Guys , At last it worked , problem was about the NAME & PATH of password file. Didn't know that it should be under $ORA_HOME/database dir and the name should be in the format of PWD{sid}.ora format . Freek D'Hooge's response was more specific . thanks a lot .. <------------- E:\oracle\ora90\bin>orapwd file=E:\oracle\ora90\database\PWDowb.ora password=sys123 SQL> conn sys as sysdba Enter password: Connected. --------------> Thanks a lot guys & tons of cheers Ranjeesh ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send email to: oracle-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. -- Archives are at //www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/ FAQ is at //www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html -----------------------------------------------------------------