I just thought I should advertise this... usually people just complain. Hi Patrice, I have added indexes on the foreign keys in the [schema_name] tables. Also, I "tuned" the SQL statements I was using to perform the desired deletes. Results: The one delete job that ran for over 6 hours was performed in under 5 seconds!!! These changes have dramatically increased not only the delete process on the biochem tables but all activities I have performed. A sincere thanks for your help!! Heh heh. Patrice Boivin Systems Analyst (Oracle Certified DBA) Systems Admin & Operations | Admin. et Exploit. des systèmes Technology Services | Services technologiques Informatics Branch | Direction de l'informatique Maritimes Region, DFO | Région des Maritimes, MPO E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com -- Author: Boivin, Patrice J INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fat City Network Services -- (858) 538-5051 FAX: (858) 538-5051 San Diego, California -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists -------------------------------------------------------------------- To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).