Solved by manual install
Now the no pre order button not showing as some others had. 

made a clean opencart 2.0.3 install

Step 1 to4 went like it should

"1) Login to your OpenCart admin panel. Once you do that, go to Extensions -> Extension Installer. 2) Click on the Upload button. 3) Find preorder.ocmod.zip on your computer and load it. 4) OpenCart will begin the installation of the module along with the OCMod and when the operation is done you will receive the following message - Success: You have installed your extension!

step 5: no pre order in the list of modules 5) Go to Extensions > Modules and find PreOrder and click the [Install] button. You will be redirected to Extensions -> Modifications in order for the OCMod to be applied.

the modification list shows only one item, pre order, as enabled. so that is where i  got stuck

error log says:

PHP Notice:  Error: Table 'xxxxx_ocart15.1gw_preorder' doesn't exist<br />Error No: 1146<br />SELECT p.*, o.order_id

Hello c10,

From the issue you are getting I assume that since you are using the installation installer, the files of the module weren't uploaded in the correct folder. This has to do with your FTP settings of your store. Try going to System >> Settings >> Your Store >> Edit >> FTP  >> FTP root. Here you'll have to add the root folder of your opencart installation in your server (usually it is public_html but you'll need to check that). Save the changes and try uploading the module again, but first delete the ocmod file from modifications. If it still doesn't work, then you'll need to upload the files using the second old-fashioned-way method. Also, note, that this is not an issue directly related to the module, as it'll happen with every module you'll be trying to install through the extension installer.

I hope this helps!