Mladen, look at the text of the error message in 10.1. Perhaps you had = no tables containing a column with datatype TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME = ZONE? 9.2 database SQL> select count (*) from dba_tab_columns 2 where data_type like 'TIMESTAMP%WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE' ; COUNT(*) --------- 0 SQL> alter database set time_zone =3D 'PST'; Base de donn=E9es modifi=E9e. SQL> create table t (twltz timestamp with local time zone) ; Table cr=E9=E9e. SQL> select count (*) from dba_tab_columns 2 where data_type like 'TIMESTAMP%WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE' ; COUNT(*) --------- 1 SQL> alter database set time_zone =3D 'PST'; alter database set time_zone =3D 'PST' * ERREUR =E0 la ligne 1 : ORA-02231: missing or invalid option to ALTER DATABASE=20 -----Original Message----- Mladen Gogala >SQL> ALTER DATABASE SET TIME_ZONE =3D3D 'EST'; >ALTER DATABASE SET TIME_ZONE =3D3D 'EST' >* >ERROR at line 1: >ORA-30079: cannot alter database timezone when database has TIMESTAMP = =3D >WITH >LOCAL TIME ZONE columns > > =20 > I don't see what is the problem? It works in 9.2.0.5:: Connected to: Oracle9i Enterprise Edition Release 9.2.0.5.0 - Production With the Partitioning, OLAP and Oracle Data Mining options JServer Release 9.2.0.5.0 - Production SQL> alter database set time_zone=3D'EST'; Database altered. SQL> -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l