I think he's trying to create a windows service but I could be mistaken. If so, you need to use oradim I believe. Chris Taylor Sr. Oracle DBA Ingram Barge Company Nashville, TN 37205 Office: 615-517-3355 Cell: 615-354-4799 Email: chris.taylor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ________________________________ From: oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Andrew Kerber Sent: Friday, November 02, 2007 10:37 AM To: shrekdba@xxxxxxxxx Cc: oracle-l Subject: Re: blonde moment... alter system set service_names='service_name' On 11/2/07, bill thater <shrekdba@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: i'm a unix guy not a windows guy. at the new job we use windows and 8.1.7. could someone point me at the FM that shows me how to create a service so i can get a database with files already in place to start/stop with svrmgrl please? -- -- Bill "Shrek" Thater ORACLE DBA shrekdba@xxxxxxxxx ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "He's one who knows that life is just a leap of faith, so spread your arms and hold your breath and always trust your cape." -- "The Cape" -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l -- Andrew W. Kerber 'If at first you dont succeed, dont take up skydiving.'