Help! Admin of forum either dead or missing... What can I do?

[MetroSports82]

Hi there,

OK, I wasn't really sure where to put this that would get the most attention from the vB community. This is quite an urgent post. Hoping to get some help from the fine folks here @ vB.

I am a long time member of a forum which has lost it's admin either due to death or just gone missing... It's been over 16 months since admin has been seen or heard from. I used to co-admin the forum (in fact I was actually the guy who set it all up in the very beginning) when the site was first generated in 2006. But, unfortunately I had to resign a few years ago due to real life events taking away my time. Well, it's now been about 5 years later and now members of site are bombarding me with e-mails asking me if there is anything I can do to save the site. The domain name of site will be expiring in a couple of days! Because of this, we've had to move the entire userbase to a new site. I've lost all of the server info. and vB info needed to backup the forum! It's been many years... Is there anything that I can do??? All I really need is a dump of the database. Help!

I'd appreciate any help I can get on this issue. It is extremely urgent. If something doesn't get done in less than a week, the site could be lost forever. Thanks a bunch folks I appreciate it!

[Loco.M]

Not sure what you expect from vb.com?
You'll need access to the server to get the backup
you'll need access to the vb files if you want to re-install
you'll need access to the domain registar if you want to renew the domain

you posted this in the wrong section...

[Project-Buckfast]

Check whois and call the original owner?

[Riasat]

contact the original admin's home. then contact the host about the issue.

[MetroSports82]

I see... So, I guess it's a lost cause. Darn.

Unfortunately he was the "original owner" and he is the only one who has access to the domain/server/admin panel/everything...

So there isn't a thing anyone can do about it...?

In a couple of days the domain name will expire, and that will take everything offline and that will be the end of the site.

That's really too bad. All I honestly need is a dump of the database since I have the vB files on a disc. In other words, I just need access to the admin control panel so I can download the .sql backup file. Seems so simple, but also so difficult at the same time.

Oh well. The site will just disappear, since there ain't a thing anyone can do. Many of the posts will be lost forever.

[whitey10tc]

I would try to contact the host, someones paying the bill. Right? The person(s) flipping that bill have access to the database. For the domain, get a good broker and buy it when it expires.

Everything you want to do is possible but in the short amount of time would be very costly.

[smirkley]

If you have ftp access still, do a file backup and then install sqldumper onto it and use it to backup the database.

[MetroSports82]

Unfortunately that's gonna be a no go... I don't have access to the FTP server or anything. It was years ago when I did have access, but I lost all of that info. Stupid me! I should have saved all of that on file when I had the chance. I never imagined the site would ever get into this situation... The forum is about to go offline in a couple of days because the admin hasn't paid the bills to renew the server and domain name, since he hasn't been around for 16 months. No body knows what happend to him. We're very much thinking he may have unfortunately passed away.

Is there absolutely nothing one can do??? One suggestion that was brought up from one of the members on the site which I thought was interesting was if there was a way to hack into the admin account to get acccess to the control panel? Sounds crazy, but this may be our only hope to get that .sql database backup file downloaded before the entire site goes down. The vB currently running on the site is quite outdated too. Is there any way to do this? It is sad that it has to come down to this. But, this is really our last hope of getting a copy of that database before the entire site disappears off into oblivion.

I don't know what else could be done... It will be an absolute travesty if all the years of posts & threads are lost forever.

[whitey10tc]

That's always possible, start searching for a good quick hacker. I don't think anyone here is willing to even make suggestions on that point. Because technically what your talking about is stealing someones database and forum. It's possible that the admin/owner has just quite and moved on.

But I still say someone is paying the hosting, if he's been gone for over a yr. I'm sure the host has something on him.

[Lynne]

I would talk to the host. Someone has been paying that bill. They would not let a site stay up for 16 months if the bill wasn't paid. At least ask if they can get a database backup before they take the site offline and zap the harddrive. They may or may not. And, who knows if they would even let you have the database backup anyway. But, that is some other place to go and ask about what could be done.