Upgrading from 3.5 to 3.7

[bada_bing]

I have a pretty busy community with over 7K members and 500K posts and currently running vb 3.5.x which is running well. The site is hacked quit a bit and I wanted to get a feel of how some of you approached the upgrade process from moving to a newer version with a large version just, im my case 3.5.x to 3.7

Do you recommend I install a new fresh copy of vb 3.7 and import the database
or
Proceed with the VB upgrade process and revert all my template changes?

I would like to hear from experienced audience and the best/recommended methods to achieve an successful upgrade without loosing site settings and data.

I am pretty excited with all the new features and upgrades offered for 3.7 but need to really be careful on how I approach my upgrade. I appreciate any thought and recommendations

Thank You

[bpat1434]

My suggestion (and I'm new to vB, but not upgrading/moving forums):

Set up two test-beds. One you will do a clean install of vB 3.7 and import the database, the other you'll just upgrade and fix whatever needs to be fixed (or, hopefully just overwrite your mods with newer versions ).

Whichever is easier and works more properly, that's the winner Just my opinion. It's what I did when switching from SMF 1.1.4 to vB 3.7.

[parash]

First of all Backup Your site files...Properly...and Then Try and see upgrading to the new version i just upgraded five Min before...i dont see nothing difference or anything in it..seems good and users ..data are good.

So just follow readme files...but dont forget to backup your site files....will help later if something goes wrong...