Troubleshooting Out-of-Memory Messages

ID: Q20330

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, versions 1.0, 1.05, 3.0 , 3.01 3.02, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1

SUMMARY

The following are some possible "out-of-memory" error messages you may encounter in Microsoft Word versions 1.0x, 3.0x, and 4.0 and their causes:

1. "Session too long: low on memory. Save your document before

   continuing."

   The available machine memory is used up. This message can occur
   under a variety of circumstances, including an exceedingly long
   editing session or when the number of paste operations has been
   exceeded.

2. "Word disk is write protected or nearly full."

   You tried to boot Word with a write-protected master or with less
   than 4K of free space on the master.

3. "Disk is full. Please save your document to another disk."

   There is not enough space on the disk to save the current file. For
   example, to save a 10K document and have 11K left on the disk, this
   message will appear. Word keeps the old file while it builds the
   new one. Also, if the Finder says that the disk has 11K free before
   you start Word, there may not be 11K free after Word starts. Word
   itself uses disk space.

4. "Session too long: insufficient space on Word disk. Save your

   document to another disk and quit."

   Temporary files have filled up the Word disk.

5. "Not enough space on Word disk to paste from external scrap."

   Word needs space on the master disk when copying from the external
   System scrap (the Clipboard).

6. "Disk directory is full. Please use a different disk."

   There are too many files on the current disk, perhaps a number of
   small files.

7. "Not enough disk space to print current page."

   After a long work session (which used a lot of memory), you tried to
   print a complex document (which used many different fonts, columns,
   etc.).

8. "Not Enough Memory To Save, Please Close Some Windows"

   Even though no other windows are open besides the current document,
   it is possible that the Clipboard has a very large amount of
   information in it. Therefore, do the following:

   a. Select a single character in your document (the character "e",
      for example, in the word "the").

   b. Choose Copy from the Edit menu.

   By copying one character, you have effectively replaced the contents
   of the Clipboard with one single character and freed up a lot of
   memory. Try again to save the document by choosing Save from the
   File menu.

9. "Document is too large to be saved. Delete some text before trying to

   save."

   This occurs when you fill up the memory buffer before first saving the
   document. To workaround this problem cut some of the text to a new
   document and then save both documents.

MORE INFORMATION

If these type of messages occur frequently while working in Word, the amount of RAM available to Word can be increased by doing the following:

1. Make sure the RAM cache in the Control Panel on the Apple menu is

   turned off. Word works best without any RAM cache set.

2. Make sure that neither the file nor the program is selected to be

   kept in memory in the Preferences dialog box on the Edit menu.

3. Check for memory-resident programs (for example, server programs,

   macro programs, INITs, desk accessories (DAs), print spoolers, RAM
   disks, mail programs, etc.) and make sure they are not turned on.

4. The Clipboard may have a large selection copied to it. Try selecting

   a single character and copying it to the Clipboard to delete the
   previous contents.

5. If you are running Word versions 3.x under Switcher, allocate more

   memory for the program by using "Configure, then Install" under the
   Switcher menu, or run the program without Switcher.

6. If you are running Word 3.x or 4.0 under MultiFinder, allocate

   more memory for the program by selecting the application icon at
   the Finder level and choosing Get Info from the File menu. Increase
   the number in the Application Memory Size (K) box.

7. If more than one is document open, close some documents and choose

   Save from the File menu.

8. Turn off the Fast Save option by choosing Save As from the File

   menu and unchecking the Fast Save option before saving the
   document. Alternately, choose Commands from the Edit menu and add
   the Fast Save Enabled command to a menu so that it can be selected
   as needed for a file. Note that the Fast Save option is available
   only in versions 3.x and 4.0.

KBCategory: kbenv kbtshoot KBSubCategory: Additional query words: macword macword5

Last Reviewed: July 30, 1997