1.3.9d problems after restoring site from backup

[countingsheep]

I didnt see any other issues where the counter history has stopped working, but here is the history:
We upgraded the cart from 1.3.8a to 1.3.9c, then the new upgrade of 1.3.9d came along, added those updates, all was well, then the server got hacked. The hack transpired just the next day of upgrading, after the host loaded their latest backup, I was told since my database was at 1.3.9c but the files was back to 1.38a, that I needed to upload my files to 1.3.9c then put in the 1.3.9d files. did that, and all is working just fine with the exception of the counter history in the admin and it has stopped effective 6/22/2010..
I am not sure what file needs to be reloaded or what needs to be done? any help would be appreciated.

[countingsheep]

Maybe someone could tell me which files affect the counter? I can possibly try to reload just those files to see if it works then? Or is that not going to work? Anyone?

[DrByte]

Many things can affect it.
I'm unclear what software you're actually running now, since you started talking about 1.3.8 and then 1.3.9 and then restoring from backup with 1.3.8 and then dumping 1.3.9 files overtop and then 1.3.8 files again ...
I'm confused about what your site contains. Maybe your site is confused too?

[countingsheep]

Ok, I now have 1.3.9d With the database of 1.3.9c

and here is how I got it... (For the second round)
I downloaded the 1.3.8 into a directory, then loaded the 1.3.9c files, checked that to make sure it was functioning correctly, then updated again to 1.3.9d
She also says it is running sluggishly too.. pages loading slowly, etc.
So, if the cart is confused, you are confused, and I am confused, then what would be the best suggestion short of closing up shop?

I started this thread http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=157534 when we were hacked to ask what I needed to do and followed their instructions by just putting the files in? The only thing I didnt do was load the installation files and run through the upgrade process again, should that have been what I needed to do?

[DrByte]

You said you just copied v1.3.9 files overtop of v1.3.8 files? Anybody who told you to do that is just plain wrong. A careful merge needs to be done. And obsolete files need to be removed, etc.
I suppose that could mean that anything involved in any changes made by addons could be causing you problems.

As for counter-history issues, I guess you've probably got enough of a mess that you need to just drop the table and recreate it using the proper structure as found in the mysql_zencart.sql file. Yes, that will delete all the history too. Then put back the /includes/counter.php file and any other files involved in whatever it does ... off the top of my head that's likely all the /includes/functions and /includes/classes files.

I'm *always* reluctant to ever tell anyone a "specific" set of filenames that might "magically" fix something that's strangely suddenly not working when it "used to work fine", because *usually* the symptoms at hand are red herrings, and almost always are *only* symptoms, and *not* the real root issue, which almost always lies in other core files ... which could be anywhere, typically under the /includes/ folder.

[countingsheep]

Would there be any danger in uploading all new files for 1.3.9d into a directory and connecting the existing database to it?

[DrByte]

The answer is: it depends. Ultimately that *is* what you'll do, but that's not *all* that's involved in a proper upgrade.
For example, there could be remnants of old addons in the old database which may trigger certain things to take place which don't exist if you haven't also added those addons' files to the new site.
Plus, before your visual side can work right, whatever template you have will need to be upgraded to be compatible with the new version, including all customized files, whether related to languages, templates, or anything else.

I get the sense that you're looking for a quick bandage instead of actually carefully fixing the root problem, whatever that may actually be. Now, since it's not actually *your* site, maybe that's all you care about it. But, if it was *my* site, I'd be taking the time, whatever it was, to make sure the entire thing was good and clean, both data and files.

[countingsheep]

I think maybe I didnt explain myself correctly. I did the proper upgrade PRIOR to a hack on the server. And this site was running 1.3.9d with the database at 1.3.9c after the upgrade. All was just fine at that time.

That only lasted a day before the hack happened. The latest backup that the server had was a few days prior to the hack which didnt reflect the files that were for the version of 1.3.9d. Therefore loading the backup said that she was using 1.3.8a which was what she was using prior to the upgrade. But that the database was at 1.3.9c, therefore, I posted the question asking what I needed to do. I then proceeded to load a copy of all the files that were in the zen cart at that time into a "non active" directory. Once doing so, I then as you say, dumped the 1.3.9c files into there as well, taking care to not overwrite all of the custom coding.I then connected those files to the existing database which had already previously been upgraded prior to the hack, and checked it to see if it was working.. everything seemed to work fine, (I failed to check the counter history in the admin) but I didnt see any "errors" otherwise.. so, I changed the name of the directory to her shop The cart seems to be working fine with the exception of the counter that stopped working on that day.
However, you made it sound as if I had more issues than just reloading some files would fix, and no, I am not looking for a bandaid, I need it fixed correctly. The lady depends on me, however, I can only follow the directions for the upgrade, and the hack as well as the backup files being mixed up, doesnt help me any. I dont know enough about any of the coding to seek out the issue, which is why I came here to ask. Then I wanted to know if it would be simpler to start fresh with all new files from the newest version since I do not know the cause of the problems.

I am looking into taking courses in php/mysql etc, so maybe one day I will be able to give back to everyone here that has helped me, but until then, I am still on the receiving end.
I do appreciate your help.

[DrByte]

Okay, so if we back up a bit ...

- you upgraded to 1.3.9c
- after that you were somehow hacked, presumably by something that was left on the server from the old vulnerable version, or maybe from something completely outside of your Zen Cart site.
- then you restored files from an old 1.3.8 backup
- then it told you it's out of date
- now you're trying to simply get the 1.3.9c files back onto the server

So, where is the copy of the 1.3.9c files you prepared for uploading to the server (with customizations and merging etc) on the day that you upgraded the server to 1.3.9c? I would expect that you have a copy of all those files at least on your PC someplace (assuming you actually did the file merging, comparisons, customizations, etc on your PC before uploading to the live site), or even better yet, you'd have a full copy of those files and a duplicated testing database, all in another spot on that or another server, for testing the upgrade to be sure it's all working right before taking all the updated files to the live server and upgrading the database. That's how the published upgrade instructions advise upgrades to be done.

Now, if the hack happened as a result of some old vulnerable files being left on your server which didn't belong, then those definitely need to be cleaned out and removed from the server. That's all part of the Recovering From Hack Attempts instructions which are posted in the wiki and in the Hack Attempts discussion area of the forum.

If for some reason you don't have a good set of merged 1.3.9c files on your PC from what went onto the server, then I recommend simply doing the upgrade process over again, to prepare a good set of clean customized files. Then, after making a backup of the server contents, wipe out the Zen Cart files/folders from your server, and upload the new set of files to the server. You'll want to be sure that you don't delete your images, etc, but you do need to make sure that *all* the files in all your images folders are *actually* images, and not PHP files or contain something other than pictures even if they have a ".jpg" or whatever extension on them. Make no assumptions. It's all part of cleaning up from hacks.

As you were told in the other thread you mentioned, there's no database changes from v1.3.9a to b to c to d, so you shouldn't need to rerun the database-upgrade component at this time.

[countingsheep]

Ok, the hack was just a change of all index files on the server that has many sites on it. We were not the only ones that were affected. So, I am not certain where the hacker got in from. I had gone in and reloaded the index files but at the same time, the host was loading backups to the sites and wasnt aware that this site had been done, therefore the version was sent back to an older one.
Now, you mentioned something regarding obsolete files, which I suppose I am guilty of not deleting, how does a person know if it is obsolete or not? I mean, just as you said, just one file for the counter history isnt a simple fix for the problem, because there are many files affected? So, how does a person know which files are needed and which are obsolete?