What I like in this mailing list is that simple questions very rarely require simple answers.....my chief (and others', I believe) should be deeply aware of this. Alessandro > Far safer than connecting as a non-privileged user is attempting to > connect as a non-existent user. If the database instance is up and > running and working normally, you'll just get the ORA-01017 error > ("username or password incorrect"), which is normal and expected. This > tests IP connectivity, TNS Listener availability, instance > availability/function/response, all without jeopardizing security. Or > at least minimal jeopardy. > > So, for a username/password string, I typically just whip through the > entire QWERTY keyboard a couple times: > > connect asdfljwiuzliweihnzwaer/zxcvbsghqwerouawefr@xxxxxxxxxx > ___________________________________________________________________ Salva ora il tuo preventivo gratuito Direct Line e assicurati lo sconto extra 5+5% sulla polizza auto! http://click.libero.it/directline2 -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l