<p>Look into something like Electrum. It uses a one time password (very long mine is 13 words) to generate all future address in a specific way. This means as long as you have your password, and a copy of the Electrum software it can find all you bitcoins, there is almost no need to "store" them anywhere. You could literally receive bitcoins on computer A and password P in Electrum. Blow up computer A, and get new computer B download Electrum and input password(seed) P and it will generate addresses in the same way each time, so it will basically "find" your bitcoins in the blockchain. </p>

<p>All you do is remember your passphrase and your btc is safe.</p>

<p>It is basically the backwards way of trying to steal btc, to steal them (extremely unfeasible) you could sit with a SHA-256 algorithm and input stupid passwords like "monkeybutt" and then try to send any bitcoins at that address to yourself and sign the tx with that password, but again, stupidly unfeasible. But there are reports of a few people actually finding others btc this way, because they generate their passwords with simple strings like "monkeybutt".</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-04-12T12:33:44.770Z
2013-04-12T12:33:44.770Z
KDecker
<p>Your wallet file contains the keys needed to sign transactions that transfer Bitcoins from your accounts. The system doesn't care who accesses what, it just cares that transactions are signed with the appropriate keys.</p>

<p>Back up your wallet file so you don't lose the keys you need to spend your Bitcoins. But remember, if someone gets their hands on <em>any</em> unencrypted copy of your wallet, they can spend your coins.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-04-12T03:07:03.617Z
2013-04-12T03:07:03.617Z
David Schwartz
<p>I have good back up system. Can my wallet be backed up?</p>

<p>Can I access it anywhere?</p>

<p>If so how do bit coin system know that I am the one accessing it?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-04-12T05:00:42.397Z
Related: http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/746/516 (has details about where your wallet is stored)
Highly Irregular
<safety>
How do I handle the risk that my hard disk crash?
user4951
# How do I handle the risk that my hard disk crash?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-04-12)

I have good back up system. Can my wallet be backed up?

Can I access it anywhere?

If so how do bit coin system know that I am the one accessing it?

**Tags:** safety

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Related: http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/746/516 (has details about where your wallet is stored)  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2013-04-12. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

Look into something like Electrum. It uses a one time password (very long mine is 13 words) to generate all future address in a specific way. This means as long as you have your password, and a copy of the Electrum software it can find all you bitcoins, there is almost no need to "store" them anywhere. You could literally receive bitcoins on computer A and password P in Electrum. Blow up computer A, and get new computer B download Electrum and input password(seed) P and it will generate addresses in the same way each time, so it will basically "find" your bitcoins in the blockchain.

All you do is remember your passphrase and your btc is safe.

It is basically the backwards way of trying to steal btc, to steal them (extremely unfeasible) you could sit with a SHA-256 algorithm and input stupid passwords like "monkeybutt" and then try to send any bitcoins at that address to yourself and sign the tx with that password, but again, stupidly unfeasible. But there are reports of a few people actually finding others btc this way, because they generate their passwords with simple strings like "monkeybutt".


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### Answer by username_3 on 2013-04-12. Score: 4

Your wallet file contains the keys needed to sign transactions that transfer Bitcoins from your accounts. The system doesn't care who accesses what, it just cares that transactions are signed with the appropriate keys.

Back up your wallet file so you don't lose the keys you need to spend your Bitcoins. But remember, if someone gets their hands on *any* unencrypted copy of your wallet, they can spend your coins.


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