> assuming it verifies ok - is it likely to lose bits after I ship it ? AIUI simply reading Flash has no effect on it, so therefore you would expect any contents to be retained. Admittedly what you worry about may be in a fringe area - the contents of a cell may be hanging on by 1 electron, by its fingertips if you will - and the data could well have too little "substance" to resist natural decay/migration and flip a bit Documents I/we have seen tend to look at ROM in a general sense, as it affects the user, rather than that at time when a cell is teetering Perhaps look for a physics report instead of a consumer report ? -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist