Out of memory- any ideas please??

[bigkingy]

Hi all.

I bought a Toshiba vista laptop 6 months ago. Last week I tried to update my sat nav and couldn't as it kept saying I didn't have enough memory.

This surprised me as I haven't got a great deal of stuff on there! Now I keep getting a message at the bottom of the screen saying something like "vista (C )is running short of memory blah blah.....
I have tried the disc cleanup and defraging. I have deleted programmes I don't use, didn't make any difference.

If I look at the folders on my computer it says:
Desktop 12.9 MB
Downloads 2.71 GB
videos 23.3 MB
Music 3.99 GB
Documents 13.9 MB
Pictures 978 MB

All the programmes installed comes to 1.78 GB

If I go to "computer" it tells me Vista(C) 137 MB free of 37.2 GB and Data(E) 35.7 free of 35.7.

To me, the figures just dont add up- does anyone have any ideas?

[ash08]

Hi mate,

Is it Disk space (Hard Drive) or memory (RAM)?

Ctrl/Alt/Del and bring up task menu, then processes (or performance?) and this will tell you how much memory is being used...My Vista 64 uses about 37% of 4GIG with all my start up applications running...

"If I go to "computer" it tells me Vista(C) 137 MB free of 37.2 GB and Data(E) 35.7 free of 35.7"

137MB free of 37GB doesn't sound right at all, do you have good virus protection? I had an issue with vista eating my Hard Drive but not to this degree..

[bigkingy]

Thanks for the reply.

It is disc space, not ram. Thats a good point about virus protection, I am downloading norton now. I'll let you know how it gets on!

[funkyspider]

Are you sure it wasn't memory on your sat nav that it was complaining about?

The reason I ask is that I attempted to update a TomTom One V3 using the official TomTom update and there was insufficient space on the sat nav for the update.

If you can try again and post the exact error message that would help.

But you are correct, the maths don't add up on your hard disk usage.

[ChrisWV10]

Can't make it add up to 37gb but don't forget

windows dir (mine is 13gb)
pagefile (mine is 2.5gb)
hibernation file (if you have hibernate enabled - mine is 2.2gb)
temp internet files
recycle bin

Have you run disk cleanup? (right click drive, select properties then disk cleanup)

It calculates how much space it can reclaim before asking for confirmation to delete.

You can see the size of your pagefile & hibernate file by opening a dos window and type

dir c:\ *.sys/a:s

HTH.

[bigkingy]

Sorry for the late reply guys, I have a rotten cold and pretty much crashed out over the weekend!
Ash, I tried the Ctrl/Alt/Del but couldnt make much sense of it. Processes tells me there are 72, cpu usage average 15% physical memory 65%. I deleted the large sat nav update 2.5 gig, so I have more to play with, but I am still short according to my reckoning. I did a virus scan and all it found were cookies- they aren't too worrying are they?

Funky- Its definately disk space as I keep getting a message at the bottom of the screen saying vista is running very low on memory.

Does anyone know what drive data (e) is? According to my computer, thats empty!
Anyway, thanks for your replys.

[bigkingy]

Originally Posted by ChrisWV10

Can't make it add up to 37gb but don't forget

windows dir (mine is 13gb)
pagefile (mine is 2.5gb)
hibernation file (if you have hibernate enabled - mine is 2.2gb)
temp internet files
recycle bin

Have you run disk cleanup? (right click drive, select properties then disk cleanup)

It calculates how much space it can reclaim before asking for confirmation to delete.

You can see the size of your pagefile & hibernate file by opening a dos window and type

dir c:\ *.sys/a:s

HTH.

Thanks for the reply. I was wondering what other applications were using memory but didnt think of those! I have used disc cleanup, it has not seemed to help that much but I think I will run it again just in case!

[ChrisWV10]

You probably have a single 80gb drive split into 2 partitions so that it looks like 2 drives.

Conventionally c: is your system disk (vista and program files) and d: or e: are your data drives, although the 'my documents' and it subfolders (music videos, pictures) are also on c:

You can use e: just as you use c:. Just use 'save as ..' to create folders and save on e: drive.

Not sure if/how you can change the definition of 'my documents' to a folder on e: ??

Perhaps someone else can clarify??

[ash08]

Originally Posted by ChrisWV10

Can't make it add up to 37gb but don't forget

windows dir (mine is 13gb)
pagefile (mine is 2.5gb)
hibernation file (if you have hibernate enabled - mine is 2.2gb)
temp internet files
recycle bin

HTH.

Chris makes a good point actually, Vista keeps 15% of your hard drive just for restore points automatically...I lost 140Gig from a 1TB hard drive .

You can change this by accessing the 'Run' function, its quite easy, I just copied and pasted the instructions.... Have a look on google but I will try and post a link later in the day. You can change the size of your recycle bin easily if its too large.

[ash08]

Below is a link that will allow you to see how much Vista has allocated for system restore and change it as appropriate. It should help you free up around 10Gig if you change the space from 12Gig (15% of your 80Gig hardrive) to 2 Gig (each restore point if 300Mb)...

Good Luck

Vista Maximum Restore Point Storage

It does also sound like you have a partition...How it got there I dont know if you bought it new (they dont sell them partitioned do they??). Below is a link with info on how to move 'Documents' to another partitioned drive.

Change My Documents Folder Default Location Path in XP and Vista » My Digital Life

[bigkingy]

Thanks for your thoughts guys, much appreciated. I have used the links and have been transferring some of my documents and pictures to the e drive. I found that aspect the most confusing, I bought it new and it must have been ready partitioned but only ever saved to the c drive! Hopefully I am gradually getting to the bottom of it now.

Thanks again