<p>If you still have the <code>wallet.dat</code> file from the bitcoin-qt installation at the time got the wallet address that you sent the money to you can use that with a new bitcoin-qt installation to try to make it work. If you don't have that <code>wallet.dat</code> file anymore the money is lost.</p>

<p>As for the problems downloading the blockchain, are you sure you have enough space? It's about 12 GB now. It sometimes take a very long time to download and may just look like it's sitting around for a while doing nothing, then pick up again a while later.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-22T14:58:07.570Z
Yupp backed up wallet, before and after I encrypted it in my panic.... Was scared to uninstall and reinstall as I couldn't find anywhere to open a backed up wallet, as for space, I'd be really surprised to find I don't have 12 gig on my c drive, but will check that too when I get home, thanks heaps for help hey!!!
Ric
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-22T14:59:07.980Z
P.s. I figured 48 hours was long enough for it sitting around doing nothing before I called it frozen
Ric
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-22T15:03:42.713Z
@Ric you are probably right about 48 hours, though if you have space and waiting doesn't solve it I'm out of ideas. Hopefully someone else have some.
LJNielsenDk
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-22T14:33:34.420Z
2013-11-22T14:33:34.420Z
LJNielsenDk
<p>If all else fails you can export your private keys and import them into a different wallet, like Electrum.  </p>

<p>To get your private keys out of bitcoin-qt, click Help, Debug Window, Console tab. </p>

<p>If your wallet is encrypted, you must unlock the wallet with this command:</p>

<pre><code>   walletpassphrase "your wallet password" 60
</code></pre>

<p>To get the private key: </p>

<pre><code>   dumpprivkey "addressYouOwn"
</code></pre>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-22T18:31:49.707Z
2014-03-22T18:31:49.707Z
hsmiths
<p>I downloaded <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Bitcoin-Qt" rel="nofollow">Bitcoin-Qt</a>, got it running, had 15 weeks or so left to catch up (sync) when I purchased some bitcoins and had them sent to my new wallet.</p>

<p>Then to my horror, Bitcoin-Qt has frozen with four weeks to go. It has been running 48 hours without any change in changed blocks left. I have restarted my computer, rebooted the modem, all the simple things but no love.</p>

<p>What can I do to access this wallet? I'm new to all this. I only ever used my online wallet address before.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-23T02:53:49.147Z
What version of Bitcoin-QT are you running? One of the newer versions significantly increased the synchronization speed.
Murch
<wallet><bitcoin-core><network>
Bitcoin-Qt frozen catching up/sync with Bitcoin in new wallet
Ric
# Bitcoin-Qt frozen catching up/sync with Bitcoin in new wallet

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-11-22)

I downloaded [Bitcoin-Qt](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Bitcoin-Qt), got it running, had 15 weeks or so left to catch up (sync) when I purchased some bitcoins and had them sent to my new wallet.

Then to my horror, Bitcoin-Qt has frozen with four weeks to go. It has been running 48 hours without any change in changed blocks left. I have restarted my computer, rebooted the modem, all the simple things but no love.

What can I do to access this wallet? I'm new to all this. I only ever used my online wallet address before.

**Tags:** wallet, bitcoin-core, network

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: What version of Bitcoin-QT are you running? One of the newer versions significantly increased the synchronization speed.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2013-11-22. Score: 1

If you still have the `wallet.dat` file from the bitcoin-qt installation at the time got the wallet address that you sent the money to you can use that with a new bitcoin-qt installation to try to make it work. If you don't have that `wallet.dat` file anymore the money is lost.

As for the problems downloading the blockchain, are you sure you have enough space? It's about 12 GB now. It sometimes take a very long time to download and may just look like it's sitting around for a while doing nothing, then pick up again a while later.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Yupp backed up wallet, before and after I encrypted it in my panic.... Was scared to uninstall and reinstall as I couldn't find anywhere to open a backed up wallet, as for space, I'd be really surprised to find I don't have 12 gig on my c drive, but will check that too when I get home, thanks heaps for help hey!!!  
> **username_0**: P.s. I figured 48 hours was long enough for it sitting around doing nothing before I called it frozen  
> **username_2**: @username_0 you are probably right about 48 hours, though if you have space and waiting doesn't solve it I'm out of ideas. Hopefully someone else have some.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-03-22. Score: 0

If all else fails you can export your private keys and import them into a different wallet, like Electrum.  
To get your private keys out of bitcoin-qt, click Help, Debug Window, Console tab. 
If your wallet is encrypted, you must unlock the wallet with this command:
   walletpassphrase "your wallet password" 60

To get the private key: 
   dumpprivkey "addressYouOwn"


---

