<snip> In all cases, ensure that you HAVE CORRECTLY CREATED THE CONTROLFILEs, naming every DataFile -- once you OPEN, Oracle does a Data Dictionary check and any datafile in the Data Dictionary but not in your Controlfile becomes a "MISSING" datafile ! {so sometimes we do another backup, if we can, before the OPEN RESETLOGS !} <snip> Regarding the extra backup: This is also why, whichever side you are on in the quasi-religious argument about whether online redo logs should be backed up, the first step of recovery is to secure a copy of the quiescent images of the online redo logs (most safely apart from your backup media and most conveniently online) since they contain data that is permanently lost upon the execution of the open resetlogs command. Whether you (unlikely) crash restarting or experience PEBKAC during the recovery, having a copy of the logs as they exist before the restart gives you at least a chance to try again. Regards, mwf PS: PEBKAC, first heard by me from Mike Brown, Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair. Similar meaning to CFT (controlled flight into terrain) with fewer tragic overtones. -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l