Outlook Express showing virtual memory & disk space low

[Abejar]

Hi All!

Today i got a strange error with my Outlook Express showing me a message of "Outlook Express encountered an unexpected problem while displaying this message. Check your computer for low memory or low disk space and try again". I tried to open the message because i saw my disk space but it was plenty full, then i checked with outlook space & changed it Min. 384 MB - Max. 768 MB to 765-1536. it worked perfectly for a while but was the same after the next message i read.

Please Help..!

[ThoMas321]

It will bog down your computer very much if you set it to high. Go to My Computer -> Right click on Local Disk C: -> Click Properties

Then give me a screenshot of that window open, set your Paging File size back to the default settings, we will raise it if we find necessary but for now you can set it to default

[Abejar]

I don't know how to send a screenshot. It says:

System
Microsoft windows XP
Home Edition
Version 2002
Service Pack 2

Dell Dimension 2400
Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.20GHz
512 MB of RAM

It's paging file is recommended at Min. 765 MB but Outlook Express would not display messages at this setting and so I raised it to Min. 1530-Max. 3060. Would this be too high ? Virtual memory and disk space was too low for Outlook Express at the recommended level, so what else could I do but raise it ?

[Sam.D]

Have you checked to see how much free space is left on your hard drive? If it's been a while & space is getting tight, at the very least try a run of Disk Cleanup. If there are any files or programs taking up space that you no longer need, out they go.

If free space on the hard drive isn't the problem (it's getting rarer and rarer with the size of today's hard drives), the "Low Memory" warnings in Windows 95/98/98se/Me are usually connected to Low System Resources, and have very little to do with the amount of physical memory installed in the computer. [It has to do with esoteric things called "system heaps" and such]. The best way to fight having a System Resource problem in Win9x is to limit the processes running constantly in the background to a minimum [RealPlayer, QuickTime, Instant Messengers, etc. --these shouldn't need to run forever in the background on a Win9x machine. They will start & run just fine when you need them.

If you haven't been to Windows Update in a while, try that, too - a patch might exist fixing an OE bug that has bitten you. Windows Update still works for Win9x, there just won't be any new patches in the future (all the old ones will still be available).

Check your Virtual Memory settings, too, to make sure that they are set to "let Windows manage ..." right-click My Computer, select Properties, select Performance, Virtual Memory.

You can try a repair of IE/OE to refresh those files (in Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel).

And ... in these days of Internet pests, run a few scans to make sure that nothing uninvited is causing havoc with your files.

[Glenny]

Low virtual memory messages are an indicator that you have insufficient free space on your hard drive or on a partition on your hard drive.

How large is each partition / drive and how much free space?

I suggest you Enable Show Hidden Files and Folders. To enable show hidden files select Start, Control Panel, Folder Options, View, Advanced Settings and place a check before Show Hidden Files and Folders. Next Enter Windows Explorer and place the cursor on each drive letter in turn, right click and select Properties.

It would be helpful to know what you are doing immediately before the low virtual memory messages appear.

How much ram memory does your machine have?

You can create more free space by:

1. In Outlook Express empty your Deleted Items folder.

2. In Outlook Express run File, Folder, Compact All whilst OFFLINE.

3. Run Disk Cleanup. Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup.

4. Empty Recycle Bin.