In desperate need of help

[=CCCP=REDSKULL]

Hello, i dont know if this is a common issue but it has happend to me twice now. I run a ts server on a dedicated machine running a p3 550 384megs of ram and windows 98se. now usually this has no problems at all. but for some reason every once in a while the comp locks. then when i reboot TS is hosed. what i mean by that is when i try to start it up again it just blinks then nothing at all happens, the icon just flashes in task bar and then dissapears. The server wont start and ts wont go past this at all. The last time i tried to reinstall it wont stop doing that at all. I had to reformat. my first question is there a way to save the way the server was setup with its rooms and a way to backup the accounts, as i have many many people that log in and out.
If somone could please help me either get it to start again alright or tell me a way to backup everything that would be much abliged thanx all.
=CCCP=REDSKULL

[=CCCP=REDSKULL]

Bump can i get a reply please.

[=CCCP=REDSKULL]

After testing it on multiple instances of TS i have found the the server.dbs-journal file causes this problem and the server.dbs file. Apparently this has all the important data on it. Can anyone help? Im trying to see if this data can be saved, it appears that with each new installation when i place these files back in new install it kills it. The program just wont start i get the task tray blink on then off. It wont show the ts logo that is just before server startup. if there is a way to repair this file or get its info off would much appreciate any help.

TY

[Brain]

There is a file named server.dbs-journal? That's mighty suspicious.
My hunch is that by Win98SE crashing (and by god it loves doing that) it might have also corrupted your flatfile at some point - that's why you probably have a server.dbs-journal.

As to the question why Win98SE crashes I can offer you no help - my Win98SE would regularly crash after about 30 hours of operation. Hey, it's Windows 98.

[Bondalavin]

I suspected the issue was a corrupted file. I was working with Redskull to correct the problem. What is interesting to know is I got a copy of the DB (after the problem) and tried to copy it to my server, and "poof" it crashed. I deleted the file and renamed my old file back to the original and "poof" it killed my DBS too. So apparently there is more to the underlying architecture other than the "flat DB file." I also tried removing the DBS and server.ini files. When I ran the TS Server again, it came up with a new server ini, and DBS file that it created from the lack of the files existing. I find it awkward to say the least and wish I knew why replacing the original file cause it not to run the server the way it used to? What other files are utilized by the server to generate the channels and user database? On another note, I wish I knew more about how and what it uses to autheticate users, but that might be touching on potential hacking TS server issues, so I wouldn't expect much info on that really.

Another thing I would also like to know is how would I "back-up" the user accounts and channel information? Is there way to export the information and import it to a new server install for disaster recovery? I know there has to be a way, but I am not sure how to do it? Any ideas?

TIA,

Bondalavin