There is not enough free memory to run this program

[Shinshan]

Hey guys, wasn't too sure where to post this so I figured here is best.
I keep getting this error when trying to install certain things and I don't know why, my PC is brand new, I just built it last week. Any help would be great
Not sure if related but I often get messages such as "You require permission from the computer's administrator to make changes to this file" and something else about not having the correct permissions to install things. :/

Specs (if needed):
CPU: i7-3770k
GPU: XFX HD 7970
MOBO: Asus P67 Sabertooth
PSU: Corsair HX750W
RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengeance
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200rpm
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

 

[EXCellR8]

I hope that's a 64-bit version of Home Premium with that amount of RAM... which seems to be unrelated to your actual question. What you need is to disable Windows UAC (User Account Control) or and applications as an Administrator. If you're the only user on the computer your profile should already be Administrative, but check this as well.

 

[DelJo63]

I hope that's a 64-bit version of Home Premium with that amount of RAM... which seems to be unrelated to your actual question.

What you need is to disable Windows UAC (User Account Control) or and applications as an Administrator.

hmm; BAD advice imo. The UAC is designed to protect you from unknown programs attempting to install into protected areas of the system (eg: \Windows\* & \Program Files\* ). THIS IS A GOOD THING and one of Win/7 features that make it Better and more Secure. It's trivial to set the Admin password (in fact should have already occurred on the first boot) and just get into the habit of expecting and using this feature - - you WILL be glad you did

enough free memory

As all memory seen by programs is Virtual, this message 99% of the time means that the SWAP file is too small OR you have far too many programs running at the same time.

 

[EXCellR8]

A good/relevant antivirus program will throw up a flag if something is trying to access a key location or file of the OS filesystem. Sure, it's not going to be 100% accurate, but neither is UAC. To me that's an old irrelevant method of protecting files.

If you consider it bad advice to disable UAC that's fine, but I haven't found any reason to re-enable it since OS installation in 2009. Is everyone going to have the same experience, certainly not, but if you're using a good AV software you shouldn't need to have it active.

 

[learninmypc]

hmm; BAD advice imo. The UAC is designed to protect you from unknown programs attempting to install into protected areas of the system (eg: \Windows\* & \Program Files\* ). THIS IS A GOOD THING and one of Win/7 features that make it Better and more Secure. It's trivial to set the Admin password (in fact should have already occurred on the first boot) and just get into the habit of expecting and using this feature - - you WILL be glad you did

.

I agree. Better safe than sorry.

 

[DelJo63]

UAC doesn't work like an antivirus at all - - it compares your NTFS privileges to those required by the directory or file being written - - therefore - - it is ABSOLUTE, no guess work, no file signatures - - you are or are not authorized to write in that location.

The A/V & Firewall are still necessary as they all kick in at different times, in different ways, and for different purposes

 

[St1ckM4n]

Turning UAC on and off can cause problems with installed programs too..

 

[Darth Shiv]

A good/relevant antivirus program will throw up a flag if something is trying to access a key location or file of the OS filesystem. Sure, it's not going to be 100% accurate, but neither is UAC. To me that's an old irrelevant method of protecting files.

If you consider it bad advice to disable UAC that's fine, but I haven't found any reason to re-enable it since OS installation in 2009. Is everyone going to have the same experience, certainly not, but if you're using a good AV software you shouldn't need to have it active.

UAC is far from irrelevant if you know what you are doing with it. AV can't protect from stuff that it's libraries aren't programmed to protect against. E.g. if there was Stuxnet v2, you'll be compromised before you know it. Using UAC is just good security practice. Run everything you use day to day in user mode then if someone abuses that process, there is a whole lot less it can do in that they can't affect anything that requires elevation.

E.g. I set my core media folders to be read only to users on my media center. Without elevation, no-one can modify or move them. Same with Program Files folder. That way no program can be installed silently without elevation unless it has a service that allows it to do that. Registry is protected and can only be modified with elevation - absolutely critical for system protection.

If you know how to use UAC, it is a great tool to complement the other protections of your machine.

 

[gbhall]

On topic, but not the same conclusion about UAC.
In some cases 'not enough memory' messages can come from a program which is attempting to run in an environment it does not expect. For example, a dos 16-bit program in XP, or a 32-bit program in a 64-bit OS.
It all depends on what program causes the message, and you will know that. You can also research the program on the web, discover it's requirements and in some cases, avoid the problem.

For instance, a bit of arm-wrestling with the 'run as' compatibility mode options found under properties will often help, or you can run XP mode in Windows 7 as long as you have the professional version (but you dont), so you could try other virtual OS's if it is important to you, such as vmware player, virtual box, windows virtual PC.

The offending program can sometimes be just the installer, the application itself is ok, you could just check for an update from the developers.

On the whole, I suspect it is more likely that you are a beginner and are using only a non-adminstrator account on that PC.

 

[tipstir]

What does the WEI ready in your Computer System for 8GB Total. What does it say for Usable Memory? That should be 7.xxGB Usable. There is a serious glitch in Windows 7 and Windows 8 with WEI.