This seems to be an installer bug for VISTA If I run postgres via the command prompt with: postgres -D ../data then the postgres.conf file is loaded as confirmed with a show all in psql If I start postgres via the service which is installed with installer the postgres.conf file values are not loaded. But I confirmed that the service is reading the postgres.conf file. Just to test I deleted the file, and the service would not start. Any suggestions? Thanks, Roger ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 9: In versions below 8.0, the planner will ignore your desire to choose an index scan if your joining column's datatypes do not match