Diego, On unix 'ls -lutr' shows a directory listing with access times, sorted from old to new. The latest accessed parameterfile is probably the the one used to start the database, unless the files were accessed for backup purposes, by vi, grep or whatever. No idea whether this is possible in Window$ though. Best regards, Carel-Jan Engel === If you think education is expensive, try ignorance. (Derek Bok) === On Sat, 2004-08-21 at 01:56, Diego Cutrone wrote: > Hi list, > Just wondering. > Imagine you have more than one valid parameter file in the system (not > spfile), and someone else has started the database. > > How can you know which parameter file he/she used to start instance up ? > > Is there any other option besides comparing values between v$parameter and > the init.ora files? > > Thanks in advance > Best Regards, > Diego ---------------------------------------------------------------- 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 -----------------------------------------------------------------