user16: I just purchased a new laptop and I want to decommission my old one.  I have a back-up of my wallet.dat file copied to my new PC.  What do I need to do to restore it to my Bitcoin (Windows) client?  Please note, this is a wallet.dat file that is about 6 months old and I haven't loaded it in at least four months.  I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not, contingent on the original version of the client that created the file.

user14: You need to put the old wallet.dat in your bitcoin data directory.
The default for Windows is:
C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Application data\Bitcoin (XP)

C:\Users\YourUserName\Appdata\Roaming\Bitcoin (Vista and 7)

Then run the bitcoin client with the -rescan option.
Alternatively you can run the bitcoin client with the -datadir=<location of backup wallet.dat> as well as the -rescan option if you do not want to move/backup the new wallet.dat.
The default for Mac OS X is:
~/Library/Application\Support\Bitcoin


The default for Linux is:
~/.bitcoin


16: <p>I just purchased a new laptop and I want to decommission my old one.  I have a back-up of my wallet.dat file copied to my new PC.  What do I need to do to restore it to my Bitcoin (Windows) client?  Please note, this is a wallet.dat file that is about 6 months old and I haven't loaded it in at least four months.  I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not, contingent on the original version of the client that created the file.</p>
 14: <p>You need to put the old wallet.dat in your bitcoin data directory.</p>

<p><strong>The default for Windows is:</strong></p>

<pre><code>C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Application data\Bitcoin (XP)

C:\Users\YourUserName\Appdata\Roaming\Bitcoin (Vista and 7)
</code></pre>

<p>Then run the bitcoin client with the <code>-rescan</code> option.</p>

<p>Alternatively you can run the bitcoin client with the <code>-datadir=&lt;location of backup wallet.dat&gt;</code> as well as the <code>-rescan</code> option if you do not want to move/backup the new wallet.dat.<br /><br /></p>

<p><strong>The default for Mac OS X is:</strong></p>

<pre><code>~/Library/Application\Support\Bitcoin
</code></pre>

<p><br />
<strong>The default for Linux is:</strong></p>

<pre><code>~/.bitcoin
</code></pre>
