>Thanks for your response - It looks like it *should* work but I'm having the same results. Control comes back to FoxPro as soon as the RUN APP1.BAT executes, with the FILE1.DAT deleted and it falls thru.

Of course, how basic of me... The .bat does the same thing; run the program and continue on without waiting for the .exe to end... Next time I'll try thinking before posting! :-)

I'll think about that and come back if I think of something... Sorry for the error!