This is what we do in 8i and it works: CREATE OR REPLACE LIBRARY rta.nt_lib IS 'c:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll'; / create or replace function rta.run(lpCmdLine IN varchar2, nCmdShow IN binary_integer) return binary_integer AS EXTERNAL NAME "WinExec" LIBRARY rta.nt_lib CALLING STANDARD PASCAL; / This is script we run.... declare ret_bin binary_integer; cmd varchar2(600); begin /* main routine */ cmd :='f:\temp\extproc_test.bat'; ret_bin := rta.run(cmd,0); end; / Here is what the "bat" file being invoked contains: dir >f:\temp\extproc_test.log If do the same on a new server with 9.2 installed I get: ERROR at line 1: ORA-28576: lost RPC connection to external procedure agent ORA-06512: at "RTA.RUN", line 0 ORA-06512: at line 10 The extproc_test.log file is being created so it is running the bat file, just get an error though. Any ideas???? Jeffrey Beckstrom Database Administrator Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority 1240 W. 6th Street Cleveland, Ohio 44113