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Is it possible the file is corrupt? The file size is 96kb. I just spend 2 weeks downloading Bitcoin Core, and when I replaced the wallet file in there with the wallet.dat file I saved on my computer a couple years ago, and then restarted Bitcoin Core, no luck! It still tells me I have 0 bitcoins. Also, I regrettably took someone's advice to empty my %APPDATA%\BITCOIN file (when placing my wallet.dat into it), and now it looks like Bitcoin Core is making me download the entire damn ledger again!! Please help me out here. If I can actually get this bitcoin, I will paypal 100 dollars to the person who figures it out for me.
"Because blockchain.info says so" - for which address? Are you sure that address is in your wallet? If you delete your blockchain it will need to download it again. – Pieter Wuille – 2017-12-09T20:27:58.470
How would I confirm that that address is in my wallet? Like I said, I do have the wallet.dat file on hand. (Thanks for the help, by the way, Pieter!) – Max – 2017-12-09T20:50:13.800
You're looking at blockchain.info, which says you have BTC. What address are you looking at? How do you know that address belongs to that wallet.dat file? – Pieter Wuille – 2017-12-09T21:15:18.457
Basically, that's the address I gave to someone who then sent a bitcoin to it about 2 years ago. How did I get that address? I believe I got it from the Bitcoin Core program that I had downloaded. However, at that time I was not able to download the entire damn ledger (which I believe is called the "Blockchain") and as a result, I never got to display that bitcoin in my Bitcoin Core program, which requires downloading the whole blockchain first. Recently, now that BTC gained so much value, I was motivated to try to "recover" the bitcoin, and just spent days downloading Bitcoin Core. – Max – 2017-12-09T21:54:17.843
Go to the RPC console in Bitcoin-Qt (debug window), and type
validateaddress <address>(replace<address>with the address you believe to be yours). It should respond"ismine" : trueif the address is yours. – Pieter Wuille – 2017-12-09T21:56:45.047Pieter, thanks for the help again. The program I have is Bitcoin Core v0.15.1. Is this what you are calling "Bitcoin-Qt?' – Max – 2017-12-09T22:29:57.640
Also, can I do this before downloading the entire ledger again, or do I have to download the entire ledger? edit: I just did that, and it says "ismine: false." However, how on earth would the program know if it's mine or not, since I have never until now had the Bitcoin Core program on my computer? – Max – 2017-12-09T22:30:44.090
No, you can do that while it's synchronizing. Also, increase the database cache size setting to increase sync speed. – Pieter Wuille – 2017-12-09T22:33:27.903
So you delete your wallet.dat? – Petr – 2017-12-09T20:28:54.267
No- I deleted the wallet file that was in the Bitcoin Core program that I downloaded... then I inserted my wallet.dat file into that location (%APPDATA%\BITCOIN) – Max – 2017-12-09T20:56:14.177
In other words, I definitely still have my wallet.dat file. – Max – 2017-12-09T20:58:50.513
Alright, again though, Peter.... How would Bitcoin Core know that this bitcoin address is mine or not? I don't even have the computer I originally used to download Bitcoin Core! – Max – 2017-12-09T23:17:06.803