What causes the message 'danger your PC memory is low on resources' and then your PC freezes up?

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This problem usually refers to your virtual memory (a portion of your hard drive that Windows allocates and uses as RAM) this is also referred to as the paging file. In the Windows system settings there is an option to increase the size of the paging file.

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Generally when you get that message it is generally just that "Low on resources". Typically I see machines that have very little hard drive space remaining exhibit this problem. I generally recommend that at a minimum 10% of the total drive capacity remain free in order for windows to operate properly. Another cause could be low RAM. Depending on what Operating system you have minimum recommendations will vary. Generally, I recommend 64Mb for Windows 98, and 256Mb for Windows 2000/XP. 2000/XP will run on less but not very well. If you can start by cleaning up your hard drive, empty all Temporary Internet files. "Right click the Internet Explorer Icon and choose "properties"" The option will be available on the first tab. After you do this proceed to delete all files located in any "Temporary" directory. Such directories can exist as follows "C:\Temp" or "C:\Windows\Temp", or "C:\WINNT\Temp" etc. Hopefully this is a start to correcting the problem.

-Shawn

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need to get more memory. says it is low. theres gotta be some thing easy to get more just dont know much about computers.

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windows seems to have a little problem ,showing that message, especially if trying to view a downloaded video or copy downloaded vid to a disk i have 83% of memory empty but i often get that message from windows when doing videos so far windows hasnt or wont supply a remedy or reason

Ouch

Windows doesnt have a miracle remedy for this particular problem. Might want to free up as much space as possible or invest in a 5 gig 6200rpm or even a 7200rpm hard drive(im not sure if they make 5gb in those speeds, i dont think they make 5gb at all anymore) just to set it to be a Page File. So when you run out of RAM while running other processes the 5 gb hard drive now turns into a extremely(in comparison to a real stick) slow 5 gig stick of virtual memory to allow Windows to run smoothly. So instead of buying that 512mb DDR PC3200 stick of ram, you can spend about 20 bucks(max) and be set if you are just watching Videos and stuff like that. As to how to set a HD up as a total page file. Im not sure off hand atm, but it is easily found through a search engine or dabble in Wiki Answers for a explanation. Its simple as reserving a designated amount of space to be used for Windows and Windows Processes. Im hoping you have at least 256mb of RAM for XP(RECOMMENDED RAM info credits to Shawn). With the service packs and security measures of the current windows, its extremely rough to have just 256, im going to have to go with 512 as a minimum if you want to keep up to date and still run smoothly.

-Walama

First answer by culli. Last edit by Us4fins. Contributor trust: 105 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 234 [recommend question]

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