Ok group, I think I got this to work the way I want it to. First you will need a copy of the Sleep.exe file that is in the Win2K resource kit. Put this file in the c:\program files\exchsrvr\bin folder. Here is what I Have for my batch file: cd \ cd Program Files cd exchsrvr cd bin REM Exchange Server Stop Services and defrag Rem EmailStop.bat net send * Email is going down! Save your work !! Rem Delay for users to logoff Sleep 60 Rem Stop Exchange Server Net send * Email Server is going down now ! Rem delay for 30 seconds Sleep 30 Net Stop "Microsoft Exchange Information Store" sleep 20 Rem now start defrag eseutil /d "C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\Mdbdata\mailbox store 2.edb" > "to a folder of file that you want the out put to be IE: c:\email.txt" Rem now start services Net Start "Microsoft Exchange Information Store" rem send message net send * The Email server is now up and running. Pause ( I put this in so in the morning you can look at the dos prompt and see if there were any problems running the program) Now I know you can use different lines and different ways, but this is my simple batch file. Next you can use the Schedule program and set a time or date for this batch file to run. GOOD LUCK. Scott Van Singel