TOPIC: Can I just remove old version with tables and start fresh?

Preface: I'm in a very bad state right now. I recently took over a Joomla website for a user group that was not maintained for a long time, so it's got older software on here. Recently DTRegister broke (not sure if it's the DB or the software or both.

Moving forward, I have to do something. One option that comes to mind is to completely remove all dtregister software, drop all the dtregister tables, and install the software anew. Before doing that, I want to make sure that I'll end up where I think I'll end up, and I'm hoping for some feedback on that. Here's what I think will happen:

1) My users will still be able to see all past events, since that's not part of DTRegister at all

2) I will lose all registration history for past events. I can live with that. I can even throw those tables in a separate DB and get historical data out using queries.

3) I would have to re-enter all the category, location, email text, etc. Not the end of the world, and if I point PHPMyAdmin in that backup DB I can do a certain amount of cut and paste.

4) I will be able to uninstall JEvents, too, since that's no longer needed. Again, I might lose some information about past meeting registrations, but as long as users can still see the articles on past meetings, that's fine. We're also using CommunityBuilder, but I'm not even sure what for

So am I missing anything?
Will my evil plan work?
Is this my best course of action?
Will Jane say "Yes" to Bill?

Thanks for your time and consideration.

1) Uninstalling DT Register will not touch JEvents at all, so as you have an old version in place, you are still using JEvents. Once you get into 2.7.x, JEvents can be dumped if you don't want it. But for now, if you get a fresh install, you'll still have events as is in JEvents.

2) When you uninstall, the database tables are left. For a clean slate, you would manually remove all "dtregister" tables after you uninstall. Then the new install will give you a fresh set of tables.

3) Correct. If you wipe out old db tables and go fresh, you'd have to re-create these items. Of course, backing up old tables, even if they are messed up, will give you something to pull from if you need to.

4) If you are going with a fresh start, yes, get rid of JEvents. You won't need it. If you are trying to fix the mess then upgrade... you'll need to keep JEvents in play until the upgrade is successfully done. This is talked about more in the upgrade instructions and the 2.6 -> 2.7 migration video.

Community Builder makes no difference in all of this. You use it or you don't. Doesn't matter. You can sync registration fields with profile fields, which is nice, but not required. I'd keep it in play though. Thanks.

Do you have a backup of your tables prior to your upgrade attempt? If so, put it back then let's get a proper upgrade process done. If not, then you pretty much need to wipe to a clean slate. Uninstall, then manually remove all "dtregister" database tables. Then install 2.7.5. This will give you a working fresh start. Probably what I'd suggest anyway unless you have any old data that you'd really like to hang on to. Depending on whether or not you have a backup, you may not even have a choice here, but may be stuck with a clean slate.