall bitcoin, transfer the back up wallet.dat file into the data directory (delete automatically generated blank wallet?), and then start bitcoin?

Is there any benefit to using multiple wallets and if so how?

The wallet.dat contains the keys to your Bitcoins. Most basic foolproof way of restoring your wallet on the lieu of a corrupted blockchain is via reinstalling bitcoin and redownloading the blockchain. Replace the wallet.dat file with your backup-ed file.
Alternatively, you can use a key-extractor to obtain the keys from the wallet.dat and loading the keys to another client(for example the online wallet at blockchain.info).