So this is what I did so far...
1. Renamed everything I had to _old even DB
2. Created a new DB with a fresh import of the backup
3. Uploaded 1.7 again
4. Mod config file
5. Went to the update and it found it as you said
Here's where I messed up I think, I didn't copy over the files directory which is crucial for all the attachments I have to the tickets
Error during the upgrade and the log says this on the last message
" Upgrader Error
Error accessing SQL file"
Is that something else or what should I do? I can redo everything I just did as that seemed to work but I think I'm missing something other than the files directory.