%comspec% /c ping sh1263 -n 1 -w 20|find /c "(0%% loss)"
%errorlevel%

machine sh1263 doesn't exist and doing a ping sh1263 normally gets requests timed out

results in an errorlevel of 1 (which is what i wanted)

%comspec% /c ping sh1262 -n 1 -w 20|find /c "(0%% loss)"
%errorlevel%

machine sh1262 exists but i sell get an errorlevel 1

any ideas?

Pete