Updating from Older Verssion

[Deskdirect]

I am running an older version of OsCommerce and would like to update it. I just can't figure out how to set up a new store and use my old databse. The update script just destroyed my entire store so I loaded a backup.

Is there a fairly painless way to do this or am I just just wearing a pair of rose colored glasses :-) ?

[natural]

Make a backup of your database. Log into http://phpmyadmin.powweb.com and export your database, then
upload the new version of oscommerce, and then log back into http://phpmyadmin.powweb.com and import your previously saved database.
However, if you made any changes to the look of your store, or installed any contributions, you will have to do it over again.

[Deskdirect]

So, its not possible to upload a new store version with contrib installed and then the old database?

[stevel]

The install directions for osc discuss what to do if you are upgrading, and there is an upgrade option in the install screen. If you went ahead and used the "new" install, then you lost your old database. You can recover from backup as natural says.

Oscommerce is not easy to upgrade if you made any customizations. Basically, you reapply the customizations to the new version, upload all the files, and run the upgrade SQL script that adds whatever new tables and fields the new version has. I recommend examining very carefully what it does.

Before making ANY changes to your store, back up both the files and the database, so you can recover from problems.