1999-2003, IIRC.
FWIW, I archived most of that, set up code for an online search engine, and recoded all the PHP (or whatever it was) into straight HTML. I then categorized some of it.
While about 1% or less of it is online, Harri does have all the files: I "sold" them to him. What's available is at http://www.saxontheweb.net/SOTW_Archive. Yes, I have my own copy. If there's a conversation you remember and need it, and it's not online, I'm sure I could find it.
I can also say that we switched from ezboard to phpBB on SOTW. Unlike going from phpBB to vBulletin, which we eventually did (both here and on the WF), there was no available "straight" ezboard converter. That's the reason why we lost the posts.
Again, I was an SOTW admin from about 2000 to about 2005 and I helped move the 'boards through various formats, as the "technical" contact. While I still make no claim as to being a PHP, SQL or whatever guru, I've got more than a clue, now
.As far as SOTW's current issues with vBulletin's search engine, it could be that they forgot a step in the upgrade: it's easy to do, as I found a couple steps that weren't documented (not "improperly documented", "not documented").