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My wallet has been stuck synchronizing for 21 days, my transfer is in the block chain but I can't get it to sync with my wallet. I've closed firewalls, uninstalled and reinstalled QT with back up and cannot get the wallet to get current, it is frozen and I can't get my 20 BTC. I'm fairly new and am unable to copy and paste blockchain or whatever. I still have the original Bitcoin address the bitcoins were transfered to from my mtgox account.

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    Welcome to Bitcoin.SE! I removed comments relating to you paying others for their help. On StackExchange people should be motivated to answer questions because they are interested in the field, not because they are offered some money. I suggest editing your question listing what OS you use, and what you attempted.
    – makerofthings7
    Commented Oct 2, 2012 at 4:29
  • I would suggest that the method suggested by Chris Moore (using MtGox) would be the best option if you have a MtGox account. If not, contact someone (trusted) with MtGox account and send them your wallet.dat file. I have not used this feature yet but if it really works as mentioned, it will definitely be the simplest method for you.
    – Jus12
    Commented Jan 2, 2013 at 7:20
  • closely related to Cannot access my bitcoins because my wallet is still synchronising. What can I do to retrieve them?
    – Murch ♦
    Commented Aug 20, 2015 at 12:01

5 Answers 5

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I can help!

Your money is "yours", it just isn't being listed in your wallet because as you say, your wallet is having trouble updating... That's OK! You can access it in other ways, such as an online e-wallet:

First, we need to get your "private key":

  1. Close bitcoin completely, then

  2. Open control panel, select "large icons" in the top right corner

  3. Click "folder options", or if you are opening it from the start menu, just click "folder options"

  4. Click the "view" tab

  5. under "hidden files and folders", click "show hidden files and folders and drives"

  6. Deselect "hide extensions of known file types", this will allow you to see the bitcoin working folder

  7. press OK

  8. right click the start button and click "open windows explorer"

  9. doubleclick "local disk (c:)" under "my computer"

  10. doubleclick "users"

  11. doubleclick "yourusername" eg "john"

  12. doubleclick "appdata"

  13. doubleclick "roaming"

  14. doubleclick the "bitcoin" folder

(this is for Windows 7, for XP the directory is C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Application data\Bitcoin (XP))

  1. right click an empty area in the folder and select "new">"text document"

  2. doubleclick the new text document

  3. type the following 2 lines into the empty text document:

  4. rpcuser=someusername

  5. rpcpassword=somepassword

  6. replace someusername and somepassword with anything (you don't have to remember it later) so button mashing udhf9w8dg98rgu will work (no spaces)

  7. "file">"save as" type "bitcoin.conf"

  8. press save

  9. Right click the start button and click "open windows explorer"

  10. doubleclick "local disk (c:)" under "my computer"

  11. doubleclick "program files(x86)"

  12. doubleclick "bitcoin"

  13. hold shift and right click on "daemon"

  14. click "open command window here"

  15. type "bitcoind"

  16. leave that window open,

  17. Wait 2 minutes for the daemon to load

  18. Don't close the window

  19. Go back to the explorer window, and again,

  20. Hold shift and right click on "daemon"

  21. Click "open command window here"

If your wallet is encrypted, go to A then proceed to B if not go straight to B

  • A: type "bitcoind walletpassphrase 600" where walletpassphrase is your wallet password and press enter

  • B: type "bitcoind dumpprivkey 1YourBitcoinAddress1234567890"

  1. replace 1YourBitcoinAddress1234567890 with the address where you withdrew the money to. You will get a long string of numbers. Leave this window open...

Upload the private key to a managed service

  1. Goto blockchain.info

  2. click "wallet" at the top

  3. click "start a new wallet"

  4. sign up for a new wallet

  5. once your new wallet is created, log in to it.

  6. go to the tab that says "import/export"

  7. press "continue" at the warning

  8. where it says "import private key", type the long string of numbers EXACTLY from the black window

  9. press "add private key"

Your wallet is now managed online.

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  • Exhaustively detailed. Well done
    – Basic
    Commented Dec 16, 2014 at 20:15
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I haven't used it yet, but maybe there is a method you might find useful.

BlockChain.info/wallet has a "desktop sync" feature in which you configure your client to act as a server and accept RPC commands. Then the BlockChain.info/wallet plugin will grab your keys from your wallet.dat and sync them by copying them to your BlockChain.info/wallet

You don't need to have the client current with the latest blockchain download for this to work and it doesn't use the Bitcoin P2P network so this should solve your problem.

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It's not your wallet you need to "get current"; it's the blockchain. However, the standard client does need an internet connection for many of its functions.

Firstly, you want to ensure you've got a backup of your wallet.dat (preferably encrypted) file, which contains the private keys you need to recover your funds. If it was me, I'd make 2 copies and store them on different machines in different locations.

Once you've done that, you need to get your client app up and running. This is likely to take some further analysis, but to start with can you please state the version of the client you're trying to use, and whether or not you are using a proxy server for your internet connection.

Note also that the blockchain is available for download separately; you'd save a lot of time doing it that way as synchronization can take hours (it's a disk-intensive process). See details here: Can I download the whole block chain from somewhere?

The QT client may still be able to export the private key for your receiving address without an internet connection, which you would be able to import to a different client or an e-wallet to use your funds; can anyone confirm?

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Your coins are not lost as long as you have the private keys from your wallet.dat file, which can be found in C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin for Windows 7. Most likely your problem is the client which was fed with wrong data.

Bitcoin-Qt is a full node and backbone of Bitcoin Network, but it's a bit hard to get it right for a new user.

You should try what Stephen Gornick suggested. Blockchain.info is an eWallet that will do all the work. The desktop sync functionality will use the right data from blockchain.info and your private keys from your desktop to let you manage your bitcoins.

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MtGox has an option that allows you to upload a copy of your wallet.dat to their site. If you do that, the coins that have been sent to your wallet will appear back in your MtGox account. Then you can send them to an online wallet address, or leave them in your MtGox account until your local bitcoin client has finished downloading the blockchain.

If you need help with any of this, leave a comment on my answer telling me how I can contact you.

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