Thanks Alexandre - I remember that for future occasions - I solved my problem just after I posted - I put a wait window in the code and moved it down to identify exactlt where it was getting before crashing - I managed to see that it was a SET HELP TO command - which puzzled me for a minute because the file was there - then I realised I had not included HELP in the SET PATH TO statement - anyway thanks for your help - I am sure it will come in handy!!!