Quote from: praxeologist on August 29, 2012, 05:35:31 PM

1. I have an old wallet saved (unencrypted) with a few coins on it. I took this off my old computer and just downloaded the bitcoin client again. Is there a guide to plugging those coins into my new client? I figure there is a guide around somewhere, but though I could ask.

2. More pressing and difficult.. I used to use Bitcoin OTC way before you needed to do some sort of PGP Authentication to even join the channel. In general, I had problems using Win GPG or whatever it was called, so there are probably keys from a few attempts sitting around on my old computer. I need to figure out what I am looking for and how to join OTC again. What am I looking for and how do I do this?

For your wallet, you can simply overwrite your new install with the wallet.dat from the old computer -- assuming you haven't used the new wallet yet. Just close the client, and copy the file in to the Bitcoin directory.

- http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Data_directory

For the -OTC, if you've already registered a username in the Web of Trust (WoT), then you will need the GPG private key from the old computer or from a backup to authenticate into that username.
- http://bitcoin-otc.com/viewratings.php

Just to be clear, the IRC nick doesn't necessarily need to be the same as the WoT username. It is more convenient and less confusing if they are the same, but there's no requirement that they be the same. So if you don't already have a a WoT entry, you can register as if it is the first time.

If instead you already registered and need to bring your GPG private key from your old computer, then there will be a different set of steps. Generally, you want to, from the old computer, export the key. Then on the new one you import the key.