Out of memory message on Desktop PC 21 October 2022 at 11:35AM in Techie Stuff 16 replies 351 views

rubble2

I only notice this when looking at a forum on a Facebook group I am a member of. I scroll down the discussion page to look at the various forum messages, and when I get a good way down the content the PC freezes for a moment and then I get the following message :- 

'Out of memory

Either Opera ran out of memory or the process for the webpage was terminated for some other reason.'

It then gives me the option to reload the page. Is this a limitation of the computer hardware or a software problem to do with either Opera browser of Facebook?

Thanks

bob_a_builder

A quick check would be to use another browser 
If Windows 10 then Edge will already be installed 
Try it from there ?

How much memory does your PC have  ?
In Settings  | About 

getmore4less

Run task manager

rubble2

Thanks for the replies.

I tried Edge - same problem, computer is running Win 10 shows as having 4GB - it is quite an old system.

If I monitor task manager the memory % increases steadily as I scroll down the forum page I eventually get to about 89% which is when it crashes. Don't really understand why looking at posts on a forum should cause a memory problem when using Youtube and streaming video for example it runs ok?

debitcardmayhem

Browsers often hog memory , especially if you have more than 1 tab open. But 4GB is probably far too low for W10 especially if you don't have an SSD for the paging/swap area. If you tell us what the PC is make/model and disk type it may help identify what is the best solution. I would certainly guess the cheapest option is to up the memory to 8GB

getmore4less

Time to cough up full spec of the PC to see if there are options.

If it can do 64bit  memory will be cheap (or hard to find)

If not been SSD then another potential improvement.

km1500

You should not run out of memory if you have a swap file enabled - yes the pc might slow down but memory requirements will be met

have a look at your swap file settings

rubble2

Ok, thanks for all the advice so far.

I have been digging around to try and get together relevant information - here is the story so far :- 

(I think this all points to the fact that the system is well past it's sell by date)

I bought this PC a number of years ago (can't discover exactly when) for use in my business - I am now recently retired.

Because of some of the software I needed to use for the business I had to go for a 32bit system

details are 
AMD E-350D APU with Radeon HD Graphics 1.60 Ghz
4.00 GB RAM
32 bit operating system, x64bit-based processor

Windows 10 Pro


I seem to recall that the system was originally running Windows 7 and I upgraded it to Win 10 a few years ago
I also upgraded the Hard Drive to a SSD
Hope this helps.

Thanks

Neil_Jones

Yeah, I think that's your problem, 4Gb of memory isn't enough these days.

You can add more memory to the motherboard/system, but 32-bit Windows won't be able to use it.  All 32-bit operating systems can only use 4Gb of memory for reasons only sad people like me understand.

There are other ways to utilise 8Gb of memory in a 32-bit system though - RamDrives for example.

https://www.maketecheasier.com/setup-ram-disk-windows/

Whether this will affect your underlying problem is up for debate.

Easiest solution if you no longer need the software for the business may be just to back up your data, add extra memory and go for the 64-bit version.  You can still use your existing key for it:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/how-to-migrate-to-windows-10-64-bit-from-32-bit/40d90c4e-8845-4bcb-bb2f-aeab312caf74

rubble2

Neil_Jones said:

Yeah, I think that's your problem, 4Gb of memory isn't enough these days.

You can add more memory to the motherboard/system, but 32-bit Windows won't be able to use it.  All 32-bit operating systems can only use 4Gb of memory for reasons only sad people like me understand.

There are other ways to utilise 8Gb of memory in a 32-bit system though - RamDrives for example.

https://www.maketecheasier.com/setup-ram-disk-windows/

Whether this will affect your underlying problem is up for debate.

Easiest solution if you no longer need the software for the business may be just to back up your data, add extra memory and go for the 64-bit version.  You can still use your existing key for it:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/how-to-migrate-to-windows-10-64-bit-from-32-bit/40d90c4e-8845-4bcb-bb2f-aeab312caf74

Thanks for the info, looking at your 2nd link there seems to be a lot of people who have tried upgrading to the 64 bit version and have run into problems - I can see me being one of them! 

I wonder if I am not better looking at getting a new tower with everything installed and just transfer wanted data over from old to new.

getmore4less

Do you need a tower?

Computers have moved on a lot

The micro footprint work great

Plentry of good second hand machines around  £200 W11 ready, slightly lower spec can get down to £100.


I went for a Dell 7070 ultra even smaller
Got a nearly new for £150