Hi Jacinta, As for windows, usually for me is only 3 steps 1. install oracle 2. recreate the instance using oradim (with new password) 3. put back all the files into the same directory (exclude the password file) As for the backup 1. shutdown database, perhaps follow by stop the services from control panel will be best. 2. copy database files. Sinardy ----- Original Message ----- From: Jared Still To: rgramolini@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Cc: oracle-l ; jacintakean@xxxxxxxxx Sent: Friday, July 29, 2005 7:03 AM Subject: Re: Oracle Backup You can also do this in 8i. It just isn't easy. :( Jared On 7/28/05, Ruth Gramolini <rgramolini@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: Are you using rman for backup and recovery? If your version is 9i or later you can use the duplicate command to create a copy of the database. It is very easy! HTH, Ruth -----Original Message-----