Quote from: claire on December 17, 2017, 11:48:41 PM

I used to get paid via bitcoin. I used it for online necessities such as webhosting and domain names. Then I made a backup in 2012 and a few others. Then my friend used my machine and erased my hard disk accidentally (sure) so years later here I am knowing that I have transactions from 2013 trying to resurrect my wallet.dat file from my backup. Unfortunately, I can only find my 2012 wallet so I don't have my new addresses that I had been putting out there for fun. I'm sure no one paid anything and I probably have very little bitcon if any, but since it's an older backup I'm pretty sure I no longer have that info and its lost. Or maybe I'm wrong? Thanks

Quote from: claire on December 17, 2017, 11:58:18 PM

I have the backup from 2012. It is working, open and retrieving all of my info. What I don't have are any receiving addresses stored after that date. I'm thinking that anything I received with a new address is probably lost. Angry

This is a Technical Support question. If you could be helped, then you would probably get more help over there. I was recently involved in a thread which pertained to an erased drive. The owner of the drive was looking into professional data recovery services.

But, no; alas, I dont think you can be helped here. If you cannot recover a copy of your wallet file newer than your last backup, than you cannot recover the money in addresses newer than your last backup. For older-style, non-HD wallets, you should consider that to be an absolute rule. (Tech note: What you really need is not the addresses, but the private keys associated with the addresses. Private keys control all in Bitcoin.)

If and only if you still have the drive, there may be a chance here. Has the drive been heavily used since then, or sitting on a shelf? Even if the drive was erased, even if it was reused, there is a chance that your 2013 wallet file could be found using data recovery methods. It would be not unlike a forensic examination of the drive. This would require a large effort, gambled on the possibility of recovering useful data. Whether that be worthwhile, is a question of how much Bitcoin you lost. If it was a sufficient amount, I or others may be willing to help for a fee (payable only upon successful recovery). If you have the drive and youd be interested in discussing this, feel free to PM me.

For future reference, this is why you should always use an HD (Hierarchical Deterministic) wallet. A single backup of an HD wallet will allow restoration of all money in current and future addresses. This is neither magic, nor time travel: As its name implies, the HD wallet generates new addresses deterministically from a single high-entropy seed value. Then, you only need to back up the seed value. A backup of your new wallet file will contain the seed. Alternatively, certain clients permit backup up the seed as a mnemonic phrase of random words; some people write the seed words on a piece of paper locked in a safe, or even write it into a Last Will and Testament. Ever thereafter, all their coins can be recovered from the magic words.

HD wallets were invented for this reason: Many people lost money the same way as you did. Old-style wallets absolutely must be backed up each and every time you generate a new address, and thats just not practical.

Quote from: claire on December 17, 2017, 11:58:18 PM

When his band is famous I'm going to make him repay me hahaha

Yeah, right. Good luck with that. As of this writing, each BTC1.0 is worth $19,042.40. How famous does his band need to be, for him to be able to repay you?

At least you didnt throw 7500 bitcoins in the garbage (currently worth over $142 million). Look on the bright side!