404 errors on all links, front page of joom fine

[humblejoomguy]

I can log into admin side but all the fron page links appear to be broken with this error.
The requested URL /index.php was not found on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
I tried to set all the url friendly setting to off but no effect.

All the links from the front page end in .html if that's a clue.
the joomla install is off a link from the static site. I know it's a legacy version.
does anyone have an idea where I should look for a fix?
A previous developer installed it about 4 years ago.

Thank you for any help you can offer.
here is the link to the website
http://www.fortlauderdaleairboatadventure.com/articles/

[Joyce Mar]

The first thing I would look at is whether SEF is enabled. If it is, disable it and try again. Mis-configured SEF is commonly the cause when the home page looks fine but clicking on anything else on the front end results in a 404.

[humblejoomguy]

I have that all disabled but thanks

[Joyce Mar]

In that case, the links on the home page were created linking to their SEF versions instead of linking internally within the Joomla hierarchy -- which means, with SEF off, or a different SEF extension installed these won't work.

Basically, the site itself is working fine but individual links when editing have been created in a way that works at the time but not all the time if that makes sense.

With SEF off, page links should look something like this:

http://www.your-website.com/index.php?o ... Itemid=103

Not, http://www.your-website.com/some-page.html

A couple of options to fix it:

1) Re-enable the same SEF that was used by the previous developer. Having a look at the links it seems like it might be the core SEF, but it may be a 3rd party one.

2) Re-do the links using an editor like JCE (that allows you to easily link internally via the editor toolbar buttons) -- the current links appear to have been created by copying and pasting the URL from the browser's address bar (meaning it works only when that particular SEF is on, vs the other method that will work regardless of whether SEF is on or not).

The first option is as quick-fix, but will get you running again if it works. The second option is the 'proper' long-term fix, but will take a long time to do.

[humblejoomguy]

Thank you very much for your suggestions. I'm going to try option 2 later and will let you know how I make out.
Thank you again,

[humblejoomguy]

OK I switched to the JCE editor and created a test article, but I get the same 404 error.

OK I tried the JCE and all other editor options in G.Config. I had SEO setting to no (just in case) still getting the same 404 error and no php...html as before if you examine the link.
Any other ideas appreciated.
Thank you

[humblejoomguy]

I'm not getting anywhere with simple fixes so I am planning to delete the Joomla and reinstall a later version. the template is pretty simple so I'm just going to create a new one in artisteer. ( there are only about nine articles which I will back up and recreate)
Here is my Novice question: This current Joomla install is accessed from a link of the current static website. Can anyone guide me on how to link to the new Joomla install from the current link in the static site?
Thank you in advance