Windows 7 "there is not enough memory to complete this operation"

In Windows 7 when trying to copy files from a folder to another, I am getting a message saying "there is not enough memory to complete this operation". This particular time it said it about a 10Mb file, I have 250Gb free.

Anyone know of this error and how to fix it?

 

Greetings, bennos.

The possibility exists that the "not enough memory" flag is referring to RAM instead of hard drive space.

Before attempting any more elaborate solutions, try this: highlight a short text snippet anywhere (webpage, document, etc.), right-click the highlight and then click 'Copy'. This in effect clears your RAM. Now, attempt your file movement again and see if your symptoms change.

 

As mentioned by Caliban, it does read like it's related to RAM.

So we can see what might be happening during the error, could you post a screenshot of Task Manager's Performance tab when this error comes up?

TaskMan = right-click the Taskbar > Start Task Manager > Performance tab.

 

Not long after I posted it copied over. This was after I attempted it repeatedly and eventually it did it.

I will keep in mind the replies and next time it does it I will post again.

Is there a fix for the RAM error?

 

It's not necessarily an "error", as such - some process or processes may be consuming your memory in the background.

 

Out of curiosity, how much ram do you have? Not free disk space, that is.

Also, hopefully ye are running a page file.

 

I have 4Gb.

Running a page file?

 

If you have to ask, then you're probably ok.

To verify, go to Control Panel > System > Advanced System Settings. In the Performance section, click the 'Settings' button. Click the 'Advanced' tab, and in the 'Virtual Memory' section you should see a 'Total paging file size for all drives'.

If you have not changed this, the amount shown should be some percentage of your hard drive space determined by Windows and allocated as your Paging (or Swap) File. If you go a step further and click the 'Change...' button, the box 'Automatically manage paging file size for all drives' should be checked on the Virtual Memory page.

 

Looked into it and changed it to 'custom' setting. I changed the size to the 'recommended max' (4392) for both initial and max.

 

The jury's still out on the best way to set the swap file - you should be ok with what you've done, but if you experience any problems with your new setting, just change it back to 'Windows managed'.