All, Oracle 10.1.0.3.0 on windows xp pro, noarchivelog database was shutdown cleanly I am trying to bring up a database from a cold backup, Using the same dbname 1 - I create the service using oradim -new -sid somename -pfile .... 2 - edit the init.ora file to point to the new file locations 3 - use a alter database backup control file to trace, edit to point to the new datafiles 4 - startup nomount, create control file as.... controlfile created 5 - alter database open 6 - file 1 needs recovery, (recover file 1, media recovery complete) repeat files 1- 7 7 ERROR--> alter database open, host def does not exist disconnection forced 8 -full output can be found here https://home.comcast.net/~bobmetelsky/ I've tried this with several cold database backups I have (all 10G) and they all behave the same way. Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated. thanks bob -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l