Help Needed Moving Joomla Site

Once you have copied over the files and created the database  you only need to change the configuration.php file found in the root
for the server you need PHP and MySQL installing.
you need to create a MySQL and get the details - IP address, databasename,username and password
you need the path of where the website is going to be
use the following in a php file (say getpath.php) to determine the path:

<?php print $_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME'] //tells the path of the file ?>

the string it returns you will need to use in the configuration file

first back up your existing joomla website files  and copy them up to the new server.

backup up your MySQL databased using a MySQL tool (several availalble I use http://www.mysql.com/products/workbench/)
once you have the backup file you can restore it to the new server using the same tool (restore instead of backup)

change the following lines of configuration.php on the new server:

public $host = 'xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx';
public $user = 'dbusername';
public $password = 'dbpassword';
public $db = 'dbname';

public $log_path = '<path got from above tool>\logs';
public $tmp_path = <path got from above tool>\tmp';

this should be ready to go - but to make sure try all fundtions such as adding extensions or change a menu item.

forgot to say - you need to put getpath.php in the root folder of the new website anbd then run it.

Sorry may sound like a stupid question but what tool do I need to back up and restore???

backup up your MySQL databased using a MySQL tool (several available, I use http://www.mysql.com/products/workbench/)

Ok I will give it a go,

Also does it matter that I am going from server 2003 iis 6, to server 2008 iis 7

the IIS version should not make a difference - Joomla needs PHP and  MySQL and certain file permissions on the folders.  if you haven't installed PHP and MySQL see this link. for microsoft based servers:

http://www.microsoft.com/web/joomla

ok I will post back with results thankyou