Answers.Body: <p>By "new account" I assume you mean a new CiviCRM instance (a new install). </p>
  
  <p>If yes, then yes! You can start fresh in a new CiviCRM and import the cleaned up data. If you search for "CiviCRM Import" you'll get a number of useful search results related to importing data, including tutorials. </p>
  
  <p>But if you have a complicated data structure you may be better of trying to clean it up in the existing instance.</p>
  
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Answers.CreationDate: 2016-05-02T15:21:00.113Z
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Answers.UserDisplayName: Sanjay Jain
Answers.Body: <p>I will put a different answer. We have also had clients who have had a CiviCRM that has been neglected or poorly managed with the result of their being many Groups, Fields, Tags etc that were created but poorly used. But I believe it can be more efficient to do the CiviCRM upgrades and then use the CiviCRM inbuilt tools to do the clean up. Exporting all the related data and reimporting can take a lot of time.</p>
  
  <p>The one occasion where we might recommend a data migration is if we can find any evidence that poor security practices might have led to the site having had some nasty code installed.</p>
  
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Answers.CreationDate: 2016-05-03T08:29:35.360Z
Answers.Text: I agree with you Pete if the issue is data cleanup only :-) And I think a little discussion will help Amy in her decision so I am glad you posted this and I can highlight this aspect. I strongly suspect that if has been ignored for so long the added benefit of starting with a fresh install is that you re-visit your process and configuration decisions. In most cases in my experience the data quality is hardly ever the only aspect in an ignored CiviCRM installation.
Answers.UserDisplayName: ErikH - CiviCooP
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Answers.CreationDate: 2016-05-03T21:46:03.240Z
Answers.Text: yeah i thought it was useful to get answers with a range of options. export/import for a quite complex system can be onerous.
Answers.UserDisplayName: petednz - fuzion
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Answers.UserDisplayName: petednz - fuzion
Answers.Body: <p>From what you describe it would make perfect sense to me to start over again and then import the cleaned data. Depending on what you use you can do this with the standard import functionality. What parts of CiviCRM do you use and what data would you want to migrate? (as in contacts, activitities, contributions, groups, relationships.....)</p>
  
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Answers.CreationDate: 2016-05-02T17:15:23.440Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2016-05-02T17:15:23.440Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: ErikH - CiviCooP
Body: <p>I have recently joined the International Voluntary Service as Director and I am trying to understand the database - CIVI</p>
  
  <p>the system was installed several years ago and has not been updated consistently. it is in quite a big mess.</p>
  
  <p>I am trying to work through how to solve this. My query is this - can we set up an entirely new account with CIVI? effectively start all over again? Then merge the clean data from the old system into a new account?</p>
  
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Comments.CreationDate: 2016-05-02T19:25:56.703Z
Comments.Text: Hi Amy, I answered below but then spotted you had tagged this as civimail. Is bulk mailing the main feature you used civicrm for?
Comments.UserDisplayName: petednz - fuzion
Tags: <civimail>
Title: Should we install CiviCRM again and import cleaned up data?
ThreadText: # Should we install CiviCRM again and import cleaned up data?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2016-05-02)
  
  I have recently joined the International Voluntary Service as Director and I am trying to understand the database - CIVI
  
  the system was installed several years ago and has not been updated consistently. it is in quite a big mess.
  
  I am trying to work through how to solve this. My query is this - can we set up an entirely new account with CIVI? effectively start all over again? Then merge the clean data from the old system into a new account?
  
  **Tags:** civimail
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Hi Amy, I answered below but then spotted you had tagged this as civimail. Is bulk mailing the main feature you used civicrm for?  
  
  ---
  
  ## 3 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2016-05-02. Score: 2
  
  By "new account" I assume you mean a new CiviCRM instance (a new install).
  
  If yes, then yes! You can start fresh in a new CiviCRM and import the cleaned up data. If you search for "CiviCRM Import" you'll get a number of useful search results related to importing data, including tutorials.
  
  But if you have a complicated data structure you may be better of trying to clean it up in the existing instance.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2016-05-02. Score: 2
  
  I will put a different answer. We have also had clients who have had a CiviCRM that has been neglected or poorly managed with the result of their being many Groups, Fields, Tags etc that were created but poorly used. But I believe it can be more efficient to do the CiviCRM upgrades and then use the CiviCRM inbuilt tools to do the clean up. Exporting all the related data and reimporting can take a lot of time.
  
  The one occasion where we might recommend a data migration is if we can find any evidence that poor security practices might have led to the site having had some nasty code installed.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_3**: I agree with you Pete if the issue is data cleanup only :-) And I think a little discussion will help Amy in her decision so I am glad you posted this and I can highlight this aspect. I strongly suspect that if has been ignored for so long the added benefit of starting with a fresh install is that you re-visit your process and configuration decisions. In most cases in my experience the data quality is hardly ever the only aspect in an ignored CiviCRM installation.  
  > **username_1**: yeah i thought it was useful to get answers with a range of options. export/import for a quite complex system can be onerous.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2016-05-02. Score: 1
  
  From what you describe it would make perfect sense to me to start over again and then import the cleaned data. Depending on what you use you can do this with the standard import functionality. What parts of CiviCRM do you use and what data would you want to migrate? (as in contacts, activitities, contributions, groups, relationships.....)
  
  
  ---
  
  