losing memory (and my mind)

I have a PC with limited memory (20GB) and over the last few weeks I have been getting a message that I "am dangerously low on memory" and have to dump some things. Since then I have "dumped" practically everything I can possibly dump - including all the programming for my camera and printer/scanner. I am willing to do this because my daughter is really into her Simms program and I want her to be able to continue playing. I can use my office computer for "real" work purposes. HOWEVER... even though (for example) I may remove a program of 130MB- it only takes a day or two before I'm getting the warning again and have to free up more space. Where the hell is all this memory being sucked up? It's not like she plays Simms everyday.

I'm at the point now where I've tried to remove my Microsoft Office XP FrontPage (669MB), but I keep getting an error – “Error 1711. Setup cannot write information to youe hard disk. Check to make sure enough space is available…” WHAT? Does this mean that I don’t have enough memory to dump Front Page? How do I get around this one?
Advice anyone?

System restore was enabled when the OS was installed. I suggest you disable it and see if the virtual memory warnings disappear.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310405

Hi, as mentioned above clear out some "other" used space,such as Restore points.
The easiest and safest way to do this is:

• Go to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools and click "System Restore".
• Choose the radio button marked "Create a Restore Point" on the first screen then click "Next". Give the R.P. a name, then click "Create". The new point will be stamped with the current date and time. Keep a log of this so you can find it easily should you need to use System Restore.

• Then use Disk Cleanup to remove all but the most recently created Restore Point.
• Go to Start > Run and type: Cleanmgr
• Click "Ok". Disk Cleanup will scan your files for several minutes, then open.
• Click the "More Options" tab, then click the "Clean up" button under System Restore.
• Click Ok. You will be prompted with "Are you sure you want to delete all but the most recent restore point?"
• Click Yes, then click Ok.
• Click Yes again when prompted with "Are you sure you want to perform these actions?"
• Disk Cleanup will remove the files and close automatically.

Vista Users can refer to these links: Create a New Restore Point and Disk Cleanup.


Now run ATF Cleaner.
Please download ATF Cleaner by Atribune & save it to your desktop.

• Double-click ATF-Cleaner.exe to run the program.
• Under Main "Select Files to Delete" choose: Select All.
• Click the Empty Selected button.
• If you use Firefox browser click Firefox at the top and choose: Select All
• Click the Empty Selected button.
  If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.
• If you use Opera browser click Opera at the top and choose: Select All
• Click the Empty Selected button.
  If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.
• Click Exit on the Main menu to close the program.

Note: On Vista, "Windows Temp" is disabled. To empty "Windows Temp" ATF-Cleaner must be "Run as an Administrator".

I would so not disable the System Restore. I would however do as suggested above to clear out the old restore points.

What antivirus program are you using?

If you are using ZoneAlarm, you are probably losing about 500 mb a day to System Restore but I can tell you how to stop that if that is the case.

Also, are you getting messages that say low on memory, or low on disk space?

Disk space would be what that 20 gigs refers to, memory is ram and has nothing to do with disk space.

When you open up My Computer, how much free disk space does it show for your drive and how much total space?