ACC: Memory or Disk Space Problems Using MS-DOS 6.0
ID: Q103991
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The information in this article applies to:
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Microsoft Access versions 1.0, 1.1, 2.0
SYMPTOMS
Advanced: Requires expert coding, interoperability, and multiuser skills.
When you are working in Microsoft Access, you receive an error message
stating that you are out of memory. The message may be accompanied by other
messages stating that you have insufficient space in your TEMP directory,
or that you have insufficient disk space.
CAUSE
If you are running MS-DOS 6.0, these error messages may be due to the way
the memory on your computer is configured, or to the use of file
compression on your hard disk.
RESOLUTION
Check each of the items described below and make any necessary changes.
MORE INFORMATION
DoubleSpace
MS-DOS 6.0 includes its own disk compression program called DoubleSpace.
This program makes your hard disk seem larger than it actually is by
compressing the files on the disk. The DoubleSpace program has an option to
let you specify the compression ratio that will be used. You can increase
the default compression ratio that DoubleSpace sets up, but increasing this
ratio usually does not result in additional usable space on your hard disk.
The average file compression ratio is about 1.5 to 1. With this ratio, a 20
MB disk could actually yield about 30 MB of usable space. If you set the
DoubleSpace compression ratio to 16 to 1, the disk will show about 320 MB
of usable space, but will still only actually provide about 30 MB of space.
If you have set up a high compression ratio, the hard disk may show far
more free space than can actually be used. If you attempt to install
Microsoft Access to such a disk, you can run out of disk space during the
installation process.
If you are using DoubleSpace, you can check your compression ratio by
typing "dblspace" (without the quotation marks) at the MS-DOS prompt. From
the Drive menu, choose Info. If the compression ratio is set larger than
the estimated compression ratio, choose Ratio and set the new estimated
compression ratio to match the estimated compression ratio. This will give
you the most accurate information about the amount of actual usable free
disk space.
MemMaker
MS-DOS 6.0 includes a memory-management utility called MemMaker that helps
optimize the configuration of your computer's memory. This utility may
alter two commands that can affect Microsoft Access.
The first item is the FILES=<xx> line in your CONFIG.SYS file. Microsoft
Access requires that <xx> be 50 or greater, but the MemMaker utility
sometimes sets this line to less than 50. Check your CONFIG.SYS file with
any text editor and make sure that the line reads FILES=50.
The second item is the DEVICE=EMM386.EXE line in your CONFIG.SYS file. The
MemMaker utility sometimes adds the HIGHSCAN parameter to this line, but
this parameter can cause conflicts on some computers. You may want to
remove this parameter and any i=<xxxx>-<xxxx> parameters, and make sure
that the NOEMS switch is present. For example, the line might read
DEVICE=EMM386.EXE NOEMS.
Undelete
If you are running the Delete Sentry option of the Microsoft Undelete
program, your hard disk may show an incorrect amount of disk space. This is
because Delete Sentry makes a hidden copy of all deleted files. These
hidden files are stored for seven days, and are not counted when you use
the DIR command to show available disk space.
If you run out of disk space when you are installing Microsoft Access, use
the DIR /A command to show all files. This command will show you any hidden
files, including hidden files stored by the Delete Sentry. You can delete
the hidden files to free up disk space, but these files will no longer be
guaranteed to be recoverable. \* \* If you run into unusual problems, one
means of troubleshooting may \* be to switch the SET TEMP= statement to
point to the uncompressed \* drive.
REFERENCES
Microsoft MS-DOS, "User's Guide," version 6.0
Keywords : kbenv kberrmsg
Version : 1.0 1.1 2.0
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb
Last Reviewed: March 25, 1999