Clean install of the newest software with old database?

[Bill in CA]

My site is currently running 4.4.10. I inherited it from someone else who never cleaned up the file system from an old upgrade from another vendor, had some personal stuff scattered around, etc. It's working fine but I would like to do a clean install to get it neat and tidy.

Can I do that with the current database? In other words will a fresh install of 4.6.7 work on a 4.4.10 database, or is any conversion needed?

Thanks

Bill

[Randy Calvert]

Sure. You will need to run the upgrade system to catch your board up to the current changes. 

Be aware that certain things like your uploads folder and certain other files like custom emoticons, themes, etc would need to be manually replaced as those would be on the local file system most likely. It might be helpful to also preserve your conf_global.php file which has certain important details for connecting to your database etc. 

[Bill in CA]

Thanks. I intend to do an install and not an upgrade, and do know about the php file, uploads, etc. I'm just worried about the database structure compatibility. 

[Marc Stridgen]

Note, what you are trying to do here isnt an intended way for the system to be used. You cannot do a cleanup really without upgrading your site to the latest release of the platform, unless you happen to have a copy of the files. The correct way to clean things up from older installs if needed would be 

1. Create a FULL backup
    
2. delete all files/folders apart from
   uploads
   conf_global.php
   constants.php (if you have one)
   .htaccess
    
3. Upload a fresh set of files from your client area

Note, this would not in any way account for 3rd party items. So you may have folders in the applications folder from 3rd party items you need to keep, and also the plugins folder if you have any plugins. Also note, the above is based on  your being on the latest release

[Bill in CA]

Thanks, I will be doing this as soon as I can schedule a clear day for it.