Need help recovering my wallet.dat files

I’m on a Mac. Trying to access some really old wallet.dat files. Downloaded Bitcoin Core and tried swapping my file with their generated one. But I keep getting a "corrupted unable to recover" error. These wallets are pre-forks and really ancient.

My bad, forgot to mention my wallets aren’t encrypted, as far as I can tell. I even tried a hex editor to find "keyA" but no luck in both the old and new wallets.

Check this out: there’s a program that scans disks for Bitcoin private keys. I tried it years ago and it worked for me. If you can’t find it, I can send you my copy. It made a new wallet.dat from the keys it found.

I really could use some guidance on how to run that tool. No CDs here, and I’m not familiar with Linux. I’ll throw in a reward for anyone who can help with step-by-step instructions for Mac or PC.

Have you tried searching for fd1701308201130201010420 in the hex editor? That’s usually where some private keys are. The next 32 bytes might be what you need if these wallets are unencrypted.

I’m getting tons of results for 0201010420... but nothing for that long string. I’m using Hex Fiend and the wallet is from late 2013. Can’t find it in either the new or old wallet.

Looks like those wallet.dat files might be corrupt. My Bitcoin-Qt is finally updated, and when I swapped in my old files, it still says "wallet.dat corrupt, salvage failed". This happens with both wallets I’ve tried.

I’m raising the bounty to $200. Really need to get this info from the wallet.dat files. Is there an easy way to tell if they’re encrypted? They’re both from around late 2013.

You could compare with a known good 2013 CORE wallet. Test different methods on it first to see what works, then try the same on yours.

Forget about a CD; do you have a USB drive lying around? You could use it just for this recovery process, format it for the task. If you’re dropping a $200 bounty, a USB stick shouldn’t be a big deal.

An easier way might be to use VirtualBox to set up a virtual Ubuntu system on your Mac. But you’ll still need a good 2013 wallet to test.

I managed to recover my wallet with a third-party service. They used info from that program I mentioned earlier. Shoutout to sgravina for helping me out, I’ll send a little something for the support.

Dude, you really helped out too! I’ll send you a thank you gift as well. Just drop your deposit address.

I’ve been through key recovery before, happy to help if it’s possible. Hit me up with your Skype for a live chat. No risks, just good advice based on third-party resources. I can do it for free, but a donation would be nice.

I’ve got a wallet I can donate to get some help too. I’m learning Linux and crypto stuff but keep hitting dead ends. I need some guidance on finding private keys and what to do next. Willing to pay for assistance.

What exactly are you trying to do? Recovering from a corrupt wallet.dat? PyWallet might work with newer files but needs tweaks to ignore newer metadata. Let me know if you need help with that.

You’re missing the point on encryption. Those YouTube ads claiming they have "Bitcoin Core Wallet Cracked" are likely scams or malware. Stay away from that junk.

Did you even look into other solutions? There are ways to salvage keys without going through the hassle you’re facing.