Hello: I want to make sure that I am making this change correctly. I have a 10.2.0.3 DB which users spfile and I need to increase the SGA_MAX and SGA_TARGET parameters. My plan is to - modify the init.ora file - make a copy of an existing spfile - shut down the database - restart as startup using pfile=initXXX.ora - when database is started execute create spfile from pfile That should guarantee that these changes are in the spfile and will not be lost next time the database is bounced. Am I correct? thank you Gene Gurevich Please consider the environment before printing this email. -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l