My unbranded Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64 bit Operating System reports cannot save file as me

[Mick]

My unbranded Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64 bit Operating System
Computer has 8 GB DRAM Yet on trying to save a file it reports out of
memory!
Have just run the windows memory checker and it reports no problems
found.
Can anyone advise what I should check next please?


AMD Phenom (tm) II X 4 965 Processor 3.40 GHz
ASRock 96OGM- GS3 FX Motherboard
8GB DDR3 1333Mhz DRAM
1 TB Ultrafast Hard Drive 32MB Cache 7200 RPM Sata A300
ATI HD 5670 51MB GDDR5 DVI VGA HDMI Out Graphics
Multiformat Dual Layer DVD-Rewriter Drive with Nero Express
10/100/1000 Ethernet & Integrated Sound

Mick.

 

[Ed Cryer]

My unbranded Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64 bit Operating System
Computer has 8 GB DRAM Yet on trying to save a file it reports out of
memory!
Have just run the windows memory checker and it reports no problems
found.
Can anyone advise what I should check next please?


AMD Phenom (tm) II X 4 965 Processor 3.40 GHz
ASRock 96OGM- GS3 FX Motherboard
8GB DDR3 1333Mhz DRAM
1 TB Ultrafast Hard Drive 32MB Cache 7200 RPM Sata A300
ATI HD 5670 51MB GDDR5 DVI VGA HDMI Out Graphics
Multiformat Dual Layer DVD-Rewriter Drive with Nero Express
10/100/1000 Ethernet & Integrated Sound

Mick.

I take it that the computer functions ok as regards the normal things
like browsing, email, games.
Run Task Manager and observe CPU Usage and Memory, while trying to save
the file.
Is there any process hogging memory?
Which program are you trying to save from?

Give us all the info you can on the above points. We'll guide you from
there.

Ed

 

[Paul]

My unbranded Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64 bit Operating System
Computer has 8 GB DRAM Yet on trying to save a file it reports out of
memory!
Have just run the windows memory checker and it reports no problems
found.
Can anyone advise what I should check next please?


AMD Phenom (tm) II X 4 965 Processor 3.40 GHz
ASRock 96OGM- GS3 FX Motherboard
8GB DDR3 1333Mhz DRAM
1 TB Ultrafast Hard Drive 32MB Cache 7200 RPM Sata A300
ATI HD 5670 51MB GDDR5 DVI VGA HDMI Out Graphics
Multiformat Dual Layer DVD-Rewriter Drive with Nero Express
10/100/1000 Ethernet & Integrated Sound

Mick.

You have a lot of memory, this is true.

But the way the software works, is the various memory pools
are broken up into less than full sizes. So you may easily
bump your head on an artificial limit related to the
architecture of the OS.

Even if you had 128GB of memory, the same error message
would show up.

The program you're using, may behave a bit different,
if you're using the 64 bit version of it.

But without details of what program, what the circumstances
are, it's pretty hard to guess.

Trying to save a >4GB file on a FAT32 partition is bound
to fail as well. You're not likely to be using FAT32
(as the more modern installs have NTFS partitions), but
this is another example of something that can spoil your
downloading fun. Try saving to another partition if
that is the case. That would be a disk or storage error,
rather than system memory.

Paul

 

[Mick]

I take it that the computer functions ok as regards the normal things
like browsing, email, games.
Run Task Manager and observe CPU Usage and Memory, while trying to save
the file.
Is there any process hogging memory?
Which program are you trying to save from?

Give us all the info you can on the above points. We'll guide you from
there.

Ed

Sorry, I received 3 jpeg photos in an email, and I normally save them
to the desktop then re name them and put in a folder in documents.

But after saving the first one to desktop, the message came up and
would not let me save the other two.

I make sure the desktop is kept clear, as I belive that any photos or
documents there uses active memory ?

I did a re boot but that made no difference either.

I use Outlook for mail.

Mick.

 

[Paul]

Sorry, I received 3 jpeg photos in an email, and I normally save them
to the desktop then re name them and put in a folder in documents.

But after saving the first one to desktop, the message came up and
would not let me save the other two.

I make sure the desktop is kept clear, as I belive that any photos or
documents there uses active memory ?

I did a re boot but that made no difference either.

I use Outlook for mail.

Mick.

How about you give us the *exact* text of the error message

*******

You showed us two pieces of hardware.

8GB DDR3 1333Mhz DRAM <--- your programs live in here while they run...
a very fast, very temporary storage...
1 TB Ultrafast Hard Drive <--- your desktop files are here

The error message will either indicate, the program ran
out of memory (DRAM) for some reason. This is unlikely.

Or, the error message will indicate there is something wrong
with the file system (storage space) on the hard drive. The hard
drive is the thing that stores stuff, when all power is
removed from the computer. It is "non-volatile". The
hard drive is also very slow, compared to DRAM.

If you open Disk Management (Start : type in diskmgmt.msc), you can actually
check the percentage of fullness of every storage device present.

*******

Your desktop has icons. On my Win7 laptop, they come
from two places.

C:\Users\username\Desktop <--- where your JPGs went. Your username
might be "mick".

C:\users\All Users\Desktop <--- program icons common to all users
These are shortcuts (.lnk)

Your attempt to store JPGs, should be going in the first one above.

*******

The last post here looks like fun. What he is doing, is
restoring the location of the Desktop. Don't run off and
do this yet, because we don't really know it's broken or
has been moved. The fact you were able to store one JPG
file in C:\Users\username\Desktop is curious. Maybe the
file name was something strange ? What was the file name
of the first JPG file you stored ?

http://www.vistax64.com/general-discussion/237826-two-desktop-icons-my-user-folder.html

If you moved your personal storage (C:\Users\username) to
another drive, like a USB flash key, then perhaps the
available storage on that device is limited. Make sure you
have not moved your home directory. Some people like to
move their home directory, to a place with more disk space.
So that would be another reason to consider. I think
you've moved *something* here, by accident, and didn't
notice at the time.

There are some details here, on how to move the home
directory. Again, don't run off and do this yet. See
if the procedure here rings any bells, and you've
done this to your new installation.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18629-user-folders-change-default-location.html

Paul

 

[Mick]

How about you give us the *exact* text of the error message

*******

You showed us two pieces of hardware.

8GB DDR3 1333Mhz DRAM <--- your programs live in here while they run...
a very fast, very temporary storage...
1 TB Ultrafast Hard Drive <--- your desktop files are here

The error message will either indicate, the program ran
out of memory (DRAM) for some reason. This is unlikely.

Hi, I panicked and did not save the message but it did say:

the program ran out of memory (DRAM).

I ran the windows memory checker that found no fault as it ran and
said I would see the report when next logging in, but I did not see it
when I booted up this morning.

Other than that the computer is running ok.

Mick.

 

[Paul]

Hi, I panicked and did not save the message but it did say:

the program ran out of memory (DRAM).

I ran the windows memory checker that found no fault as it ran and
said I would see the report when next logging in, but I did not see it
when I booted up this morning.

Other than that the computer is running ok.

Mick.

They blame an antivirus program here. But you can see this
thread is devoid of information. Which mail program was used,
which AV program, and so on. And the suggestion to change email
tools, well, that's like saying to the original poster "why
don't you reinstall everything", as they don't really know
whether that will make a difference or not. If an AV program
was causing it, the AV program symptoms aren't going to
magically change.

http://www.vistax64.com/vista-mail/250874-cannot-send-mail-out-memory.html

Ed gave you some good advice, to look in Task Manager, and see
if you can figure out the "memory hog" from there.

Paul

 

[Tim Slattery]

My unbranded Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64 bit Operating System
Computer has 8 GB DRAM Yet on trying to save a file it reports out of
memory!

That's probably a problem with the program that's saving the file. The
file may be over 4GB and the program doesn't know how to deal with
that (not all do). Or it's a 32-bit program and it needs more memory
that a 32-bit program can get to work with the file in the way it
wants to.

Can you give us some specifics?

 

[Mick]

That's probably a problem with the program that's saving the file. The
file may be over 4GB and the program doesn't know how to deal with
that (not all do). Or it's a 32-bit program and it needs more memory
that a 32-bit program can get to work with the file in the way it
wants to.

Can you give us some specifics?

I do not understand what in the way of specifics you mean?
It is in wanting to save a jpeg file sent to me as an email attachment
I am using Outlook for mail.

I normally right click on the attachment and use "save as" to put it
on the desktop then edit the file name and put it in the folder I want
in documents.

I went to the Task Manager, it reported:
CPU usage 0%
Memory 1.39 GB and 17%

When I tried again yesterday it saved a file ok!

Next time I will try saving straight to a folder in my Documents.

Thanks everyone for your help.
Mick.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Mick wrote: []
Sorry, I received 3 jpeg photos in an email, and I normally save them
to the desktop then re name them and put in a folder in documents.

But after saving the first one to desktop, the message came up and
would not let me save the other two.

I make sure the desktop is kept clear, as I belive that any photos or
documents there uses active memory ?

[/QUOTE]

Well, it's generally not a good idea, as it can slow the loading of the
desktop, among other things (though I've seen heated discussions on
whether it matters as much with modern hardware as it used to). [FWIW I
try to avoid storing files on the desktop.]

I did a re boot but that made no difference either.

I use Outlook for mail. *****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^*****
[]
How about you give us the *exact* text of the error message

[]
Hi, I panicked and did not save the message but it did say:
the program ran out of memory (DRAM).

Presumably you still have the email, so there is nothing to stop you
trying to repeat the exercise; you did say you rebooted and retried, so
I am guessing the email survived that.
[]

They blame an antivirus program here. But you can see this
thread is devoid of information. Which mail program was used,

I was going to say "he's using Outlook", but now I think you're
referring to the thread you linked to, not this one.
[]

http://www.vistax64.com/vista-mail/250874-cannot-send-mail-out-memory.html

Ed gave you some good advice, to look in Task Manager, and see
if you can figure out the "memory hog" from there.

Indeed, assuming the problem is still there when you try to repeat the
exercise.

Paul

("-- "?)

One thought did occur to me, was that a lot of modern email softwares -
I mean the one used to send the email, not your Outlook that's receiving
it - don't assign, or assign the same default, names to attachments (or
if no name, Outlook is using the same default name for saving). This
would explain it letting you save one but not the others. However, I
would expect the error message in that case to say something like file
already exists or name already in use, not something about memory.

Unless these are absolutely huge jpegs, I can't really see Outlook -
even if it's a 32-bit Outlook that can't access as much memory - running
out just handling three images.

We definitely need to see the exact text of the error message; if you
still have the email, you should be able to repeat the attempt. Do
include any details that show _which_ prog. was "running out of memory",
too, if there are any.

If you still have the email but the attempt (to save all three jpegs to
the desktop) now succeeds, please tell us that too. If that's the case
we'll almost certainly not be able to figure out what happened, but it'd
be good to know anyway.

 

[Paul]

Mick wrote: []
Sorry, I received 3 jpeg photos in an email, and I normally save them
to the desktop then re name them and put in a folder in documents.

But after saving the first one to desktop, the message came up and
would not let me save the other two.

I make sure the desktop is kept clear, as I belive that any photos or
documents there uses active memory ?

Well, it's generally not a good idea, as it can slow the loading of the
desktop, among other things (though I've seen heated discussions on
whether it matters as much with modern hardware as it used to). [FWIW I
try to avoid storing files on the desktop.]

I did a re boot but that made no difference either.

I use Outlook for mail. *****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^*****
[]
How about you give us the *exact* text of the error message []
Hi, I panicked and did not save the message but it did say:
the program ran out of memory (DRAM).

Presumably you still have the email, so there is nothing to stop you
trying to repeat the exercise; you did say you rebooted and retried, so
I am guessing the email survived that.
[]

They blame an antivirus program here. But you can see this
thread is devoid of information. Which mail program was used,

I was going to say "he's using Outlook", but now I think you're
referring to the thread you linked to, not this one.
[]

http://www.vistax64.com/vista-mail/250874-cannot-send-mail-out-memory.html


Ed gave you some good advice, to look in Task Manager, and see
if you can figure out the "memory hog" from there.

Indeed, assuming the problem is still there when you try to repeat the
exercise.

Paul

("-- "?) <---- I do not use .sig in the Newsreader. Every message is

signed personally. As if I was "writing a letter" to you.
It's that personal touch. I will not automate things like
that.

One thought did occur to me, was that a lot of modern email softwares -
I mean the one used to send the email, not your Outlook that's receiving
it - don't assign, or assign the same default, names to attachments (or
if no name, Outlook is using the same default name for saving). This
would explain it letting you save one but not the others. However, I
would expect the error message in that case to say something like file
already exists or name already in use, not something about memory.

Unless these are absolutely huge jpegs, I can't really see Outlook -
even if it's a 32-bit Outlook that can't access as much memory - running
out just handling three images.

We definitely need to see the exact text of the error message; if you
still have the email, you should be able to repeat the attempt. Do
include any details that show _which_ prog. was "running out of memory",
too, if there are any.

If you still have the email but the attempt (to save all three jpegs to
the desktop) now succeeds, please tell us that too. If that's the case
we'll almost certainly not be able to figure out what happened, but it'd
be good to know anyway.

The only mechanism I can think of (not involving defective software),
is someone attempting to use a decompression bomb. The file name might
end up with .zip in it, like you might be sent flowers.jpg.zip.
Decompression bombs are a kind of exploit (or a joke, depending on
your sense of humor).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zip_bomb

"...buffer overflow, an out of memory condition, or exceed an
acceptable amount of program execution time"

I don't really know if you can trip up an email tool that
way or not. Certainly, an AV that attempts to scan the
attachment, is going to trip over that, but AV programs
have protection against decompression bombs. (Although
I have managed to "tip over" a Kaspersky product, with
a big enough archive file. Go figure. Apparently,
the protection isn't perfect.)

There would be a long delay, before the program barfs, if that
was the case. It takes a bit of time to fill 2GB of RAM
or whatever.

We used to have a particular problem on a Unix box like
that, and you'd experience a delay, start to hear the
hard drive grinding, and a quick check would show
a process running out of control and attempting
to suck up all the memory. Computers were slow enough
back then, you could issue a "kill" command before
it got to the end of memory

I prefer to think of this case, as a simple software defect,
rather than an exotic exploit sent to the OP. And I don't
know if Outlook is stupid enough to be looking inside
an archive attachment, or not.

HTH,
Paul

 

[Wildman]

On Thu, 13 Jun 2013 02:56:05 -0400, Paul wrote:

The only mechanism I can think of (not involving defective software),
is someone attempting to use a decompression bomb. The file name might
end up with .zip in it, like you might be sent flowers.jpg.zip.
Decompression bombs are a kind of exploit (or a joke, depending on
your sense of humor).

<snip>

This is why it was never a good idea for Windows to hide extensions
of know file types.

 

[Unk]

My unbranded Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64 bit Operating System
Computer has 8 GB DRAM Yet on trying to save a file it reports out of
memory!
Have just run the windows memory checker and it reports no problems
found.
Can anyone advise what I should check next please?


AMD Phenom (tm) II X 4 965 Processor 3.40 GHz
ASRock 96OGM- GS3 FX Motherboard
8GB DDR3 1333Mhz DRAM
1 TB Ultrafast Hard Drive 32MB Cache 7200 RPM Sata A300
ATI HD 5670 51MB GDDR5 DVI VGA HDMI Out Graphics
Multiformat Dual Layer DVD-Rewriter Drive with Nero Express
10/100/1000 Ethernet & Integrated Sound

Mick.

My Computer, right-click the hard drive, Properties.
Is the hard drive almost full?

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Mick wrote:

Mick wrote: []
Sorry, I received 3 jpeg photos in an email, and I normally save them
to the desktop then re name them and put in a folder in documents.

But after saving the first one to desktop, the message came up and
would not let me save the other two. []
Paul

("-- "?) <---- I do not use .sig in the Newsreader. Every message is

signed personally. As if I was "writing a letter" to you.
It's that personal touch. I will not automate things like
that.
OK.
[]
The only mechanism I can think of (not involving defective software),
is someone attempting to use a decompression bomb. The file name might[/QUOTE]
[]
Interesting; I hadn't hear of those.

HTH,
Paul

The possibility raised by "Unk" of the disc being almost full was one
that hadn't occurred to me either; some softwares still might refer to
disc space as memory. Unlikely these days though (and if it was the
case, not having enough room to store a couple of JPEGs would I suspect
give problems in other more serious ways).