Need help extracting usable BTC from a wallet.dat.txt file.

[TheNewb]

This will be my first time posting here so please forgive any newbyness.

A friend recently gave me an old thumbdrive with a wallet.dat.txt file on it. It is a txt file called wallet.dat. He had bought a full BTC but didn't know what he was doing or how to spend it so he said I can keep it if can figure it out.

I'm semi-familiar with BTC but know almost nothing about paper wallets/cold storage. After some research, I discovered I might could import it here: https://blockchain.info/wallet/import-wallet

However, I get the following error message: Unknown File Type wallet.dat.txt

I think perhaps he may have played with it trying to get the BTC, and opened the .dat with a word processor which converted the file to wallet.dat.txt

Here are a couple of images to better show what I am working with here:



Is there any way to convert the wallet.dat.txt back into wallet.dat? Just trying to get at that free 1 BTC. Please help! Any/all advice is welcome!

[zju]

Try this page: https://blockchain.info/wallet/import-wallet

I believe it will create a blockchain.info wallet for you using the private keys in the wallet.dat file.

[arnoudk]

Before doing any experimentation, please make a copy of the file and work with the copy.

I assume it is misnamed. It should be wallet.dat and not wallet.dat.txt.

wallet.dat is what bitcoin-qt uses. You may be able to read it using this software. I am not sure if they are fully backwards compatible, but the last modified date of the file should give an indication of the version of bitcoin-qt used to make it.

[SerutEhtt]

May be it is encrypted, which is why blockchain.info shows you the error while trying to import it in, in which case you have to make the blockchain info wallet with the same password and then you'd be able to import it in.

If you can find the private keys inside then you can import it into almost all wallets.

[BTC.PASS]

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[stan.distortion]

A very rough way to check if it's encrypted or not, open it up in a hex editor and amidst all the garbled up info there should be some fairly obvious text strings, key or ckey. If they're ckey then the wallet is encrypted, key is unencrypted. On a backup of course! There are plenty of free hex editors and some regular text editors will display it well enough to check it but they usually either take a long time to load it or bork entirely.

[Rmcdermott927]

Download pywallet and run the wallet.dat through that. It will tell you if it is encrypted and if not will dump the wallet contents to a txt file.

[defcon23]

Download pywallet and run the wallet.dat through that. It will tell you if it is encrypted and if not will dump the wallet contents to a txt file.

Yeah . + 1 for pywallet. jack jack have make an awesome piece of code with this..

you could find many good infos there : https://github.com/jackjack-jj/pywallet

and remember : google is always your friend ( exept when it leaked your personals infos .. lol )

[Decoded]

It may be encrypted, but OP's problem is that he's using Windows, which by default hides file name extensions of known file types. In this case, .txt.

In actuality, the wallet file is not. .dat file, but. .txt file, and the name of the file is wallet.dat.

Press your windows search button, and type in "Folder Options". Something along those lines should come up, then click "View", then uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types".

Your file should now be named wallet.dat.txt.

Make a copy of it now. You don't want to accidentally corrupt it.

Now rename it to wallet.dat, accept the warning, and you're done. Unless your friend trolled you and he gave you a text file on purpose, you can now go back to blockchain.Info and import the wallet.dat file.

If you want, encrypt the file with a password and send it to me with the password and I'll work on unlocking it for you. I'll do it for free, I don't want someone else's Bitcoin.

[defcon23]

It may be encrypted, but OP's problem is that he's using Windows, which by default hides file name extensions of known file types. In this case, .txt.

In actuality, the wallet file is not. .dat file, but. .txt file, and the name of the file is wallet.dat.
" If you want, encrypt the file with a password and send it to me with the password and I'll work on unlocking it for you. I'll do it for free, I don't want someone else's Bitcoin. "
Press your windows search button, and type in "Folder Options". Something along those lines should come up, then click "View", then uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types".

Your file should now be named wallet.dat.txt.

Make a copy of it now. You don't want to accidentally corrupt it.

Now rename it to wallet.dat, accept the warning, and you're done. Unless your friend trolled you and he gave you a text file on purpose, you can now go back to blockchain.Info and import the wallet.dat file.

If you want, encrypt the file with a password and send it to me with the password and I'll work on unlocking it for you. I'll do it for free, I don't want someone else's Bitcoin.

Hey sir!


I won't discuss this part:
" If you want, encrypt the file with a password and send it to me with the password and I'll work on unlocking it for you. I'll do it for free, I don't want someone else's Bitcoin. "

as I think you should be someone "highly reputable " ... but.. : the deontology said: never ever propose something like this .... just in case a problem happens...
Examples: recently, I was talking about an issue an electrum user got with his wallet, with ThomasV ( who coded electrum wallet & server ..)

he was possibly able to solve the user issue ( with his electrum 2fa seed ) but he had formerly REFUSED to accept the user send him his seed .... ( who knows what could happen.... ..you see ? )

in the case of a problem, it would be difficult to be involved afterwards.


just my two satoshis...

kind regards

[Decoded]

It may be encrypted, but OP's problem is that he's using Windows, which by default hides file name extensions of known file types. In this case, .txt.

In actuality, the wallet file is not. .dat file, but. .txt file, and the name of the file is wallet.dat.
" If you want, encrypt the file with a password and send it to me with the password and I'll work on unlocking it for you. I'll do it for free, I don't want someone else's Bitcoin. "
Press your windows search button, and type in "Folder Options". Something along those lines should come up, then click "View", then uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types".

Your file should now be named wallet.dat.txt.

Make a copy of it now. You don't want to accidentally corrupt it.

Now rename it to wallet.dat, accept the warning, and you're done. Unless your friend trolled you and he gave you a text file on purpose, you can now go back to blockchain.Info and import the wallet.dat file.

If you want, encrypt the file with a password and send it to me with the password and I'll work on unlocking it for you. I'll do it for free, I don't want someone else's Bitcoin.

Hey sir!


I won't discuss this part:
" If you want, encrypt the file with a password and send it to me with the password and I'll work on unlocking it for you. I'll do it for free, I don't want someone else's Bitcoin. "

as I think you should be someone "highly reputable " ... but.. : the deontology said: never ever propose something like this .... just in case a problem happens...
Examples: recently, I was talking about an issue an electrum user got with his wallet, with ThomasV ( who coded electrum wallet & server ..)

he was possibly able to solve the user issue ( with his electrum 2fa seed ) but he had formerly REFUSED to accept the user send him his seed .... ( who knows what could happen.... ..you see ? )

in the case of a problem, it would be difficult to be involved afterwards.


just my two satoshis...

kind regards

I know how to handle private keys securely.

I honestly am just offering my help, I don't care if you think if it's a scam or not. OP can decide for himself.

Please, I understand you believe you have a right to tell anyone less trusted than you to piss off and that only someone more trusted you should do it, but please. Even the dumbest person will understand the risks of giving someone else their private key.

[defcon23]

Man... Just try to avoid this kind of rude tone.. I,m free to expose my point of view as you was free to expose your way to think the last time an user had thanx me for having helped him ..
( ref : my AMA thread)
Ps: bitcoin.com shoudnt become a hate place like the other forum... Anytime. There wasnt any offense here..
Thank you.

Regards