Ravi,
To (attempt to) answer your questions: 1) does the custom archive format of pg_dump needs to be in a file (not pipe) for the pg_restore to seek back &forth ? Not to my knowledge. I suspect that the windows "type" command is adding extra "header" information to the file before passing it to pg_restore, therefore the data blocks are in the wrong position - unless anyone can correct me here? Maybe you could install GnuWin32 (http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net)? I believe this gives access to the gnu version of "cat" which will allow you to fully emulate Linux. 2) will pg_restore try to do parallel restore of custom archive format dump by default? I believe it'll run serially unless specified to do otherwise. Don't quote me on that though, I may be way off the mark... Cheers ___________________________________________________ This email is intended for the named recipient. The information contained in it is confidential. You should not copy it for any purposes, nor disclose its contents to any other party. If you received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately via email, and delete it from your computer. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the company. PCI Compliancy: Please note, we do not send or wish to receive banking, credit or debit card information by email or any other form of communication. Cromwell Tools Limited, PO Box 14, 65 Chartwell Drive Wigston, Leicester LE18 1AT. Tel 0116 2888000 Registered in England and Wales, Reg No 00986161 VAT GB 115 5713 87 900 __________________________________________________