Upgrade/Installation problem: Version 7.4.9 to version 8.1.3

I was requested to load data (a full copy of the db in question) from one postgres database into another (empty) db on another system. Both of these systems are running SuSE 9.2 Linux, for the record. It turned out that the two systems were running different versions of postgres; the first system (the one that needed the data) was running version 7.4.9, while the other system was (and is) running 8.1.3. I copied the 8.1.3 installation packet over to the first computer, and tried to install it.

Originally, when starting the (supposed) 8.1.3 pg_ctl, I got an error about tcpip_socket. A search on the postgres site lead me to believe I could remedy the problem by uninstalling the older version of postgres. I proceded in the following order: swap to the installation directory for 8.1.3, make uninstall, make distclean, swap to the 7.4.9 installation directory, make uninstall, make distclean, swap back to 8.1.3, configure, make, make install. I still got the error, though. I finally found it mentioned in the postgres.conf file, and commented out the line. Next, I was told that my data files were initialized in 7.4, despite my earlier efforts, and after renaming the old folder, I went back and repeated the steps of (8.1.3)make uninstall, make distclean, configure, make, make install. However, there is no data directory in the base postgres directory now, only the older renamed one.

If anyone can tell me what to do to get this system back up and running, I would appreciate it greatly. If more information is needed, I will be happy to supply as much as I can.

Thank you for your consideration.

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