I worked on Windows database servers for a couple of years. You can use "alter system kill session". The purpose of orakill is to provide a way to kill the underlying Oracle process thread if "alter system" doesn't work--in this way it's analogous to "kill -9 <oracle session PID> on Unix/Linux. Remember, on Windows, Oracle sessions are threads, not individual processes. Paul Baumgartel CREDIT SUISSE Information Technology Prime Services Databases Americas One Madison Avenue New York, NY 10010 USA Phone 212.538.1143 paul.baumgartel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx www.credit-suisse.com ________________________________ From: oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Powell, Mark D Sent: Friday, August 01, 2008 1:28 PM To: freelist freelist Subject: RE: RESOURCES ARE NOT FREED WHEN A SESSION DIES ABNORMALLY. Joe, If the database is on Windows then yes I would use orakill rather than ALTER SYSTEM. Being that I do not normally run Oracle on Windows I do not know if the official recommendation has changed but it was to use orakill instead of ALTER SYSTEM when the utility was first introduced. I am not sure from the OP if the database is on Windows also or just the client was on Windows. -- Mark D Powell -- Phone (313) 592-5148 ============================================================================== Please access the attached hyperlink for an important electronic communications disclaimer: http://www.credit-suisse.com/legal/en/disclaimer_email_ib.html ==============================================================================