finding an old wallet.dat from 2010

Hey everyone, A couple of years ago, my partner passed away, and while I was looking through some pictures on an SD card that belonged to him, I stumbled upon a wallet.dat file. I did a quick search online and found out that it could potentially be a bitcoin wallet since he was a tech enthusiast and really smart. I did some digging and downloaded pywallet, which I managed to use even though I'm not that tech-savvy. It gave me some info, but no address. I got an encrypted key back, and it confirmed that the password I have is correct. It showed me the wallet version and some salt numbers, but no address or anything else. Also, there’s a crypto_keystore file on the SD card that popped up when I clicked to show hidden files. These files are stored in a folder called HTC backup. So, do you think it’s still a bitcoin wallet, and what should I do next? Thanks!

I have never heard of pywallet and checking it now it has a bad reputation, and you may make a mistake that willl hand the file over to scammers. I will suggest you switch to a reputable wallet like bitcoin core and run the file when it has synced fully. There is a link to download the latest core version at the top of this page. Remember to back up the wallet.dat file first to a different device to be extra careful. Have you ever come across anything in documents or stored papers that looks like a collection of random words, maybe 12 or 24 words as they are the most common ones? If not, you can check through personal things if they are still available. - Jay -

That depends on where your partner got it from, "wallet.dat" file can be from any of Bitcoin's forks so it can be an Altcoin wallet file. Or even a fake if he just bought it from somewhere. If you can spare about 500GB of bandwidth: Install Bitcoin Core 27.0 (link above this forum's menu), launch it. Set your preferred settings (enable "pruning" if don't have enough storage) and immediately restore the wallet.dat file with "File->Restore Wallet...". Then let the node sync and your Bitcoins should be displayed once it reached year 2010+ blocks. Reply if you encountered an error during the restore wallet process.

I have not used it before but I think it can be used offline on an airgapped device. I thought there is a way Pywallet can be used to convert the wallet.dat to json format and also it can be used to export the converted json format which can be used to access the private key? Do not mind my little knowledge about this because I have not used Bitcoin Core or Pywallet before. I do not think Pywallet requires Bitcoin Core or blockchain download and it can be used to extract the private keys. Or is that not correct.

My reply is about loading the wallet.dat to Bitcoin Core which is the straightforward way, nothing about Pywallet. If it's a "wallet.dat", I'd would go for the actual software rather than 3rd-party tools unless if there's no other choice. And I asked for possible errors because it can be from another wallet that supports the "wallet.dat" wallet name. If he want to use pywallet, there's --dumpwallet arg to export it in json format.

How did you know the password without knowing your partner had a Bitcoin wallet? See this topic from 2011. Pywallet shouldn't be used on an online system. If there's any chance there's a significant amount of Bitcoins in the wallet, it's better to keep the key offline. It's really unfortunate so many people come here with BS stories. It makes the genuine people look suspicious.

Fair enough. In that case, he should be at least informed not to unlock the wallet if it successfully scanned unspent transactions if he can't setup an air-gap system. "Restore Wallet" doesn't unencrypt the private keys as it keeps the wallet's encryption as it is. Right? And I've 'low-key' pointed that just in case since I've found a couple of suspicious info and inconsistencies in the OP.

You all are making things unnecessary complex! Just copy wallet.dat to Bitcoin data directory and run Bitcoin Core. Old wallet formats work with latest Bitcoin Core versions. Forget about pywallet it is for recovery of damaged or lost wallets and keys!

There's a fast way to check out if a wallet has funds. Open the wallet.dat file with a text editor and simply search for any fields that contain "name", you will eventually find addresses. If those addresses begin with 1 then it should be a bitcoin wallet. Next step, simply go to btc.com/youraddresshere and you will find out if they have any funds. This way you can save yourself having to sync the node to find out. But to be 100% sure I guess you should. Note that this worked for wallets created even some after some years because I reckon doing this and it worked. Not sure if this works with modern wallet.dat files but should be good for your case being a 2010 file.

The new SQLite "descriptor" wallet.dat files also contain that human-readable string followed by an address. So (only) for initial checks, that method should still work. Syncing is still more reliable. Because if the wallet.dat is a backup when the wallet isn't used yet or the funded address is used after the wallet backup is created, you'll only get false-negative result with that "text editor method".

correct me if I am wrong. you can open it with notepad, find the address, and the balance will be indicated there.Or enter this address and it will show the amount search "name" пoпpaвьтe мeня ecли я oшибaюcь. мoжнo oткpыть eгo c пoмoщью блoкнoтa, нaйти aдpec, и тaм бyдeт yкaзaн бaлaнc. либo нa блoкчeйн ввoдитe этoт aдpec, и oн пoкaжeт cyммy

I don't know if the wallet.dat encryption at that time existed on Bitcoin Core but I experienced this before I think around 2015 or 2016 my wallet.dat was human readable when you open it with Notepad but if the encryption existed before then it depends on the OPs wallet file if it is encrypted or not but if not, he can't able to see or understand it's content. @OP If you need professional help why not contact walletrecoveryservices only if all recovery methods you did do not work you can use their service and provide only the hash of your wallet.dat passphrase. Check their thread below - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=240779.0

No, after opening the 'wallet.dat' file as text, search for "name" string and an address should be next to it, but there's no balance there. e.g.:  
name"18nRue6jhSHekztg5cWeqc68si1KRFMJJV :

ý Then, use a blockexplorer or other wallet to check the address' balance. But as I've noted twice, that method isn't reliable. If syncing isn't an option, dump the wallet's keys via dumpwallet (for legacy) or listdescriptors true (for descriptor) command. Then import those to an SPV wallet. (method differs per wallet so create your own topic if you're going for it)

Sorry for the late reply. My friend did download bitcoin core and tried to attach the wallet but he said it wasn't recognised.  He is the only person I thought new about computers but he told me after that he didn't verify the program and I think you are meant to? Would of that effected the outcome? I have tried opening it in notepad and it comes up as two lines of Asian looking written or something foreign.  Is it possible that wallet.dat file and crypto_key files are a android file for like a android wallet from 2010 or some type of cryptography? It's on a SD card from my late partners HTC phone. When I attempted to do pywallet It was so hard to learn but I really had no idea what I was doing I would just copy and paste commands into the cmd to get it to do something. And it gave me back a few lines say it was encrypted and version? And if pywallet is a scam does that mean I would have lost it if it is a bitcoin wallet? Is walletrecoveryservices legitimate and completely trustworthy? Thankyou I appreciate everyone's time.

I haven't heard anything bad about them so far, and if I were in a similar situation like you, I would definitely try their service. Do not under any circumstances send your files to anyone who does not have a great reputation on this forum, and at the same time tries to contact you via PM.

Nonsense. It is a Berkeley/DB file, not a text file

That doesn't mean you can't open it in an editor. Takuma sato is correct: if you search for "name" you'll find addresses.

It definitely means you can not open it in a text editor

The goal is to find human-readable strings. (which I don't recommend as you can see in my replies here) Text editors will try to parse the contents as texts so garbage output is expected but the string: "name" followed by the address used by the wallet should be human-readable. Test it with an old or new wallet.dat (create a new address for newly created wallet) file to verify it.