>Both returns result in a flash. After second verification, for that one, I only need count from the directory and not on a scope. So, as long as I only need the count without the scope, I'll use the FileSystemObject. If I ever need a scope, I'll switch to Larry's suggestion.

Its a shame that NOCONSOLE doesn't work on DISPLAY FILES for DIR (even though the Intellisense window says they do, otherwise, you coudl try something like:

DIR \g5\imsdev\data\*.JPG TO FILE textdir.txt
?OCCURS('.JPG', FILETOSTR('textdir.txt'))

and see how that compares. It would also be nifty if those procedures could go to a variable, but I doubt it would be used enough to make a difference.