Out of Memory 2

[fj80alex]

I’ve been working on computers for a long time, but I haven’t come across this issue yet.
Customer brought me a desktop computer and asked me to install second hard drive (4TB) for storing pictures because the main hard drive (1TB) had only 12% space left. Customer is a professional photographer and doing lots of picture editing using Corel X5, Photoshop, Publisher and other Microsoft programs.

Here is details/specs about desktop (about 2.5 years old)

Quad core Intel i5-3000 series (don’t remember exactly), 8GB of Memory, 2 DVD-RW drives.

1TB Main drive with Windows 7 Home 64-bit

I added 4TB drive (I had to format it as GPT because Windows 7 will not recognize more than 2TB.)

Customer called me and stated that he is getting message when he is using Publisher, Photoshop etc.
All the software is installed on C (Main Drive).

“Out of Memory. There is not enough memory to complete this operation.
To Free memory, close other programs and try again"

Do you think that adding 4TB hard drive (strictly for storage) could cause that message or??????????????

Thank you for any suggestions, recommendations???

 

[ChrisHirst]

I still don't believe this as absolute and would not rely on a HDD as a single form of long term storage.

Where did I say I relied on a 'single' HDD??

I said "a bunch of bare drives", plus while I did not explicitly state this, I treat this 'bunch of drives' as I would a tape storage system.

Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Time flies like an arrow, however, fruit flies like a banana.

Never mind this jesus character, stars had to die for me to live.

 

[goombawaho]

That was more for other people reading it later!! You be smart, they make not be so much.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[rclarke250]

My concern wouldn't be over the metal parts, except bearings. The oils in the bearings will dry up, and as for plastic, same thing, the oils will dry up, making the plastic brittle. The epoxy used in the hdd could also fail with just age. Electrolytic capacitors will dry out, Not that this is a worry with today's hard drives, and oxidation would be a concern on traces, and component leads if not stored properly. This is just the observation of an electronic and computer technician with over 30 years experience. I started out repairing radios and tv's that had tubes in them, and although the tubes are very hardy if not jostled too much when hot, the plastic connectors would degrade and turn to powder. Craftsman garage door openers used to use a powdered metal gear in the drive head, after sitting in a garage used day after day, exposed to the elements, in 15 years or so, you would try the opener, and the door wouldn't open or close. if you opened the head unit, you would find a partial gear, and a bunch of metal powder. The plastizer would just stop bonding the metal together. Military grade components will stand up the longest, and what we called "c bin" or commercial grade components will last the shortest amount of time. Not to say hdd will not last that long or even components, I still have an C64 that works.

 

[ChrisHirst]

The oils in the bearings will dry up, and as for plastic, same thing, the oils will dry up, making the plastic brittle

Should I guess you have never taken a modern drive apart and looked at it from an engineering point of view?

These are precision machines and are under what is, to all practical purposes zero stress, the case is sealed so nothing can 'dry out'.

The "plastics" used are Mylar, you know the same stuff that bullet proof jackets are filled with and is also used in bridge construction as a bearing surface in expansion 'slip' joints, it doesn't 'dry out'.

Did you noticed the bit where I said "stored in anti-static bags"?

Plus if you are concerned about "atmospheric corrosion" drop a silica gel packet in the anti-static bag as well. People I have been using this method since the early 1990's, and as yet have still to have one of the backup drives fail while in storage.

The ONLY thing that might slightly concern me about using unpowered hard drives, is a nearby thermo-nuclear blast or asteroid impact. And after that, ... ... Recovering a backup is going to be the LEAST of my problems.

Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Time flies like an arrow, however, fruit flies like a banana.

Never mind this jesus character, stars had to die for me to live.

 

[rclarke250]

Chris, I wasn't referencing anything you were doing or not, just stating observations from years of dealing with the every day person. Maybe I should have said, modern material construction negates almost all the issue from decades ago. You also said 20 year old drives, not exactly modern. But I to, have several drives in my basement stored in air tight containers on a shelf, and as far as I know they all still work, old IDE 12 gb hdd and a few smaller.

 

[ChrisHirst]

You also said 20 year old drives,

You may have also noted that I said this drive is still fully functional, it is no longer part of the back up rotation, but is there bagged up.

Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Time flies like an arrow, however, fruit flies like a banana.

Never mind this jesus character, stars had to die for me to live.

 

[goombawaho]

A bit too defensive for no reason.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[ChrisHirst]

Not defensive at all, merely pointing out the flaws and obvious assumptions in [all] your arguments against.

Un-powered HDs are far more resilient than pretty much all other backup media.

Magnetic storage media (DAT tapes etc.) will fade and 'cross talk' when left rolled and stored in Planet Earth's relatively weak magnetic field.

Recordable Optical Storage (CDs, DVD, Blu-Ray etc) media is susceptible to any damage on the label side from contaminants resulting from atmospheric and manual contact. Sure, the data can withstand minor damage the underside (playing side), whereas damage to the label side WILL render the disc unusable.

'Flash' memory as used in 'USB drives', SD cards etc will lose data as the charge 'leaks' from the memory 'cell'.

Then of course one has to define what is meant by 'permanent', I surmise that most of you seem to be considering 'permanent' as a synonym of 'eternal', which is of course rather silly in a data storage context.

Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Time flies like an arrow, however, fruit flies like a banana.

Never mind this jesus character, stars had to die for me to live.

 

[fj80alex]

Here is an update. I suggested the customer to completely uninstall MS Office 2007, restart computer and do a fresh install of it. So far, no more "Out of Memory" errors yet. Keep mu fingers crossed!!!!!!!!!

 

[kjv1611]

Thanks for the followup, fj80alex.

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57

 

[goombawaho]

Are you always 100% right?

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[ChrisHirst]

Are you?

My observations in this thread are based on experience from actually using this method quite successfully since the early 1990's.

So far all other responses have been based on "I think ... ...". When you have actual evidence that it is not a satisfactory method of backing up and storing data, ... Present THAT as evidence, until then it is just conjecture apparently based on "That can't be right"!

So, ... If someone has an real argument, rather than "an argument from incredulity" one, ... ...

Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Time flies like an arrow, however, fruit flies like a banana.

Never mind this jesus character, stars had to die for me to live.