I have a batch file using >Nul to supress the output, however it also needs to write to a new file, however when writing to the second batch file the >Nul does not get written. What is the syntax I should using? I currently have this: echo <somecommand> >Nul >>%tempfile% However when looking at the temp file created, it wrote the following: echo <somecommand> Any suggestions?

Hi Use the ^ symbol to stop it being used as a output to a device. ie Nul or FileName. echo Command ^> null ^>^> %tempfile%

Hi, NUL is not a command. It's a device defined by the OS. It's the 'bit bucket' so when you redirect output to NUL, it just gets thrown away. Ditto for 'copy/b filename nul' ensures that a file can really be read. One goofy thing about w2k is that there's no NULL; just NUL. I'm almost sure that in DOS 3.x and up it was NULL. Another goofy: you may recal the device CTTY. It seems to have gone away in w2k. As for the original issue, I tried this: @echo off echo xcopy>thisfile Works with no use of NUL. Maybe I missed your point. And while we're almost on the subject, will someone running XP do 'set' and tell me the OS variable? In w2k it's OS=Windows_NT Ineed to make a batch file smart enough to run on boxes with/without CHOICE.COM Hope this Helps. Peter Mechanix2Go@Golden-Triangle.com