shrink hdr is used to identify file hole and deleted files. for the second situation,if a file deleted without using shrink hdr the file will appear in the next start.(howyaffswork.pdf says "Shrink headers are also used to indicate that a file has been deleted and that the record of the file deletion is not lost.") but what i am puzzling is that when it is safe to remove shrink hdr? ---- Regards, Ezio.