Hi there

Thanks for the reply. As I inherited this backup script which is quite complex I would need some help to sort it out. I like the idea which you have suggested. Metalink were not that helpful
Before issuing the shutdown command issue:

Alter session set events '10400 trace name context forever, level 1';
shutdown immediate

This will produce a few trace files in your "user_dump_dest" directory."user_dump_dest" is an "init.ora" parameter. The trace file will be a systemstate dump. Upload the trace files. From the trace files, it can be seen that what processes are still active.

Many Thanks!