My old site provided a UBB board and it was version 5.38a. They set it up in 1999. The site was basically an archive after it filled up the 350 meg capacity, so it just sat there, but people could still reference old posts. Then the site started having problems, so I started downloading the board to my computer in case the site might crash. It did. They had no backup for the board.

I had downloaded all the members and forums and posts first, so I have all that. I was downloading the files that run the board, but I don't think I got them all. The doc for installing 5x version talks about 4 Vars files, and I have none. It talks about cplinks file, I have none. Now I don't know what all files I missed when downloading before the crash.

So, my question is, in the member area, is there still a 5.38a version to download? Or is there a list of all files I should have for that version? Am I going to get the Scotty answer, "No, sir, we don't have parts for anything that antiquated?"

Is there a way to set up archive forums on a new board and put these old threads there? I don't need the members, really, but I would like to save the posts. Any ideas?

Thanks

The final 5.x version (5.47e) should be available in the member area for download. I highly reccommend getting it as well as upgrading to the latest (6.7.1) as it has a lot of preformance enhancements and features (hey even for a site that just uses the board as an archive can benefit from better preformance)...

You could also follow the migration instructions here for upgrading your 5x sceries board to 6x.

Also, you may find the Transfer Guide useful in this situation as you're going to need to put the files back on the web in working (hopefully) order...

A developer (like myself, or anyone at UBBDev) would be able to get it all running for rather cheap (under $100 for the work) if you don't feel secure about working on it; note that to get the final 5x version or the latest 6x version you'll need to have a valid and current member license.

Thanks, Gizmo. So I upload 5.47e, make sure it works and then I should be able to put all my old 5.38a stuff in it? I mean this old version has every post in .cgi and in .html. I understand how it filled my site space up so fast

Is there some transitional version after 5.47e that I have to upgrade to before upgrading to the current 6.7.1 version? Thanks for your help.

5.47e is the transitional version, which is why it's still available for download. Once you are upgraded to 5.47e, follow the instructions here to upgrade to 6.7.1

You won't want to just 'move' your 5.38 stuff into the 5.47e version Follow these instructions for upgrading from your version to 5.47e

http://www.ubbcentral.com/support/docs/ubbclassic/UBB5all.html#_Toc6834801

After you've worked your way up to the current version (6.7.1), you can delete these files, which will free up a bunch of space!

Indeed, if your forum is as large as you've stated it should free up a lot of space (probably about an eighth dependant on how many/active your private forums are)