Quote from: HistoryBloke on December 04, 2017, 01:25:14 AM

Perfect! Thank you! One more question...

So if I backup the wallet.dat tonight and disassemble my PC, but I receive some bitcoin in the next few weeks. When I re-install my core client, restore the wallet, and re-sync to the network... will the newly sent BTC be there? I guess what I'm asking is...

Yes. Does your client have a HD symbol on the lower right? If so, then it would definitely be good to just have it backedup once.

Quote from: HistoryBloke on December 04, 2017, 01:25:14 AM

1. Does the wallet.dat file itself contain the bitcoin? or...

No.

Quote from: HistoryBloke on December 04, 2017, 01:25:14 AM

2. Does the blockchain technically contain my bitcoin and the wallet.dat file is simply the "key" to access the "safe-deposit box?" I assume the core client will process the blockchain and then see that I'm supposed to have x amount of bitcoin, so it then "arrives?"

Yeah kinda. The blockchain is a set of ledger that records the transactions. Your client will look through the blockchain for any transaction that is relevant to your address and display it to you.

You can only spend those unspent output with your private keys.