[JamesC70]

The vBulletin license allows for one live (available to others) and one test (available only to you) installation. So yes, from a license perspective, you can install your test installation on your local system.

If you're asking how to do it -- Google the terms "LAMP" or "WAMP" (Linux or Windows versions, depending on your computer's OS) for a downloadable free server setup. This wil include Apache (webserver), MySQL (database), and PHP (scripting language). Install per the instructions provided by the site you download it from.

Please note that when you check vBulletin.com or vBulletin.org to diagnose issues, and someone says something about "check with your host", you'll be the host for the installation on your computer. vBulletin gurus can't help with local systems, the research for diagnosing "host" issues will fall on you to perform.

Depending on your expertise, it may be easier to put up a second vBulletin install on the server you're paying someone else for... your live one's already there so you know it'll handle vBulletin. Just put it in a different directory (traditionally "/vbtest/"), set it to use a clone of your current live database, password protect that different directory, and use a different cookie prefix so you can be logged into both at the same time. :up: