hi, i do the following steps: 1. run the install program: MonetDB5-SQL-Installer-x86_64-20080214.msi 2. from the start menu, run the shortcut: MonetDB SQL Server 3. from the start menu, run the shortcut: MonetDB SQL Client and... the MonetDB SQL Server window disapears.... a few days ago i installed it (first time in my life) and it worked. i started doing some testing for a couple of days, and suddenly the server stopped working. finally, i gave up: i removed it (using the install program) and re-installed it again (and again (to another directory)..). more info: 1. starting the client with the -lmal option (instead of -lsql) dose NOT crashes the server. so i guess something is probably wrong with the sql layer. 2. during those couple of days that the server was working, i could not find any file related to the database in the whole file system, even though i managed to store some tables with a few millions of records. i was able to query these tables and (most of the time) getting the expected results, so i moved on ignoring this strange thing. BTW: i wonder what is the best way to migrate a database from MSSql server to MonetDB5? i tried to export a whole database (~30 millions of records) from MSSql2005 to MonetDB. first, i thought i could do it with the MSSql export wizard using the odbc driver, but this driver did not show up in the wizard as a target possibility. next, i tried to write a java program using the jdbc driver, but the performances rate weren't constant: one table with 3 columns (int,int,decimal) and about a half a million of records moved to MonetDB in ~3000 records per second. but another very similar table with 3 columns (int,int,int) and about 8 millions of records moved to MonetDB in ~30 records per second (actually, this process had been stopped as a result of an attempt to create another table, and since than, the server is dead.) thanks in advanced for any help, ewilde