Fails to load beyond Background Screen / Backend Error: Unknown Error

As you can tell from the Server/Version number I have had this for a while and I never had a problem from the date of install until recently. I decided to start playing it again (after 8+ months) and upon loading saw that the menu wouldn't load leaving the pine tree background as the sole image on the screen. After a period of time (10-20 min?) an error message would come up stating "Backend Error: Unknown Error" with the only option to exit. I saw that several different people had this issue on different versions but I was unable to correctly address it with the solutions suggested. So far I have tried:

1) addressing FAQ#2 including making Firewall exceptions and deleting the shared.ini folder from Documents

2) Reinstalling these files on the same drive as live version

3) changing the server port

One event that may or may not have been a factor is that in an attempt to get BSG's Holiday goodie drop, I clicked on something that uninstalled and reinstalled the live game from their website and I may have changed file location. This was in December before I tried to run the SPT version this weekend. I don't know if this would have been a factor so I am mentioning it on the off chance that it is.

Note1: I could not find a Module log for this version. Only log in that folder was Server

Note2: I downloaded the newer version and got it mostly running with the latest live version--mostly because when I die there is some sort of overrun on the server after I die. Most likely because I am using a patcher that is not designed for the current live version but this is another issue I am not interested in. I prefer the older version since it is 'classic' in my eyes.

Thanks for the assistance and for all the work that went into this project.