Before you do anything else, copy the wallet.dat file to two or three separate USB drives or external hard drives. Store these physically safely.
Finding an old wallet.dat file can feel like discovering a digital time capsule that might contain significant value. This file is the primary data storage format for Bitcoin Core old walletdat hot
Recently, there has been a surge in discussions around "old wallet.dat hot" files—usually referring to the recovery of old wallet files on internet-connected (hot) machines, or the trading of these files on secondary markets. Before you do anything else, copy the wallet
: This covers the security differences between wallets connected to the internet ("hot") and those kept offline ("cold"). Recovering an old bitcoin wallet from 2013 - Ian Belcher Before you do anything else