>>One reason FILE() may be slow, is that if it doesn't find the file in the explicit directory you supply, it will also check through your FoxPro PATH (SET PATH) directories.
>
>Rick,
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>This isn't correct. If the file name is fully qualified, VFP only looks in the location specified.
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>Brett,
>
>Part of the problem here is the I/O involved in loading all those directory entries. So this isn't a pure VFP problem, but one that involves the OS as well. I don't think that really anything else is going to speed things up dramatically. You could use the WSH, but I think you might find that it might be slower than FILE().

Thanks, its seems that breaking up of the directory into smaller chunks is the solution. I will be running that by the network boys later today.