====== Installing ProBoard v4 ======

This page walks through a new installation with **PBInstall**. If you already run ProBoard 2.x, read [[v4:install:upgrade_16bit|Upgrading from 16-bit ProBoard]] as well. Read [[v4:install:requirements|Before you install]] first if you have not.

===== 1. Unzip the package =====

Unzip the package into a working folder, for example ''C:\Temp\PBv4''. This is only the place PBInstall runs from; it is not where ProBoard will live. Everything PBInstall installs is taken from the folder that holds ''PBInstall.exe'', so keep the files from the zip together.

===== 2. Run PBInstall =====

Double-click **PBInstall.exe**. The first window asks where to install.

{{ :v4:images:install-destination.png?600 |The PBInstall destination prompt}}
//Figure 1. The destination prompt. The suggested folder is ''C:\ProBoard''.//

Type or paste the folder you want and click **Install**. If the folder already contains a ProBoard system (PBInstall looks for ''CONFIG.PRO'' or a marker file from an earlier install), it asks you to confirm that you want to **update** it. Answer Yes only if that is what you intend; see [[v4:install:upgrade_16bit|Upgrading from 16-bit ProBoard]].

===== 3. Watch it work =====

The install window shows the ProBoard logo, a black box that lists each step as it happens, and a status bar. The bar is red while the install is running and turns green at 100 percent.

{{ :v4:images:install-progress.png?900 |PBInstall in progress}}
//Figure 2. PBInstall running. Every step is also written to a log.//

PBInstall does these things, in this order:

  - **Backs up** every file it could change, but only when it finds an existing system. A fresh folder has nothing to back up.
  - **Converts** any 16-bit data files it finds to the v4 format (see [[v4:install:upgrade_16bit|Upgrading from 16-bit ProBoard]]). A fresh install has none.
  - **Copies the programs and plug-ins.** Programs go in the install folder, plug-ins (''.P3X'' files) go in ''PEX''. A program that is already running is reported and you are asked to close it and retry, or skip it.
  - **Copies the sample content** (menus, screens and documents) into ''MENUS'', ''TXTFILES'' and ''DOC'', only if the files are not already there.
  - **Creates the data files** ProBoard needs, such as ''CONFIG.PRO'', the message and file area lists and ''USERS.BBS''. On a new install these start as a working demonstration system, not empty files.
  - **Points the demonstration data at your folder.** The sample data was prepared for ''C:\PROBOARD''; PBInstall rewrites those paths to the folder you chose.

You can leave the window alone while it works. It does not let you close it until the install has finished.

===== 4. Finish =====

When the bar is green a message says that the installation is complete. Close it, and two buttons appear under the status bar:

  * **Exit** closes PBInstall.
  * **Configure ProBoard** closes PBInstall and opens PBConfig in your new folder.

{{ :v4:images:install-complete.png?600 |The completion message}}
//Figure 3. The completion message.//

A copy of the install log is kept in the ''LOGS'' folder and next to ''PBInstall.exe''. If anything looks wrong, read the log first; it records every file copied, with the folder it went to.

===== What you now have =====

The install folder contains the program files and these folders. The [[v4:introduction|Introduction]] describes what each program does.

^ Folder ^ What it holds ^
| ''Configs'' | Configuration files for the newer programs (mailer, tosser, web, doors and so on). |
| ''PEX'' | Plug-ins (''.P3X'' files). |
| ''MENUS'' and ''TXTFILES'' | Menus (''.PBM'') and the ANSI and ASCII screens callers see. |
| ''MSGBASE'' | The user file (''USERS.BBS'') and message bases, unless your ''CONFIG.PRO'' says otherwise. |
| ''FILES'' and ''FILES\UPLOADS'' | A sample file area and the upload folder. |
| ''PVTFILES'' | Private files for individual users. |
| ''RIP'', ''RIP\ICONS'', ''RIP\SCRIPTS'' | RIPscrip graphics. |
| ''DOC'' | Documentation, including the original ProBoard 2.30 manual. |
| ''LOGS'' | Log files, including the install log. |

PBInstall remembers your data folder in the Windows registry, under your user account, so PBConfig finds it the first time it starts. Run PBConfig as the same Windows user who ran PBInstall, or point it at the folder yourself.

===== The demonstration system =====

A new install is a complete small board you can look at straight away. It has a sample file area (''Example File Area''), a sample message area, security levels, menus and screens. The idea is to let you see how everything looks and behaves before you change it. Rename, edit or delete any of it in PBConfig.

===== First start of PBConfig =====

Click **Configure ProBoard**, or run ''PBConfig.exe'' from the install folder.

PBConfig may tell you that some files are missing and offer to create blank versions. On a fresh install this is normal for ''Configs\PBQWK.CFG'': it cannot be created automatically because it needs the name of a real QWK network, so PBConfig creates it when you first configure that screen. Answer **Yes**.

Then, in this order:

  - Open **Options** and check the **Paths** page. The sample data should already point at your install folder.
  - Set your board's name and sysop name.
  - Review the services you want on the **Services** screen (see [[v4:install:requirements|Before you install]] for ports).
  - Start **PBDispatch.exe** and connect to your board with Telnet or PBTerm to see it.

//The [[v4:start:overview|Getting started]] section covers these steps in detail.//

===== If something goes wrong =====

  * **The install stopped with an error.** Read the log in the ''LOGS'' folder. If it says the backup failed, nothing else was changed. Fix the cause (usually a full disk or a file in use) and run PBInstall again.
  * **A plug-in ended up in the wrong folder, or a program is missing.** Run PBInstall again from a complete, freshly unzipped package. Existing menus, screens and data are not overwritten.
  * **Wrong CPU.** A package for one kind of Windows will not run properly on the other. Use the Win32 package on 32-bit Windows and the x64 package on 64-bit Windows.